Trade : WTO DG sends controversial IP proposal to TRIPS Council (PRIV)
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva)
The WTO Director-General Ms Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has sent a proposal to the TRIPS Council on discussions the WTO Secretariat has been facilitating in the past few months among the United States, the European Union, India, and South Africa despite the fact that only one of the four (i.e. the European Union) has actually signed off on the proposal, said people familiar with the development.

Finance : Cross-border bank claims little changed in Q4 of 2021, says BIS (PRIV)
(Kanaga Raja, Geneva)
Outstanding cross-border bank claims changed little overall in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2021, with their year-on-year growth rate slowing to 1.6%, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has reported.

Opinion : New tactical nuclear weapons? Just say no (PRIV)
(IPS, Washington DC)
Russian President Vladimir Putin's brutal war on Ukraine, along with his implied threats of nuclear weapons use against any who would interfere, has raised the specter of nuclear conflict.