 Hello and welcome to International Daily Roundup by People's Dispatch where I bring you major news developments from around the world. Our headlines, Investigation reveals Ugandan forces shot bystanders during November protests, Exxon Mobile continues lockout of unionized workers at refinery in the US, Thai court indicts 17-year-old activist and royal defamation charges, and India urges WTO to begin text-based negotiations on TRIPS waiver proposal. In our first story, a BBC investigation has revealed that Ugandan security forces opened fire at bystanders during protests in 2020. Mass unrest had been triggered in the capital of Kampala and other places in November. This was following the arrest of the then opposition presidential candidate Bobby Byne. Protesters blockaded his streets and burned tires in Kampala as armored cars and soldiers were deployed. We're in number 18th and 19th, around 54 people were shot and killed by security forces. A recent BBC documentary titled Three Killings in Kampala shows a police truck driving through the city centre as uniform men fired indiscriminately. Seven alarm people who were not part of the protests were shot in around one minute. The findings are based on analysis of around 400 videos and over 30 eyewitness accounts. The government declared the protests as riots and maintained that those who had been shot were rioters. Security Minister Ali Thumbine stated that the police court had the right to shoot and kill if you reach a certain level of violence. It was only later that they claimed that some people had died after being hit by street bullets. Yoveri Museveni also stated in February that a commander unit had been deployed in Kampala, who according to him killed a few terrorists. The government has not publicly identified the shooters. Meanwhile, the findings of the BBC investigation were published in the Ugandan newspaper The Daily Monitor earlier this week. Police have now summoned the papers editor and managing director of the parent company. They are suspected of publishing or unaccused of publishing false news, libel and incitement. Uganda has been witnessing a violent and wide-ranging crackdown following the elections held in January. Hundreds of people even suspected as supporting opposition candidates have been abducted, forcibly disappeared and tortured. The New York Times reported that some detainees had been collecting evidence of vote rigging. Some were accused of inciting violence when others were charged in a military court. The victims have reportedly been unable to meet their families and have been denied medical care and lawyers. In our next tour we go to the state of Texas in the United States. Around 650 workers in the Exxon mobile refinery in Beaumont have been unable to work for over a month. This was after the company imposed a mass lockout on May 1 after the workers union refused to hold a vote on a contract offer. Exxon Mobile and the United Steel Workers Union had begun negotiations for a new contract in January. Both sides had given a 75-day notice for either a strike or a lockout in case the negotiations failed. Exxon Mobile announced on April 23 that it would give workers until May 1 to accept the contract. In an effort to avoid the lockout, USW offered to extend the existing contract by a year. However, the company refused and demanded that the union hold a vote. The proposed contract would impose major changes to workers' safety and job security, including the elimination of seniority benefits. After the union refused to hold a vote, workers were escorted off the facility. Nearly two weeks into the lockdown, the company submitted a new six-year proposal on May 12. It included a 1.5% pay increase for specific refinery personnel and pattern wages for five years starting in 2022. It also included the reclassification of certain employees and the elimination of seniority benefits for transfers to other positions. Workers have stated that prioritizing experience of seniority is a matter of safety, especially given the nature of work. The union ultimately rejected the proposal offered by the company and the lockout continues to be in place. Workers have also filed an unfair Labour Practices lawsuit in the National Labour Relations Board. 17-year-old Thanakon is the first minor to be prosecuted under Thailand's widely denounced royal deformation laws. Central juvenile and family court informed him of the indictment last week. The charges related to a speech he gave during a rally in Bangkok on December 6, 2020. Thanakon is facing two charges under the royal deformation laws, two charges of sedition and two charges for violating the emergency decree. Two other activists are also facing charges for the participation in the same rally. Meanwhile, a 14-year-old girl has been summoned by the police on a charge under the royal deformation laws of section 112. According to Thai lawyers for human rights, she is the seventh minor to be facing charges under three laws. At least 41 minors have also been charged in cases related to freedom of speech and assembly, within July 20th and May 2021. The royal deformation laws have become a key focus of the pro-democratization protests in the country. The laws carry a sentence of anywhere between three to 15 years for each count. At least 92 people, including several protest leaders, are facing charges under section 112. Three such activists who had been detained pending trial were granted bail earlier in the week. As reported by Prachatai, the bail is conditioned upon them not participating in activities perceived to damage the monarchy. And in our final story, we look at the negotiations surrounding a patent waiver for COVID-19 vaccines and medical products. A revised proposal co-sponsored by India, South Africa and 60 other countries was submitted to the WTO last week. A follow-up to the original proposal last year, the revised version goes beyond vaccines to include crucial medical products. It also sets a duration of the waiver period at a minimum of three years with the possibility of revision. During an informal meeting of the TRIPS Council held on May 31, India urged members to start text-based negotiations. Here is Sangeeta Shashikant to talk about the revised proposal. So if you look at what is required to control the pandemic, it is really a range of different products and technologies. It's not limited to vaccines. You will need masks. You'll need personal protective equipment, ventilators, diagnostics, equipment for diagnostics that the test reagents, medicines, syringes, and so many more equipment. And what we have witnessed in this global pandemic since it's begun is there have been severe shortages of these different products. And these are very crucial products that are needed to restrain the pandemic. So what is essential is really scaling up of manufacturing to meet this demand. And the production of these products involves and requires various materials, components, as well as equipment. So the proposed scope of the waiver has to not only cover the products and technologies that are needed to control the pandemic, but also the different tools needed for the manufacture of the products and technology. So if you look at, say for instance, mRNA vaccines, there are different webs of intellectual property claims involving the underlying technology, such as the lipid nanoparticle, which will be required for the development of mRNA vaccines. And the COVID-19 strategies of countries, the response strategies of countries, the US, the EU, and even the WHO recognizes that the intervention is not limited to vaccines. What is required is really beyond vaccination. For instance, the vaccines will not overnight eliminate the disease. Therapeutics will be needed for various COVID patients. You also need diagnostics. These are basically the eyes and ears of the global response to assess the scale of the pandemic, but also to identify the variants. So in this context, a scope limited to vaccines is not sufficient. And I think the revised scope of the revised text is justified. So the waiver is granted under Article 9 of the World Trade Organization Agreement. And this is for the duration of situations of exceptional circumstance. So this COVID-19 pandemic would definitely meet the situation of exceptional circumstances. And the revised text stresses that the international community is actually dealing with a novel pathogen. And there are many uncertainties. There are therapeutic investigation underway for different therapeutics. And then there are many unknowns with respect to vaccines that will have an impact on the demand and supply of the vaccines, such as the duration of the immunity that is conferred, the effectiveness of the vaccines against new variants, the effect on children. So all of these factors have an impact on the demand as well as the supply of the vaccines. And the revised text also in its introduction highlights that the duration has to be practical for manufacturing to be feasible and viable. And it is on that basis. It calls for a practical and flexible duration by proposing that the general counsel of WTO assesses the existence of exceptional circumstances, justifying the waiver after a minimum period of three years to determine the date of termination. So the proponents have provided a very clear and concrete justification for the proposed duration. I would even argue that actually the duration is quite conservative given the unpredictable situation that we are actually in with respect to COVID-19 because we are essentially dealing with a new pathogen and there is very little information. That's very little that we know about this pathogen. That's all your time for today. We'll be back tomorrow with more news from around the world. Until then, keep watching People's Dispatch.