This weekend, the NEU holds a special conference to debate changing its approach to organising teaching assistants, which a 2017 TUC agreement forbids. General secretary DANIEL KEBEDE outlines the choices before delegates
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The European Union prefers corporate profits over the health of people across the world
By showing reluctance on the patent waiver for Covid-19 related products after the majority of its population is vaccinated, the EU has once taken the side of Big Pharma and perpetuated ‘vaccine apartheid,’ writes ABDUL RAHMAN
Namibia President Hage G Geingob, second left, is welcomed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Charles Michel and French President Emmanuel Macron during the EU Africa summit at the European Council
Evidence to peers from medical leaders, patient safety officials and the children’s commissioner has intensified fears that the Bill’s safeguards are inadequate, writes ADAM JAMES POLLOCK
In the first of a series of interviews with leaders of progressive parties in Wales ahead of the May 7 Senedd election DAVID NICHOLSON talks to Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth
Anyone who criticises those in power in Kenya risks their freedom or worse. The brutal abduction of Booker Omole marks a new escalation in a country sliding toward authoritarian rule, says MARC VANDEPITTE
Statement of the World Peace Council
AS THE summit between the African Union and European Union (EU-AU summit) came to a close on February 18, the EU’s dedication to ensuring equitable access to Covid-19 products remained murky.
While Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, stated that the two unions had had a very constructive discussion on the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) waiver, the meeting resulted in little more than a tepid statement and a new deadline for reaching an agreement on intellectual property rights during the pandemic. Von der Leyen also stated: “We share the same goal. We have different ways to reach that goal.”
In reality, it would seem the AU and the EU have very different goals. While delegates from different African countries made a point of supporting a suspension of intellectual property rights on key Covid-19 products, EU politicians continue to focus their energies on postponing the TRIPS waiver as much as possible and protecting the profits of pharmaceutical companies based in the global North.
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