This Week’s Under-reported News Summary – Jan. 8, 2025

Compiled by Bob Nixon

  • Election protests disrupt Mozambique
  • Enbridge oil spill erodes confidence
  • More deaths revealed in US Indian boarding schools

The southern African nation of Mozambique has been racked by its worst political violence since its civil war ended in 1992. Protests have escalated since Dec. 23 when Mozambique’s top court, the Constitutional Council, upheld the disputed Oct. 9 presidential election results naming Daniel Chapo of the ruling Frelimo party the winner with 65 percent of the vote.  Independent candidate Venancio Mondlane, who election officials say received 24 percent of the vote, claimed victory, declared that the election was rigged and called on his supporters to shut down the country.

(“Mozambique Opposition Leader Calls for Unity Ahead of Protests,” BBC, Jan. 1, 2025; “Why is Mozambique in Chaos?” New York Times, Dec. 26, 2024)

Days before Wisconsin regulators approved rerouting the Line 5 oil pipeline through a northern section of the state, the pipeline’s operator, Canadian-based Enbridge Energy had a major oil leak on a different pipeline. On Nov. 11, the Line 6 pipeline, west of Milwaukee, had a 70,000-gallon oil leak, causing significant soil contamination. However, the spill wasn’t reported to the public until a month later in mid-December.

(“An Enbridge Oil Spill in Wisconsin, Eroding Trust as the Fight Over Line 5 Continues,” Inside Climate News, Dec. 18, 2024; “The Largest Oil Spill in Wisconsin History Happened 3 Days Before the Approval of Line 5,” Barn Raiser, Dec. 23, 2024)

It took 130 years for the remains of Native American student Almeda Heavy Hair to be returned to her family at the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in Montana. Like many thousands of American Indigenous youth, she was forcibly removed from her native home at 12 years old and sent to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania. It was one of hundreds of Indian boarding schools established to eradicate Native American culture and assimilate Indians into white European society.

(“More than 3100 Students Died at Schools Built to Crush Native Cultures,” Washington Post, Dec. 22, 2024)

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