Alabama island’s beaches covered with ‘tar patties’ from oil spill

By David A. FahrentholdWashington Post Staff WriterWednesday, June 2, 2010; 8:18 PM DAUPHIN ISLAND, Ala. — Pancake-sized blobs of oil have begun washing ashore in this barrier-island beach town, as significant amounts of oil from the BP spill make landfall in new places far to the east of Louisiana. The oil appeared on this 14-mile […]

Louisiana churchgoers somber after BP fails to plug Gulf oil spill

By The Associated PressMay 30, 2010, 6:04PM The reality that the Gulf oil leak could keep flowing for months was setting in Sunday for some somber churchgoers in Louisiana. In Plaquemines Parish near the mouth of the Mississippi River, the Rev. Theodore Turner said of his congregants are getting desperate because BP has been unable […]

Detroit to demolish 10,000 structures, including historic homes

By ALEX P. KELLOGG DETROIT—Wrecking crews are preparing to tear down a landmark 5,000-square-foot house in the posh neighborhood of Palmer Woods in the coming weeks, a sign that Detroit is finally getting serious about razing thousands of vacant and abandoned structures across the city. In leveling 1860 Balmoral Drive, the boyhood home of one-time […]

Afghanistan war costs now outpace Iraq’s

By Richard Wolf, USA TODAY WASHINGTON — The monthly cost of the war in Afghanistan, driven by troop increases and fighting on difficult terrain, has topped Iraq costs for the first time since 2003 and shows no sign of letting up. Pentagon spending in February, the most recent month available, was $6.7 billion in Afghanistan […]

Schwarzenegger preps ‘terrible cuts’ to close California deficit

By Michael B. Marois and William Selway May 11 (Bloomberg) — California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will seek “terrible cuts” to eliminate an $18.6 billion budget deficit facing the most-populous U.S. state through June 2011, his spokesman said. Schwarzenegger, 62, who will introduce his revised budget plans on May 14, has said he won’t seek tax […]

Illinois budget woes come to a boil

By AMY MERRICK Illinois lawmakers were in disarray Thursday as they groped for stopgap measures to address a $13 billion deficit equaling nearly half of the state’s general-fund revenue. The state faces one of the nation’s worst budget crises, spilled over in part from the broader national economic crunch, and its current bond ratings lag […]

Industry experts call for water privatization and higher global water price

Private water suppliers poised to grow as demand set to surge By Juliette Jowit in Pariswww.guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 28 April 2010 14.47 BST Private companies are poised for a surge in demand to take over water supplies, despite widespread opposition to privatisation of what is seen as a life-giving public service. Global Water Intelligence analysts expect […]

Kenya growers dump tons of roses due to Europe flight ban

By Jeremy Clarke and Antony Gitonga; additional reporting by Duncan Miriri and Elias Biryabarema in Nairobi, Barry Malone in Addis Ababa; Editing by Helen Nyambura-Mwaura and Giles ElgoodMon Apr 19, 2010 4:24pm EDT NAIVASHA, Kenya (Reuters) – Kenyan flower farmer Jack Kneppers was forced on Monday to throw 6.5 tons of his exquisite roses into […]

Bangladesh reverses environmental regulation, allows toxic vessels into shipbreaking ports

  By Staff WritersDhaka (AFP) April 12, 2010 Environmental campaigners branded a move Monday by Bangladesh to ease strict controls on its vital shipbreaking industry as “suicidal”, saying it would expose tens of thousands to toxic waste. The government amended a law late Sunday to permit the industry, the world’s largest, to bring in ships […]

Iceland bank ‘Black Report’

  The English version of the Black Report on the Iceland bank failures was released today. It has it all – regulatory capture, oblivious politicians, shadow banking, loans to shareholders to buy shares and more. (ht Steinn) Here is the website with the English version. … One of the key problems identified in the report […]

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