Trade : Battle-lines being drawn over upcoming discussion on TRIPS waiver (PRIV)
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva)
In the battle for a proposed waiver from implementing the provisions of the WTO's TRIPS Agreement in combating the COVID-19 pandemic, the lines are being drawn at the upcoming WTO's TRIPS Council meeting between the United States and its allies on the one side, and a large majority of developing and least-developed countries on the other, said people familiar with the development.

Brazil : Distributed generation provides hope of energy for the poor (PRIV)
(IPS, Rio de Janeiro)
"Showing solidarity is consuming the energy generated in your own municipality" - this is the motto of a project of distributed electricity generation in one of Brazil's many poor neighbourhoods.

Rights : Women in war-ravaged Afghanistan fight back for their rights (PRIV)
(IPS, Kabul)
Bullets, bombs, tyranny and torture. Children crying for food, civilians struggling to survive, women unable to walk out of their homes freely.

COVID-19 : Africa must not assume a "business as usual" approach to recovery (PRIV)
(IPS, Nairobi)
The coronavirus pandemic is impacting Africa's population in quite differentiated ways and is significantly entrenching inequality. At the greatest risk are lives and livelihoods of the poor.