Pensions remain a sensitive issue: the government wants to raise the pensionable age even further, while a majority of the population is calling for exactly the opposite. In order not to provoke resistance, the Minister for Pensions, Karine Lalieux (French-speaking Socialist Party), is quietly working on a new reform. Her plan is expected to be on the government's table in September. Kim De Witte, pension specialist of the PTB, explains the stakes of the new battle to come.

Nuclear weapons and the Cold War are back, driven by NATO. But what exactly is NATO, and what does it intend to do?

On Monday 14 June, the first NATO summit under the presidency of the new US President Joe Biden took place in Brussels.

Some of the parties on Rue de la Loi* intend to split up our country even further in 2024 and set the people of Brussels, Wallonia and Flanders against each other. However, the vast majority of Belgians are more than fed up with the division of our country and instead want more cooperation, more solidarity and more unity. That which unites us makes us stronger; that which divides us weakens us. The working class in our country has known this for a long time. Together, those of Liege, Ghent, Brussels, Charleroi, Antwerp and all the other regions have built the workers' movement of our small country. And they have built the wealth of our society and made a strong social security system possible. Together we are building a movement for the unity of our country, against the threat of a split. The split in our country is anti-social, costly, absurd and brutal. More unity is social, cheaper, efficient and humane. That is why we want the federal state to become the centre of gravity of our country again. We are one. Nous sommes un.

The weekend of 15-16 May, all over the world, from Brussels to Johannesburg, via New York, Washington and London, citizens of all origins gathered to show their solidarity with the Palestinian people on the occasion of the 73rd commemoration of the Nakba, which refers to the consequences for the Palestinians of the occupation and colonization by Israel in 1948. This year, the Nakba, a day of commemoration but also and above all of resistance, has a special meaning while the Israeli army is bombing Palestinian civilians.

A jar of chocolate spread. That's what the garbage collectors in Bruges get as a reward for their hard work. A jar of chocolate spread.

A survey of 77 epidemiologists from 28 countries conducted byThe People's Vaccine Alliance* indicates that two out of three of these suspect that we have a maximum of one year before the coronavirus mutates to the point where most first generation vaccines will lose their efficacy and new vaccines will be needed. So, we will need more vaccines soon. Not only in Europe, but also worldwide. Variants know no borders, after all.

"Today we celebrate half a century of struggle, together with patients, to build a healthy society," says Janneke Ronse, president of Medicine for the People and a nurse. "50 years that patients can go see their GP without paying. 50 years of putting our money where our mouth is. We are incredibly proud of that."​ To mark the occasion, the network of people's clinics is hosting a variety of activities and an online meeting on April 18 at 11 a.m.

We're back!  With some very good news: ManiFiesta is coming back in 2021! More than ever, we need solidarity, friendship and celebration... In short, everything you can find at ManiFiesta. Make a note of September 11 and 12 in your agenda. We will cross paths, in compliance with the sanitary measures in force, of course. New : ManiFiesta is moving ! This year we will celebrate at the Wellington hippodrome in Ostend.  For all the information, answers to your questions and, of course, your tickets, it's here: www.manifiesta.be We can't wait to be there. What about you?

With Marianne, the women's organisation of the PTB, we held actions on 8 March. For a minimum wage of 14 euros, for a real handling of violence against women and for a real decriminalisation of the right to abortion. Photo: Maartje De Vries, president of Marianne