Excluded Headlines: al-Assad flees and Syria wrap up, Indian farmers protest, Kenyans march against femicide ...
Stay up to date on the Global South news stories the US- and Eurocentric media overlook, with author and journalist, Tamara Pearson.
In this week’s Global South news:
Syria wrap-up - Over the past week, President Bashar al-Assad was forced to flee Syria, seeing an end to 50 years of the al-Assad family. But a lot of the English-language mainstream media has turned to glorifying the Turkiye-backed SNA and HTS militias who overthrew the president and took over parts of Syria, despite their focus on attacking the Kurds and the US and Turkiye having previously branded the HTS “terrorists.”
Israel has carried out over 480 airstrikes on Syria since Sunday, and has launched strikes on Syrian naval facilities. Pushing further into the country, Israeli troops have also seized part of the Syrian Golan Heights. Netanyahu claimed Israel is “changing the face of the Middle East” with such invasions. US military forces also launched dozens of airstrikes on more than 75 supposedly-Islamic State targets in Syria on Sunday.
There will be a transitional period of 18 months before “free and fair” elections are held. The HTS has vowed to dissolve Assad’s security forces, to create a free-market economy for Syria, and shut down the notorious prisons, including Sednaya, which has been described as a “human slaughterhouse.” The new caretaker government is already recruiting for a new police force. However, in Manbij, taken over by Turkiye-backed forces, people protested what they described as crimes committed by the occupying forces, including kidnapping, theft, looting and murder. Then, after three days of resistance by people in Manbij, led by the Women's Protection Units, the SNA were forced to leave. Over 100,000 people have fled to areas governed by the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. Source, source, source, source, source, source, source, source, source, source.
Farmers protests continue in India - Farmers have been protesting for months near New Delhi. They want proper compensation for land of theirs that was acquired for building large townships, and support for families who have lost their only source of income. Farmers are also demanding minimum prices, something the national government had promised a few years ago. On Tuesday, Uttar Pradesh police arrested over a hundred farmers, and on Sunday, police used tear gas and water cannons. Those police had initially showered flowers on the farmers from barricades, and the farmers claimed those flowers were laced with chemicals. Source, source, source.
Kenyans march against raising femicides and gender-based violence - According to official figures (usually lower than the reality), 90 women have been killed since September. Most gender-based violence occurs in the home. Police used tear gas on protestors and arrested a non-reported number of people. Source, source.
Sudan army kills over 100 people in North Darfur market - A Sudanese army air strike on a market in North Darfur on Monday killed over 100, with hundreds more injured. The town that was hit, Kabkabiya, is controlled by the opposing army, the RSF. According to one research group, 61,000 people have died (been killed but also starved, died during displacement or from diseases) during the war in Khartoum state alone. The study was conducted using a specific method that aims to overcome unrecorded deaths. Source, source.
Israel Targets Humanitarian Teams in Gaza - Several Palestinians were killed and injured in two raids by the Israeli occupation army that targeted aid workers in Rafah and Khan Yunis on Wednesday night and Thursday morning. More people were killed in a bombing of a house in central Gaza. Some 1,750 medical personal have been killed so far in Gaza. Source, source.
Mahama wins Ghana election - Ghana's electoral commission declared former president and main opposition leader John Dramani Mahama the winner of Saturday's presidential election, with 56.55% of the vote. Participation was just 61%. Source.
Useful reads:
Syria’s political earthquake (explainer piece) and From Assad’s frying pan to Erdoğan’s fire: Turkey in Syria
Resisting Empire & Injustice Through Fiction
‘Free yourselves from fear’: Cambodian youth activists fight for environmental justice
The Syrian govt’s ouster unleashed a collective unmasking across the country
France Must Go from Africa Is the Slogan of the Hour
The Roads to Damascus
China's "green Great Wall": 46 years' efforts in combating desertification
What the U.S. Media is Not Saying About Syria (video)
Water Shortages Hit Zimbabwe Towns as Country Struggles To Overcome Impact of El Niño