WHO: Europe continues to defy emerging consensus on PABS (PRIV)
(Nithin Ramakrishnan and Sangeeta Shashikant, Geneva)
The European Union continued to defy emerging consensus on the operations of the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) System during the 4th session of the Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG4) that met in Geneva from 1-5 December.

Finance: Global OTC derivatives surge to $846 trillion, says BIS (PRIV)
(Kanaga Raja, Penang)
The notional value of outstanding over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives rose to $846 trillion at end-June 2025, up 16% from June 2024, marking an acceleration from the moderate 5% annual upward trend seen since end-2016, according to the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

Afghanistan: WFP warns of escalating hunger as Afghan winter takes hold (PRIV)
(Kanaga Raja, Penang)
More than 17 million people in Afghanistan are facing acute food insecurity this winter, as the scale and severity of hunger and malnutrition deepens, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has warned.