WTO : Unease over DG's decision to set up formal process for agriculture tal ks (PRIV)
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva)
A proposed decision by the World Trade Organization's Director-General, Ms Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to establish "a fo rmal process under CoA SS (Committee on Agriculture in Special Session)" appears to have caused unease among several members and has raised more questions abou t the integrity of the process, said people familiar with the development.

UN : Nearly half a billion of world's poor live in conflict settings, says r eport (PRIV)
(Kanaga Raja, Penang)
A staggering 455 million of the world's poo r live in countries exposed to violent conflict, hindering and even reversing hard -won progress to reduce poverty, according to a United Nations-backed report.

UN : Sudan facing one of the worst famines in decades, warn experts (PRIV)
(Kanaga Raja, Penang)
A staggering 97 percent of Sudan's internal ly displaced persons (IDPs), along with civilians who remain in their homes, a re facing severe levels of hunger, a group of United Nations experts warned on 17 October.