NEW YORK–(ENEWSPF)–15 March 2011 – As fighting intensifies in Libya, the United Nations refugee agency today voiced concern that people needing to flee combat areas and seek refuge are either unable to go or being prevented from doing so, even as the number of refugees nears 300,000. “We appeal again[Read More…]

NEW YORK–(ENEWSPF)–15 March 2011 – Insecurity and the resulting limited humanitarian access in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire’s largest city are compounding United Nations efforts to aid some of the 300,000 people displaced by fighting stemming from defeated president Laurent Gbagbo’s refusal to leave office. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),[Read More…]

CHICAGO–(ENEWSPF)–March 15, 2011.  Moves to restrict the collective bargaining rights of Wisconsin’s public-sector employees are “an attack on all working people,” according to Leo Gerard, president of the United Steelworkers union. Gerard accused Republican state senators in Wisconsin of violating the state’s open meeting law by voting, without a quorum,[Read More…]

WASHINGTON–(ENEWSPF)–March 15 – All eyes are trained on Wisconsin, but corporate-backed politicians are clearly gunning for working people in every state across the country. In a brazen new low, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder is on track to sign a new law under the guise of fiscal responsibility that will allow[Read More…]

Washington, D.C.–(ENEWSPF)–March 15, 2011.   The short-term funding bill passed in the House of Representatives today gives Congress some breathing room to find consensus on a long-term measure that funds the government through the end of the fiscal year.  The President urges the Senate to pass this bill to avoid[Read More…]

Washington, D.C.–(ENEWSPF)–March 15, 2011 – 10:06 A.M. EDT MR. CARNEY:  Thanks, everybody, for being here.  This is, I think as advertised, an off-camera but on-the-record briefing we’d like to do for you, one of two previewing the President’s upcoming trip to Latin America.  Today I have Mike Froman, with whom[Read More…]

NEW YORK–(ENEWSPF)–March 15, 2011.  On Tuesday, members of the 11-person Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) team in earthquake-battered northeast Japan worked in evacuation centers with local medical staff in a small, isolated community in Miyagi prefecture. “There were two local doctors in Minamisanriku who have been working in around[Read More…]

Washington, D.C.–(ENEWSPF)–March 15, 2011.  The US Geologis Survey (USGS) has updated the magnitude of the March 11, 2011, Tohoku earthquake in northern Honshu, Japan, to 9.0 from the previous estimate of 8.9. Independently, Japanese seismologists have also updated their estimate of the earthquake’s magnitude to 9.0. This magnitude places the[Read More…]

Washington, D.C.—(ENEWSPF)—March 15, 2011.  The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) analysts overnight continued their review of radiation data related to the damaged Japanese nuclear reactors. The analysts continue to conclude the steps recommend by Japanese authorities parallel those the United States would suggest in a similar situation. The Japanese authorities Monday[Read More…]

Vienna, Austria–(ENEWSPF)–15 March 2011 (18:00 UTC).  The IAEA can confirm the following information about the status of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant: Unit 4 was shut down for a routine, planned maintenance outage on 30 November 2010. After the outage, all fuel from the reactor was transferred to the[Read More…]