human rights

'Not the trash bin of a superpower': Philippine solons, groups denounce U.S. toxic waste dumping in Subic

Manila, Philippines: Akbayan Party today slammed the United States government for the dumping of toxic waste 20 nautical miles from Subic Bay by the tanker MT Glenn Guardian owned by Glenn Defense Marine Asia Philippines, Inc., a United States Navy contractor which services American ships. According to Akbayan Representative Walden Bello, "the action shows a wanton disregard for Philippine laws and lack of concern for environmental safety."

A new book which tells what Aboriginal people told the Senate inquiry into the Stronger Futures legislation has been launched in Sydney. Launches in Melbourne, Canberra, Murray Bridge and Adelaide are to follow. It's called "A Decision to Discriminate: Aboriginal Disempowerment in the Northern Territory", published by the group ‘concerned Australians’, which has put out several books on the NT intervention. This is the latest.

The Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) joins the Filipino people, especially the Bangsamoros in Mindanao, in welcoming, although guardedly, the historic signing today of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro between the Philippine government (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

By Tim Anderson
On the same day it was reported that hundreds of Australian citizens were traveling to the Middle East to take part in jihadi-style terrorist attacks on Syria, Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr used national television to suggest that the ‘assassination’ of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad might be a way out of the Syrian crisis.