Trade : WTO DG reprimands members for failing to agree on IFDA (PRIV)
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva)
The World Trade Organization's Director-General, Ms Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, appears to have harangued members at a General Council meeting on 15 October, after several countries, includ ing India, South Africa, and Namibia, refused to join the consensus on the prop osed decision to incorporate the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreeme nt (IFDA) into Annex 4 of the WTO Agreement, said people familiar with the development.

Trade : US opposes "new notion of convergence", seeks consensus at WTO (PRIV)
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva)
The United States on 15 October said that it is not "comfortable" with the "new notion of convergence", in what appears to be a reference to the World Trade Organization's General Council (GC) chair's decision to start the selection process for the appointment of a new Director-General based solely on "convergence", said people familiar with t he discussions.

UN : New global alliance launched to end statelessness (PRIV)
(Kanaga Raja, Penang)
More than 100 States, civil society organiz ations (CSOs), statelessness-led entities, academics and other stakeholders have f ormed a new Global Alliance to End Statelessness, aimed at addressing the grave inequity faced by millions of people around the world denied a nationality, according to UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.

UN : Millions in southern Africa at risk of hunger due to "historic drought" (PRIV)
(Kanaga Raja, Penang)
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) on 15 October called for urgent assistance to prevent a widespread dr ought triggered by the El-Nino phenomenon from deepening into a full-scale humanitarian catastrophe.