WTO: Little progress at year-end GC meeting amid agenda wrangling (PRIV)
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva)
The World Trade Organization's much-hyped year-end General Council (GC) meeting on 16 December made little progress, as it reportedly witnessed a minor bedlam over the agenda and several issues, with many members cautioning that without reforms in agriculture and the dispute settlement system, there can be no real reform, said people familiar with the development.

Finance: Higher volatility tests resilience of risk-on sentiment, says BIS (PRIV)
(Kanaga Raja, Penang)
Global financial markets, which had largely enjoyed a risk-on environment for much of the review period, began to encounter bouts of volatility driven by rising policy uncertainty and growing fears of an economic slowdown, with concerns over stretched equity valuations adding to the unease, according to the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

Ukraine: Civilians facing even greater hardship as war intensifies (PRIV)
(Kanaga Raja, Penang)
Nearly four years into Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the plight of civilians has become even more unbearable, as the war intensifies, causing more death, damage and destruction, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk.