Excluded Headlines: Puerto Rico sues oil companies, massive protests in Bangladesh, Peru emergency ...
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:
Puerto Rico files US$1 billion climate lawsuit against oil companies - Puerto Rico is suing the oil and gas industry for at least $1 billion, joining over two dozen other US cities, counties, and states seeking compensation for climate change effects. The lawsuit, filed Monday in a San Juan court, claims that Exxon Mobil, BP, Chevron, and others used unfair and deceptive practices to market and promote oil and gas, despite knowing their impact on the environment. In the complaint, Puerto Rico says it expects to pay billions in the future to cope with catastrophes made worse by climate change. Source, source.
Massive Bangladeshi anti quota protests - At least 19 people have been killed and thousands injured as police attacked protests today in Bangladesh. People have been protesting for weeks against civil service hiring quotas where a third of jobs are reserved for family members of people who fought for the country’s independence from Pakistan in 1971. Protestors want to keep other hiring quotas for marginalized people. Source, source, source.
Civilians in DRC protest against M23, ADF killings - Protesters want peace in the region as the armed M23 rebels and alleged ADF killings (the ADF supposedly has ties to ISIS) affect them. For decades, the groups have been fighting over gold and mineral deposits. Millions of people are displaced. Source.
People in the Indigenous Amazon region of Peru declare emergency - After the murder of Indigenous leader Mariano Isacama on Sunday, Indigenous authorities denounced a lack of action by the coup government to provide them with security. The emergency involves the 14 organisations using their own resources to combat the incursion of organised crime. Source, source.
Sudan facing worst food insecurity in history - Going by Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) records, more than half the people in Sudan have experienced severe hunger since the civil war began in April 2023, equating to the world’s worst hunger crisis. Source.
90% of Gaza's population now displaced - UNICEF revealed yesterday that 90% of the people living in Gaza have been displaced since October and the conditions they have been moving to can’t address their basic living needs. Source.
The US spied on Brazil’s Lula for half a century - The US government produced over 3,300 pages of documents about the current president, spying on him since 1966, when he first became a union activist. Source.
Did you know? The average monthly income of a rural family in Guatemala in communities like Xecachelaj is 1,500 quetzals (US$193).
Useful reads:
From privatization to communal water management in Chile
Nairobi’s disastrous flood response
Silenced: Women’s Many Layered Struggles for Climate Justice in Nepal
Sudan: Decimated Sudan Sugar Industry Faces Bleak Future
India: New criminal laws threaten free speech, right to protest
Women and the intensification of war in Chiapas, Mexico
Palestinian labour mobility in the colonial context
Indonesia: Coastal communities face greater risk of microplastics