Macron’s skepticism of the #TRIPSwaiver seems in part rooted in an outdated view of the developing world’s capacities. He says that even if intellectual property rules are waived, manufacturers in places like Africa currently are not equipped to make vaccines.
He's wrong.
The Africa Centers for Disease Control has already identified vaccine manufacturing capacity in Senegal, South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, and Tunisia. apnews.com/article/africa…
Rwandan President Paul Kagame has expressed interest in bringing the first mRNA manufacturing facility to Africa. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
The World Health Organization has plans in place for a Covid-19 Technology Access Pool & a series of mRNA technology transfer hubs to share vaccine technology. The WHO warns that technology used in the hub must be free of intellectual property constraints. who.int/news-room/arti…
Rather than making up excuses for France to say no, Macron should throw the country's weight behind these proposals and find ways to make sure pharmaceutical companies participate too.
For a year, President Macron has been proclaiming that vaccines should be a “global public good.” And he is completely right.
But France has still not concretely translated those words into action.
✅ Condemned 7/10 killings by Palestinian armed groups;
✅ Questioned legality of some Israeli airstrikes;
✅ Condemned Israel's collective punishment of Palestinians & called for targeted sanctions on those responsible;
1/n
Belgium has also:
✅ Expressed support for the International Criminal Court’s role and its ongoing investigation on the situation in Palestine, which includes jurisdiction over the current hostilities between the Israeli government and Palestinian armed groups.
2/n
In addition, the Belgian federal parliament has introduced a bill to ban trade with settlements in occupied territories.
3/n
Convincing people that they have fundamental rights takes no effort at all.
Convincing them that others have fundamental rights is the hard part.
I want to write about these things in ways that might encourage new people to warm to the idea of universal human rights.
I don’t feel you can do that by using language and tropes that immediately spark “culture war” reactions - those cliché phrases that close minds instantly.
That’s been the purpose of my newsletter over the past year: to find language that brings people closer to understanding the fundamental rights that bind us together.
Dans l'après-midi du 2 octobre 2018, l'éminent journaliste #saoudien et chroniqueur du Washington Post Jamal Khashoggi s'est rendu au consulat saoudien d'Istanbul pour obtenir les documents nécessaires pour son mariage. C'est la dernière fois que sa fiancée l'a vu.
Des agents saoudiens l’ont assassiné à l'intérieur du consulat et ont découpé son corps en morceaux.
Il ne s'agissait pas simplement d'une opération véreuse. En 2019, une enquête de l'ONU a mis en évidence "une coordination, des ressources et des finances gouvernementales importantes" derrière l'assassinat.