Civil rights

USA Downgraded as Civil Liberties Deteriorate Across the Americas

By Débora Leão and Suraj K. Sazawal (*) São Paulo/ Washington DC, Dec 15 2020 (IPS) – Few images better illustrate the recent decline in civil liberties in the United States than that of peaceful protesters near the White House being violently dispersed so Donald Trump could…

Health

Intellectual Property Monopolies Block Vaccine Access

By Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame Sundaram (*) SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 15 2020 (IPS) – Just before the World Health Assembly (WHA), an 18 May open letter by world leaders and experts urged governments to ensure that all COVID-19 vaccines, treatments and tests are…

Corruption

The Costs of Merkel’s Surrender to Hungarian and Polish Extortion

By George Soros* – Project Syndicate German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been laboring under enormous pressure to prevent a veto of the European Union’s 2021-27 budget and COVID-19 recovery fund. But the compromise she reached with Hungary and Poland is the worst of all possible…

Human Rights

As Poles and Hungarians, we urge the EU to stand firm on the rule of law

By Mate Varga* – The Guardian Democracy is seriously under threat in our countries. The EU must stand up to the bullying tactics of Orbán and Morawiecki As European leaders gather in Brussels this week municipal buildings and monuments in Warsaw and Budapest have been lit up in…