In today’s edition of Squirrel News, we’re looking at a groundbreaking legal move to provide tangible support to Brooklyn’s sex workers, a growing movement in Black church communities to embrace mental health care, and a ruling by a Dutch court ordering Shell to compensate Nigerian farmers affected by oil spills.
Brooklyn will redirect sex workers to support services and vacate prostitution warrants
The DA’s initiative aims to protect women and marginalised communities by offering wide-ranging support services instead, including assistance for substance abuse, housing issues and mental health problems.
Churches in Black communities are preaching the benefits of mental health care
The move marks a substantial shift in the narrative surrounding psychological treatment in certain churches, in which congregations were advised to “pray away” conditions.
Nigerian farmers defeat oil giants in landmark ruling
The major ruling comes after a 13-year-long campaign to hold the oil company accountable for damaging and destroying lands by using poorly maintained leaking pipelines.
A groundbreaking COVID-19 treatment has accidentally been found in a cancer drug
Research suggests that Aplidin is approximately 27.5 times more effective in animals than Remdesivir, with the drug soon to enter the regulatory approval phase of legalisation.
A Finnish city has launched an urban ski-sharing programme in a global first
Lahti residents will be able to borrow a pair of skis in order to travel safely and easily when other transportation methods are tricky due to snowfall.
Worker-owned cooperatives are giving financial independence to communities
By building their own investment networks and fundraising collectively, local communities are more informed as to how this capital can be deployed most effectively.
“Making our home safe again”: meet the women who clear land mines
After decades of war, more and more women are working to remove lethal mines and IEDs from the fields and cities of their homelands. It’s dangerous, but it’s helping to rebuild their lives.
Source: The Guardian
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More bikes on London’s streets, free fashion upcycling classes, libraries at bus stops
Big Ten schools create ‘mutual defense compact’, salt-powered fridge, sequoia forest in Detroit