This year’s Bristol Radical History Festival focused on the persistent threats of racism, xenophobia and, of course, our radical collective resistance to it across Ireland and Britain, reports LYNNE WALSH
Latest editorial
The most important vaccine of 2021 might be for malaria
Promising results from a new trial indicate we could finally be equipped with one of the tools needed to rid us of a disease that has plagued people since the dawn of humanity, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and JOEL HELLEWELL
A maverick’s self-inflicted snake bites could unlock breakthrough treatments – but they also reveal deeper tensions between noble scientific curiosity and cold corporate callousness, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
The FBU is demanding 52 weeks of full pay for women firefighters, highlighting the unique health risks they face — and the continuing need to recruit and retain more women if policies like this are still not in place, writes SEONA HART
Israel continues to operate with impunity in what seems to be a brutal and protracted experiment, while much of the world looks on, says RAMZY BAROUD
A new report by Amnesty International pulls no punches in highlighting the Labour government’s human rights violations of those on benefits, says Dr DYLAN MURPHY
With Reform UK surging and Labour determined not to offer anything different from the status quo, a clear opportunity opens for the left, argues CLAUDIA WEBBE
A recent Immigration Summit heard from Lord Alf Dubs, who fled the Nazis to Britain as a child. JAYDEE SEAFORTH reports on his message that we need to increase public empathy with desperate people seeking asylum
DISEASES come in many guises. Before late 2019, there had never been a single case of Covid-19 and SARS-CoV-2 was an unknown virus. Now, less than a year and a half later, there have been millions of cases. In contrast, a disease like malaria has been with humans ever since we emerged as a species.
An early species of Plasmodium, the parasite which causes malaria, was found in mosquitoes that had been preserved in amber for nearly 30 million years. Yet this is no guide to a disease’s impact. During 2020, more people on the continent of Africa died of malaria than Covid-19.
While it took less than a year to develop a vaccine for Covid-19, a vaccine for malaria has proven near-impossible. However, that may be about to change.
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A maverick’s self-inflicted snake bites could unlock breakthrough treatments – but they also reveal deeper tensions between noble scientific curiosity and cold corporate callousness, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
Science has always been mixed up with money and power, but as a decorative facade for megayachts, it risks leaving reality behind altogether, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
A small Japanese trial has reported some positive results for stem cell therapy to treat spinal-cord injuries
Man-made canals like Panama and Suez face unprecedented challenges from extreme weather patterns and geopolitical tensions that reveal the fragility of our global trade networks, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
