With nine major refineries closed and many oil rigs or platforms reported missing in the Gulf of Mexico in the wake of Hurrice Katrina, the US government has decided to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves to help offset… Read moreBush opens Strategic Reserves
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin says Hurricane Katrina probably killed hundreds and “most likely, thousands” of residents. “We know there is a significant number of dead bodies in the water,” and others dead on roofs and in attics, Nagin told… Read moreKatrina: levee system made disaster worse
Warmer sea-surface temperatures caused by climate change could boost the frequency and potency of hurricanes, and that may be what we are now witnessing following the wave of ferocious Atlantic storms in recent years. A paper published last month in… Read moreKatrina, Republican “witch-hunt” worry climate scientists
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans is devastated. Eighty percent of the city is submerged and the water is expected to keep rising for days due to levee breaks. The death toll of 60 could be just the… Read moreIraq impacts felt in New Orleans
Note how this Aug. 30 Associated Press report implicitly accepts Sharon’s language that “the main settlement blocs will remain under Israeli sovereignty.” Of course none of the settlement blocs are under Israeli sovereignty, according to international law. Sharon: Not all… Read moreSharon: No major West Bank pullout
Reporters Without Borders is calling for the immediate release of Nosir Zakirov, a correspondent for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Uzbekistan’s eastern province of Namangan, who was convicted of “insulting a government official” and sentenced to six months on prison… Read moreReporter gets prison in Uzbekistan
From Halliburton Watch: Army demotes senior official who exposed Halliburton cronyism 29 August 2005 WASHINGTON, Aug. 29 (HalliburtonWatch.org) — The top civilian contracting official at the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) was demoted after exposing cronyism between Halliburton and… Read moreUS Army “reprisal” against Halliburton whistle-blower
A soundman working for Reuters TV was shot dead Aug. 28 in Baghdad, and a cameraman with him was wounded and then detained by US soldiers. An Iraqi police report, read to Reuters by an Interior Ministry official, said the… Read moreIraq: US troops kill Reuters soundman
From The Independent, via TruthOut, Aug. 29: Iraqi Activist Taken Up by Bush Recants Her Views She was the Iraqi activist who became a symbol of the possibility of a brighter future for Iraq. Back in February, with blue ink… Read moreIraq: women’s rights activist charges betrayal
Raymond Bonner reports for the New York Times Aug. 28 that a new grass-roots political movement here has gathered more than 7,000 names of supporters on its web site in a campaign to free David Hicks, an Australian citizen being… Read moreCampaign to free Aussie in Gitmo
Morocco’s leading independent human rights group called on the government Aug. 29 to start talks to try to end a hunger strike by prisoners from Morocco-occupied Western Sahara who are demanding better conditions. The Moroccan Human Rights Association (AMDH) said… Read moreWestern Sahara prisoners on hunger strike
The group of New York cyclists who join the monthly Critical Mass Bike Ride is asking Mayor Michael Bloomberg to join in so he can see first-hand how they’re treated by police. They also say they are going to launch… Read moreNYC Critical Mass to Bloomberg: Join us!
