"15 dead, dozens feared trapped in City of Naga, Cebu landslide" 20 September 2017 Authorities have recovered fifteen bodies while trying to rescue dozens of others from a landslide which trapped residents and workers of a quarrying site in the city of Naga in Cebu province.... ...Chief Inspector Roderick Gonzales, Naga police chief, estimated at […]

« Immigration et emploi au Québec: la discrimination, obstacle sournois à l'embauche », 17 septembre 2018 Pour les immigrants, le chemin vers un emploi au Québec reste semé d'embûches. Parmi elles, celle relative à la discrimination à l'embauche, généralement larvée, qui représente un véritable frein à leur insertion sur le marché du travail...«Quand on est à […]

Experts believe that action is urgently needed to expose horrifying labour conditions across Paraguay’s Chaco region...the darker side of the Chaco region is coming into focus, with reports of illegal deforestation and slave labour among the indigenous population. In November 2016...government inspectors found 35 people working and living in inhumane conditions on a farm in […]

"Ex-Southwest Employee Says Airline Had 'Whites Only' Break Room", 21 Sep 2018 An ex-Southwest Airlines staffer filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the company earlier this week which alleges that his coworkers made a “whites-only” break room at Hobby Airport in Texas.  In the lawsuit...Jamel Parker...claims Southwest allowed the "whites-only" break room and fostered an […]

The company that built the Dakota Access oil pipeline says environmental group Greenpeace should be held legally accountable for violating federal racketeering laws...Greenpeace recently asked to be dismissed from the case, after a federal judge dismissed the other two groups.  But the company argued this week that there was plentiful evidence of "malicious criminal conduct" […]

BHP Billiton Ltd has asked a U.S. judge to approve a $50 million settlement of claims that it fraudulently inflated its share price by overstating its ability to manage safety risks before a fatal 2015 dam burst at a Brazilian mine...It would resolve shareholder claims stemming from the Nov. 5, 2015 bursting of the Fundão […]

...The premises and logic behind the UNGPs marked a significant progress, bestowing on TNCs something very close to legal subjectivity in international law...The LBI [Legally Binding Instrument]...attributes the “primary responsibility” to promote, respect and fulfil human rights and fundamental freedoms to national States, and a duty to respect human rights to all business enterprises...While the […]

« Liberia : la très attendue loi foncière enfin promulguée », 20 septembre 2018 Le président libérien George Weah a promulgué mercredi une loi sur la propriété des terres attendue depuis des années...et qui pourrait servir d'exemple ailleurs. La législation actuelle, attribuant à l‘État la propriété des terres ne faisant pas l’objet d’un titre privé, […]

"Lead poisoning on Kenya's Coast: A Poor Community Fights Back" ...Phyllis is an environmental activist locked in a battle over toxic pollution that is pitting the impoverished community of Owino Uhuru against the country’s most powerful entities – government and big business. No one among the community’s 5000 residents doubts why the children died: The community […]

The WTO Secretariat has circulated a meeting notice and list of items proposed for the next meeting, on 26 September 2018, of the Dispute Settlement Body, which consists of all WTO members and oversees legal disputes among them. The meeting notice is circulated in the form of a document officially called an “airgram”.

WTO members praised The Bahamas’ commitment to reactivate and accelerate its WTO accession process after six years of impasse. At the third meeting of the Working Party on the Accession of The Bahamas, held on 21 September, members expressed their full support to the government of the Caribbean nation in its intention to secure WTO […]

The WTO Secretariat has circulated a meeting notice and list of items proposed for the next meeting, on 21 September 2018, of the Dispute Settlement Body, which consists of all WTO members and oversees legal disputes among them. The meeting notice is circulated in the form of a document officially called an “airgram”.

The WTO has launched today (20 September) the WTO iLibrary (www.wto-ilibrary.org), a new dynamic research tool that brings together, for the first time, into one self-contained area all the WTO’s key research material on global trade. WTO iLibrary has been developed in cooperation with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

This year’s Public Forum entitled “Trade: 2030” will feature 112 sessions covering sustainable trade, technology-enabled trade and a more inclusive trading system. All the sessions at the Forum, which takes place from 2 to 4 October, will be organized by participants, including WTO member governments, businesses, non-governmental organizations, academia, law firms and international organizations.

Australia is contributing CHF 130,000 (AUD 177,000) to WTO programmes aimed at helping developing countries, and in particular least-developed countries (LDCs), enhance their trading capacities and build resilience to natural disasters.

WTO members reviewed Seychelles’ accession to the South African Development Community (SADC) trade protocol and the economic partnership agreement between the European Union and Cariforum states at the 18 September meeting of the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements. Members welcomed progress being made in the economic integration of the African region.

WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo was in Brazil between 17 and 19 September, where he spoke at different events about the importance of the WTO and the need to strengthen the multilateral system, especially amid the rising tensions between major trading partners.

A total of 29 government officials from developing economies across the world took part in the fourth WTO Advanced Course on Trade in Services from 17 to 21 September 2018 at the WTO.

Heads of WTO member delegations, at the 17 September meeting of the Negotiating Group on Rules, voiced their strong commitment to creative, constructive engagement in the fisheries subsidies negotiations based on the intensified work programme for September to December that was agreed in late July.

Following the informal EU leaders summit at Salzburg, Open Europe’s Henry Newman argued on BBC 2 Politics Live on September 21 that Prime Minister Theresa May needs to explain clearly the compromises made by the Government to come up with the Chequers proposal as well as her future Brexit policy.The post The Prime Minister needs […]

Open Europe’s Aarti Shankar discussed the state of Brexit negotiations on Euronews English on September 18, saying that while the informal EU leaders summit in Salzburg is not a turning point, it gives the EU27 leaders the opportunity to discuss the UK’s Chequers proposal and come up with a response.The post Salzburg Summit will not […]

Ahead of the informal EU leaders summit in Salzburg, Austria, where Brexit will be a topic of discussion, Open Europe’s Stephen Booth appeared on Sky News to assess whether we should expect a change in the EU27 position. The post A key issue at the Salzburg Summit will be the formulation of the ‘backstop’ on […]

Open Europe's Anna Nadibaidze overviews the European responses to Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker's last State of the European Union speech.The post Europe reacts to Juncker’s “The Hour of European Sovereignty” speech appeared first on Open Europe.

Open Europe’s Henry Newman appeared on the BBC 2’s Politics Live programme on September 6, asking Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell about the Labour Party's stance on a second Brexit referendum.The post Leaving the EU won’t give the UK the “exact same benefits” appeared first on Open Europe.

Open Europe's Pieter Cleppe outlines the arrangements planned by the EU27 to prepare for a possible 'No Deal' Brexit scenario. The post The view from Brussels: How are the EU27 preparing for a ‘No Deal’ Brexit? appeared first on Open Europe.

The government yesterday published information on its no deal planning. Open Europe's Aarti Shankar takes a look at the mitigating measures the government is considering.The post How is the government planning to mitigate ‘no deal’ disruption? appeared first on Open Europe.

Open Europe's Henry Newman appeared on the BBC's Newsnight programme on July 30, arguing that Theresa May needs to be bolder in explaining the Government's position on Brexit to the public. The post The Government needs to be clear about Brexit trade-offs appeared first on Open Europe.

Open Europe's Leopold Traugott and Pieter Cleppe look at EU27 reactions to gauge in how far Theresa May's Chequers proposal may increase pressure on EU negotiators to become more flexible.The post Will Chequers increase pressure on the EU to make the next move? appeared first on Open Europe.

Michel Barnier recently questioned the feasibility of the UK's Brexit proposals on goods, highlighting that trade in goods and services has become increasingly interrelated. Open Europe's Aarti Shankar looks at the strength of this economic argument.The post Does the link between goods and services really rule out the UK’s Chequers plan? appeared first on Open […]