Trade : Battle lines drawn on PSH & SSM for MC13 (PRIV)
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva)
The chair of the Doha agriculture negotia tions, Ambassador Alparslan Acarsoy of Turkiye, is to kick-start stalled negotiati ons on 16 January on the most sensitive mandated issues of a permanent solution fo r public stockholding (PSH) programs for food security and the special safegu ard mechanism (SSM) for developing countries, amidst apparent confusion and lac k of clarity on what ought to be the deliverables in agriculture at the World Trade Organization's upcoming 13th ministerial conference (MC13).

Rights : Wealth of five richest men doubles, as five billion grow poorer (PRIV)
(Kanaga Raja, Penang)
The wealth of the world's five richest bill ionaires has more than doubled from $405 billion to $869 billion since 2020, the beginning of the "decade of division", while five billion people have grown poorer, according to a new report by Oxfam International.

Afghanistan : How women connect & learn in face of Taliban restrictions (PRIV)
(IPS, Kabul)
The prevalence of social media usage among Afghan women and girls has surged since the Taliban assumed control of the country in August 2021.