Trade : New round of talks stoked by US, EU to transform WTO against South (PRIV)
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva)
A revised draft unofficial room document on the WTO's 12th ministerial conference (MC12)'s "outcome document" issued by the chair of the General Council on 17 November seems to suggest the launch of a new round of trade negotiations on several non-mandated issues such as WTO reforms, including on the WTO's negotiating function based on controversial "flexible approaches" to facilitate trade negotiations, "digital trade," and "trade and environment," as well as on special and differential treatment among others, said people familiar with the document.

UN : Maritime trade falls in 2020, but fares better than initially feared (PRIV)
(Kanaga Raja, Geneva)
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on maritime trade in 2020 was less severe than initially expected, with maritime trade contracting by 3.8% due to the initial shock in the first half of 2020, but rebounding later in the year, according to the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

UN : One in two humans cannot celebrate World Toilet Day (PRIV)
(IPS, Madrid)
Did you know that half of the world's population do not have toilets? And that, globally, at least 2 billion people use a drinking water source contaminated with faeces?