WTO's big conference on new covid strain Omron postponed

Geneva: Next week's WTO Ministerial Conference, the global trade body's largest gathering in four years, was postponed at the last minute on Friday because of the new Omicron COVID-19 edition. The WTO hopes the four-day gathering in Geneva will breathe new life into the crippled organization, which for years has been trying to make progress in trying to address issues like fisheries subsidies. New Director-General Noji Okonjo-Iwela was also hoping, against the odds, to conclude an agreement on lifting COVID vaccine patents, proving that the WTO had a relevant role in combating the pandemic. But the conference was postponed four…