Trade : European Union's TRIPS proposal fails to provide a way forward (PRIV)
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva)
The European Union on 24 June explained the central elements of its draft General Council declaration at the WTO on the "TRIPS Agreement and Public Health in the Circumstances of a Pandemic", amidst protests in Washington DC that Brussels is allegedly acting as a "puppet" of Big Pharma, said people familiar with the development.

UN : Global social protection fund needed to support low-income countries (PRIV)
(Kanaga Raja, Geneva)
A global fund for social protection needs to be established to increase the level of support to low-income countries, in order to help them both to establish and maintain social protection floors in the form of legal entitlements, and to improve the resilience of social protection systems against shocks, a UN human rights expert has said.

Rights : Canada must acknowledge its problematic Bill 21. (PRIV)
(IPS, New Delhi)
The June 5th attack on the Muslim family in London, Ontario, has left many in Canada in a state of shock.