鈥淏P PLC鈥檚 long-awaited internal investigation into the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig found that the British oil giant bears some responsibility for the disaster but laid most of the blame on its contractors鈥, the September 8 Wall Street Journal said.
Raul Connolly
The Australia Western Sahara Association has urged BHP-Billiton to suspend Canadian company PotashCorp鈥檚 trade in phosphate from Western Sahara if its takeover bid is successful.
AWSA president Lyn Allison said in an August 25 statement: 鈥淚f BHP cares anything for business ethics, social responsibility and international law, it will not allow the Canadian fertiliser corporation to buy further Western Saharan phosphate from Morocco.鈥
鈥淭welve American soldiers face charges over a secret 鈥榢ill team鈥 that allegedly blew up and shot Afghan civilians at random and collected their fingers as trophies鈥, the September 9 Guardian said. 鈥淔ive of the soldiers are charged with murdering three Afghan men who were allegedly killed for sport in separate attacks this year.鈥
The other seven are charged with helping to cover up these atrocities and assaulting a soldier who exposed the murders, the Guardian said.
鈥淎n oil platform explosion on September 2 in the Gulf of Mexico forced the crew to jump into the sea and threatened further damage to waters still recovering from the BP disaster鈥, AFP said that day.
The explosion on the platform, owned by Houston-based Mariner Energy, comes in the aftermath of the BP-owned Deepwater Horizon rig explosion in the gulf in April, which killed 11 workers. Bloomberg.com said on August 20 that 4.9 million barrels of oil escaped from the leaking well.
In Fremont, Nebraska in the US mid-west, some of the biggest names in indie rock played a sold-out pro-immigrant benefit gig on July 31 titled 鈥淐oncert for Equality鈥.
Omaha.com said on August 2: 鈥淭he theme of the day 鈥 and the reason for the show 鈥 was to fight Fremont鈥檚 recently passed immigration ordinance, which would fine employers and landlords who hire or rent to illegal immigrants.鈥
All proceeds from the gig were offered to the American Liberties Civil Union to assist its fight against the law, Pollstar.com said on August 4.
A growing number of unions across Australia have backed the international boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign targeting Israel. The campaign demands that Israel ends its apartheid-like policies towards Palestinians.
The National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA) said in a July 20 statement that it would 鈥渃ontinue to add its voice to the call for an end to Israel鈥檚 occupation of Palestine and condemning all acts of terrorism鈥.
The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) apparently screened Iraqi film Son of Babylon against the wishes of the filmmakers 鈥 who object to the sponsorship of the MIFF by the apartheid state of Israel.
Israel faces an international boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign by opponents of its oppression of Palestinians. As with the international campaign against South African apartheid, this includes a call for a cultural boycott.
Argentina鈥檚 Senate narrowly approved a measure on July 15 legalising same-sex marriage, the New York Times said that day. The NYT said Argentina is the first Latin American nation to allow gay couples to wed.
The bill, which was sponsored by the government of President Cristinia Fernandez, was passed by 33-27. On July 15, Prensa Latina said Fernandez congratulated the Senate, saying the bill will allow for the protection of the rights of a minority.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced on June 22 the formation of a three-member panel to advise him on whether Sri Lanka committed crimes during the last months of its war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Reuters said that day.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Richard Falk, called, on May 31, for the international community to bring to justice those responsible for Israel鈥檚 deadly raid on a ship bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza, Countercurrents.com said that day. The raid killed at least nine people.
International outrage against Israel鈥檚 May 31 massacre of activists on a boat bringing aid to Gaza has been expressed through ongoing mass protests around the world, condemnation of Israel's actions by most governments (except the US), and calls for the immediate lifting of Israel鈥檚 blockade of Gaza.
Nicaragua has suspended diplomatic ties with Israel. Sweden, Spain, Turkey, Ecuador and South Africa have recalled their envoys. Cuba, Venezuela and Bolivia had already cut their diplomatic ties with Israel.
Venezuela foreign minister Nicolas Maduro said on June 2 that Venezuela鈥檚 announced cancelling of Haiti's debt of US$395 million with Petrocaribe was now official.
Petrocaribe is a program under which the Venezuelan government offers discounted oil, to be paid back over long-term low-interest loans, to Caribbean and Central American nations.
Maduro made the announcement after the World Summit on the Future of Haiti. The summit was held in the Dominican Republic with the participation of representatives from 50 countries.
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