A coalition of poor countries organized a mass walkout from the WTO's Minesterial meetings, where trade reps from the developing world were subjected to intense pressure to grant concessions to the rich countries.
The announcement of the walkout came at about 3:30 while US trade representative Robert Zoellick was giving a press conference declaring the intentions of the US to continue negotiations on the Singapore issues. As the press stormed out of the room into the hallway of the convention center, they were met by the dancing and singing of NGO members celebrating the collapse of the meetings.
Developing countries have said for weeks that they were already overburdened and hurt from previous concessions, and were not prepared to negotiate until the issues of agriculture was sufficiently addressed. Unsurprisingly, the demand of rich countries to include the Singapore issues was a clear indication that they were not committed to development, or even to the so called "development agenda" agreed upon in Doha.
(via Ambiguous)
