International

SP Member of Parliament and Foreign Affairs spokesman Harry van Bommel has asked Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen for clarification regarding reports of alleged use of cluster bombs by Russian forces in Georgia. A report from Human Rights Watch states that Dutch cameraman Stan Storimans, employed by the broadcaster RTL, fell victim to this controversial weapon when with seven other covilians he lost his life in the Georgian town of Gori earlier this week.

“The European Union should be working with other organisations to find a solution to the problem of plastic floating in international waters,” says SP Euro-MP Erik Meijer. In the Pacific Ocean the plastic would be sufficient to form an island bigger than France, Spain and Portugal combined. Bottles, bags and remnants of cargo thrown overboard come mostly from North America and circulate, clotting together in the ocean currents, between Japan and the United States.