• Days after six environmental activists were convicted for actions against a mining project in the heart of a national park, the Honduras Supreme Court ordered the men known as the “Guapinol Eight,” to be set free. The ruling stemmed from a motion filed two years earlier that challenged the constitutionality of the activists’ detention. Amnesty International declared the activists “prisoners of conscience” and urged the government to release them.
(“It Was a Celebration: Top Court Frees Honduras Water Defenders,” Al Jazeera, Feb. 17 2022; “Honduras’s Deadly Water Wars,” The Nation, March 24, 2020)
• After an intense winter storm last year, the electric grid in Texas melted down. The power failure over several days left 5 million without power and killed 247 people due to the loss of heat amid freezing temperatures. The state’s Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, was blamed by many for the blackout.
( “Why Texas’ Power Grid Still Hasn’t Been Fixed,” New Yorker, Feb. 9, 2022)
• The Guardian reports one in five would-be members of the white supremacist group “Patriot Front” claimed to be in the U.S. military: both in active duty status and as veterans. The report comes from leaked documents published and reviewed by the Southern Poverty Law Center and alternative media collective Unicorn Riot.
(“One in Five Applicants to White Supremacist Group Tied to US military,” Guardian, Feb. 9, 2022)
This week’s News Summary was narrated by Anna Manzo
