 Hello and welcome. You're watching The Daily Roundup by People's Dispatch, where we bring you some of the top stories from around the world. Let's take a look at the headlines. Texas court allows gender affirming care investigations. Filipino inquiry holds polluters liable for rights violations. EU says nuclear deal negotiations unblocked. African religious spaces under threat in Brazil. Beginning with the US, the Texas Supreme Court has upheld a directive which will restrict transgender children's access to care. In February, Attorney General Ken Paxton issued an opinion stating that gender affirming care constituted child abuse. Shortly after the governor, Greg Abbott, directed the state child welfare agency to investigate parents providing this care for their children. Gender affirming care includes surgical, non-surgical treatments, including puberty, blocking drugs. In March, the ACLU and the Lambda Legal filed a suit on behalf of the parents of a 16-year-old girl who were being investigated. A district court issued an injunction in favor of the plaintiffs the next day. The order was extended to block all investigations statewide on March 11. This was upheld by the 3rd Court of Appeals on March 22. However, the Texas Supreme Court overturned the statewide injunction on May 13. Meanwhile, the initial injunction, which only protected the family, will remain in place. The court added that both Paxton's opinion and Abbott's directive are non-binding. Finally, the Texas Child Welfare Agency is not bound by law to follow them. Another key development has taken place in the state of Alabama. A drastic court has temporarily blocked a law criminalization gender affirming care for children. The legislation came into effect on May 9. Judge Lyle Sieberg ruled that the ban violated the constitutional rights of both children and parents and was discriminatory. Several other provisions of the law, including a ban on gender affirming surgeries for minors, remain in place. Republican lawmakers have mounted several attacks on access to healthcare, putting 54,000 trans children at risk. The Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines has released a landmark report on the world's biggest polluters. It establishes how corporates are violating human rights by fueling the climate crisis and related natural disasters. The investigation was launched in response to demands by communities impacted by extreme weather disasters. This included the 2013 Typhoon Haina which killed over 6,000 people. The Philippines ranks fourth among countries most affected by climate risk in the world. The Commission looked into 47 coal, oil, gas and cement corporations, turning them carbon majors. The seven-year inquiry found that these entities were responsible for 21.4% of all global emissions. The companies investigated include ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, Chevron. This report states that the carbon majors had early notice and knowledge of the adverse impacts of their products. They had awareness of these consequences by 1965 at the latest. These companies willfully obfuscated climate science and hit the significant harms caused by their products. They also obstructed efforts for a transition away from fossil fuel dependence. Now these directly violated people's rights to health, water, cultural preservation and livelihood. The Commission argues that these acts are at the very least immoral and may also be a basis for liability. Fossil fuel companies may also be held accountable by shareholders for oil explorations which were largely speculative. The Commission's report has been welcomed as an important resource and basis for climate litigation across the world. The European Union has announced that negotiations surrounding the 2015 Iran nuclear deal have been reopened. Foreign Policy Chief Joseph Borel stated on May 13 that there was now a prospective of reaching a final agreement. EU envoy Enrique Mora met with Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdul-Lahyan this week. He stated later it was possible to reach a good and reliable deal if the US made a political decision and honoured its commitments. Mora also held meetings with Iran's Chief Negotiator, Mora also held meetings with Iran's Chief Negotiator Ali Bagherikani. Multiple rounds of negotiations have been held in Vienna to restore the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or the JCPOA. Earlier this year, there were growing indications that an agreement was imminent. However, talks stalled once again in March despite reports of a 27-page deal being on the table. The sticking point is the designation of Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US. It was imposed in 2019 under President Donald Trump's maximum pressure campaign. Iran has demanded that the designation be revoked for the agreement to be finalised. UN Secretary of State Antony Blinken has suggested that this lies outside the JCPOA's purview. He reportedly told lawmakers that Iran would be required to take certain actions aside from the nuclear deal with regard to this issue. A State Department official told reporters on Friday that a return to the deal was far from certain. And for today's final story, we'll look at the rising threats against members of African diasporic religions in Brazil. On April 24, members of Casa Fanti Ashanti in Sao Lui were attacked by evangelical fundamentalists. The city has witnessed a series of such incidents targeting African cultural and religious spaces. Government data shows 586 reports of religious intolerance in 2021. Casa Fanti Ashanti members argue that such attacks are a consequence of the structural racism in Brazilian society. Here is a video by Brazil de Fatou on this issue. Founded in 1954 by Pai Euclides, Father Euclides in English, Fanti Ashanti House is located in the city of Sao Lui and is the first Candomblé House of Manio State as well as one of the most traditional Brazilian spaces for Tambor de Mina. The place is headed by Mãe Cabeca, Mother Cabeca in English, a religious leader nationally respected. It promotes religious, social and cultural activities. Members of the House have denounced attacks from fundamentalist individuals that coerce them and make exorcism gestures towards the Mães, Pais and Filhos de Santo, the Portuguese terms for female and male Candomblé leaders and its followers, respectively. The video showing the aggression was posted on social media platforms and has received over 300,000 views, the cases being followed by the public defense system and other state bodies. This event scared us profoundly, but it is just the culmination of many other acts that have been taking place daily, with cursings from some of the members of this church. We are very concerned because here at Sao Lui we have seen many cases of disrespect, invasion and attack against sacred temples of African diasporic religions. In addition to sentences due to the criminal offense, the offenders may also be liable in the civil sphere having to pay compensation. They can also be convicted and obligated to stop the attacks so that Afro-religions, like any other religion in this country, have assured that liberty to practice its rituals and liturgies within their spaces of religious practice. It is a fundamental right guaranteed by the federal constitution. Marianne's Human Rights Department informed that it listened to the community after which the statements were related to the responsible bodies. It also highlights that the department has been working to build public policies collectively to tackle acts of religious intolerance. A week after the attacks, followers of African diasporic religions and traditional artists crossed the streets of the city of Sao Lui in solidarity with the Funtia Shanti house and against religious racism. The action ended with a big celebration inside the house. And that's all for this episode. For more such stories visit our website peoplesdispatch.org and please follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.