WTO : GC chair, DG call for pandemic response, fisheries deal by end-February (PRIV)
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva)
The World Trade Organization's General Council (GC) chair and the WTO director-general on 8 December appealed to trade ministers to empower their trade envoys in Geneva to conclude multilateral decisions on the "WTO's response to the pandemic, including the TRIPS dimension" and on "fisheries subsidies" by the end of February.

Finance : Concerns over new virus variant, inflation challenge markets, says BIS (PRIV)
(Kanaga Raja, Geneva)
Risk appetite proved resilient during most of the period under review (from 13 September to 29 November 2021), but a wake-up call from renewed Covid-19 concerns curtailed market gains in late November, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has said.

Rights : Global community urged to end gender-based violence now (PRIV)
(IPS, Nairobi)
The statistics are dire: One in three women have experienced a form of gender-based violence in their lifetime, be it sexual violence, physical violence, or child marriage.