1113

Venezuela says US must abandon LA military bases

Venezuelan foreign minister Delcy Rodriguez called on the United States to pull out of its military bases across Latin America on October 6.

In a fierce speech, Rodriguez labelled the US military presence across the region as a threat to peace and stability.

鈥淲e denounce the presence of 70 US bases in our region, we have to unite and demand the closing of these bases,鈥 said Rodriguez.

The comments were made while Rodriguez addressed the Latin American Summit of Progressive Movements in Quito, Ecuador.

United States: Pine Ridge indigenous youths join Dakota pipeline resistance

Nearly 1000 Native American youth from the Oglala Lakota Sioux Tribe are seeking to raise US$100,000 to join month-long protests against the North Dakota Access Pipeline project.

Indigenous and environmental activists say the pipeline will ruin sacred burial grounds and pollute local water supplies 鈥 as well as transport oil that will contribute to global warming.

The youths are from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, which is among the poorest areas in the US.

Protest at Filipino consulate against drug killings

On October 10, a protest was held outside the Philippines Consulate in Sydney by the NSW Users and AIDS Association (NUAA) as part of a global week of action by the International Network of People who Use Drugs (INPUD) against recently elected Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte鈥檚 campaign of extrajudicial executions of real and alleged drug users and dealers. More than 3500 such extrajudicial executions have taken place since Duterte assumed office on June 30. The statement below was released by INPUD.

*听 *听 *

NBA basketball players join anti-racist anthem protests

听The protests by professional sports players in the United States during 鈥淭he Star-Spangled Banner鈥 have spread since NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick sparked the controversial movement in support of the Black Lives Matter movement in August by refusing to stand for the anthem before games. The protests have spread, with other NFL players joining in as well as sportspeople from soccer and volleyball.

Venezuela, ALBA send aid to Haiti

Venezuela confirmed shipments of humanitarian aid to the island nation of Haiti on October 5 after category four Hurricane Matthew made its way through Haiti. On October 8, the death toll fro the hurricane, which caused widespread devastation, was put at more than 800.

President Nicolas Maduro made the announcement of aid on his weekly television program In Contact with Maduro on the evening of October 4.

Eddie Obeid loses lawsuit against ICAC

Supreme Court Justice David Hammerschlag dismissed former NSW minister Eddie Obeid鈥檚 civil case against the Independent Commission Against Corruption听(ICAC) on September 27.

Obeid had claimed he had suffered financial and reputational harm as a result of ICAC鈥檚 inquiry into a coal deal in 2012 and that he had been denied procedural fairness at the hearing which found he acted corruptly.

He faces a sentence hearing in October after a jury found him guilty of wilful misconduct in public office in 2007 over retail leases at Sydney鈥檚 Circular Quay.

Colombia: Huge march for peace as shock vote throws deal into question

Hundreds of thousands of Colombians marched in silence in cities across the country holding candles and torches on October 5 in support of a peace deal that only just lost a plebiscite on October 2, Morning Star said.

The huge marches came after the shock victory of the 鈥淣o鈥 vote in a plebiscite on whether to accept the peace deal negotiated between the government of Juan Manuel Santos and the left-wing Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

Lobby group loses bid to pay owner-drivers less

Truck drivers are celebrating a major win over industry lobby group NatRoad in its bid to pay them less by seeking an exemption from rules in NSW setting minimum pay rates.

The NSW Industrial Relations Commission dismissed NatRoad鈥檚 application, which was opposed by the Transport Workers鈥 Union (TWU), on October 4.

TWU听NSW branch secretary Richard Olsen said: 鈥淭his is an important win for owner drivers in NSW. NatRoad do not represent owner drivers, they represent companies that want to rip them off.鈥

Bank inquiry branded 'a farce'

The federal government's much-vaunted parliamentary inquiry into the banking system was correctly called "a farce" by Labor MP Pat Conroy on October 4, the first day of a three-day hearing in Canberra. Conroy said: "I have two days of questions here" but no time to ask them.

The inquiry was an attempt by the government to deflect growing calls for a royal commission into the banking system.

Spain: Socialist Party bosses behead leader to allow conservatives to rule

In late September and early October, two big political explosions shook the already unstable foundations of the Spanish state. On September 25, Carles Puigdemont, premier of Catalonia and head of the pro-independence Together For The Yes (JPS) regional government, told the Catalan parliament that the country would decide its political status by September next year through 鈥渁 referendum or a referendum鈥.

Maules Creek and the final void

When then-Minister for the Environment and Water Tony Burke signed over more than 1500 hectares of native vegetation, including endangered woodlands, to Whitehaven Coal in 2013, he did so amid contention and uncertainty. It would not go unchallenged.

Today, a parapet of accumulated earth protrudes from the Leard State Forest. The Maules Creek open-cut coalmine is now fully operational. But when exploitation ceases, the crater left in the mine's place will not be filled for centuries.

Fossil fuels to blame for SA power crisis

Yes, climate change was right there in the picture when a massive storm cut off power supplies throughout South Australia on September 28, forcing electricity workers to carry out a first-ever 鈥渂lack start鈥 to get the state鈥檚 grid operating again.听Estimated as a one-in-50-years occurrence, the storm left high-voltage transmission pylons bent like paper-clips.