NEW YORK–(ENEWSPF)–31 May 2011.  Parties to the Libyan conflict remain sharply divided on how to start peace talks, with the Government adamant on a truce, including the cessation of an international bombing campaign, and the opposition demanding that Muammar al-Qadhafi and his family first relinquish power, a senior United Nations[Read More…]

BELGIUM–(ENEWSPF)–31 May 2011 Today, NATO Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Jean Ping, met to continue discussions on the Libya crisis. During the meeting, the Secretary General made clear that NATO’s Operation Unified Protector was in full compliance with the provisions of United Nations Security[Read More…]

Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–May 31, 2011.  Today, President Obama will announce his intent to nominate John Bryson as the Secretary of U.S. Department of Commerce.  Mr. Bryson will play a key role as a member of the President’s economic team, bringing decades of knowledge and experience in the public and private sectors,[Read More…]

Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–May 31, 2011.  The Department of Defense announced today the office of military commissions prosecutors have sworn charges against five individuals detained at Guantanamo Bay:  Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi.  The prosecutors have recommended[Read More…]

WASHINGTON–(ENEWSPF)–May 31, 2011.  The United States Supreme Court today allowed Attorney General John Ashcroft to escape liability for the wrongful arrest and detention of a U.S. Citizen under the material witness law, but four justices raised serious questions about using the statute to justify preventive detention in the future. The[Read More…]

Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–May 31, 2011 – UPDATE AS OF 12 P.M. EDT. Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said the use of remote controlled machinery is believed to have caused an oxygen cylinder to explode near reactor 4 at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear energy facility. The explosion occurred outside of the building[Read More…]

NEW YORK–(ENEWSPF)–31 May 2011.  The United Nations human rights chief today condemned the intensified use of force against anti-Government protestors in Yemen, amid reports that over 50 people have been killed since Sunday in the city of Taiz and hundreds more have been injured. According to unconfirmed reports received by[Read More…]

BRUSSELS–(ENEWSPF)–MAY 31, 2011—An employee of the international medical organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has been detained for weeks in Bahrain after being severely beaten upon arrest by authorities, and with no information provided about his condition and whereabouts, including to his family and lawyer.  Saeed Mahdi was arrested[Read More…]

Arlington, VA–(ENEWSPF)–May 30, 2011 – 11:25 A.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  Thank you so much.  Please be seated.  Thank you, Secretary Gates, and thank you for your extraordinary service to our nation.  I think that Bob Gates will go down as one of our finest Secretaries of Defense in[Read More…]

Joplin, MO–(ENEWSPF)–May 29, 2011 – 2:40 P.M. CDT THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  Thank you so much.  Please, please be seated. AUDIENCE MEMBER:  I love you, Obama! THE PRESIDENT:  I love Joplin!  (Applause.)  I love Joplin.  AUDIENCE MEMBER:  We love Joplin! THE PRESIDENT:  We love Joplin.  (Applause.) Thank you, Governor, for[Read More…]