France climate protest
French police have fired tear gas to disperse climate activists trying to block an annual general meeting of oil giant Total. The activists sat on the ground in front of the venue of the meeting. Police teargassed them after they refused to leave. That was the latest in protests in Europe in recent days against energy giants over climate issues. Activists say the companies, including France’s Total, should reduce their carbon footprints. They say the French company embodies the worst of measures when it comes to what they call the exploitation of people and the planet. On Tuesday, climate activists disrupted the general assembly of oil giant Shell in central London. That suspended the meeting for two hours.
Bolivia church abuse scandal
Bolivian protesters call for action on alleged sexual abuses at the country’s church-run schools. The protesters took to the streets of the capital La Paz to show their anger at the alleged cases. They denounced inaction by the Catholic Church. On Wednesday, Bolivia’s catholic leaders acknowledged that they had been deaf to sexual abuses in church-run schools. The issue came to the spotlight in April when a Spanish newspaper published the diary of a late Jesuit priest. It contained multiple confessions of sexual abuse of children in Bolivian schools he ran. It also alleged that church officials knew about the abuse, but did nothing.
Floyd murder anniversary
People in the US city of Minneapolis have marked the third anniversary of the murder of George Floyd. He was an African man who was choked to death by a white police officer. Residents of Minneapolis gathered at a makeshift memorial of Floyd, with signs reading “say their names”. That’s a phrase coined to bring attention to systemic racism in the US. Floyd lost his life after white police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for nearly ten minutes. Chauvin was convicted of murder in 2021. Two other cops, who restrained Floyd’s knees, were jailed as well. Floyd’s death sparked widespread protests in the US and abroad. Protesters strongly criticized police brutality against black people in the US and other Western countries.