At Risk
Bosnian Countryside Scarred with Landmines
SARAJEVO, Bosnia, October 30, 2013 (ENS) – Large areas of land across Bosnia still need to be cleared of mines and other munitions before the rural population can move around freely. […]
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Sandy Anniversary Brings Federal Grants, Resiliency Upgrades
NEW YORK, New York, October 29, 2013 (ENS) – Today, on the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell launched a $100 million Hurricane Sandy Coastal Resiliency Competitive Grant Program. Up and down the Atlantic coast, local officials are taking stock of recovery efforts and resiliency upgrades to prepare for future storms. […]
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Syria: Ghouta Residents Live in Fear of More Chemical Attacks
DAMASCUS, Syria, October 25, 2013 (ENS) – Fears of another chemical attack are still evident in Hamouriyeh, a town of some 25,000 people outside the Syrian capital Damascus. […]
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Australian Army Started Bushfire Blazes, Climate Also Blamed
SYDNEY, Australia, October 23, 2013 (ENS) – Live ordnance training exercises conducted by the Australian Army last week touched off a catastrophic bushfire that has burned
more than 47,000 hectares of bushland, a New South Wales Rural Fire Service investigation has determined. […]
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Cyclone Phailin Blasts India’s Eastern Coast, 28 Dead
DELHI, India, October 14, 2013 (ENS) – Cyclone Phailin is weakening today after it made landfall on the coast of eastern India late Saturday, yet heavy rains are still falling – hardest hit were the states of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand and West Bengal and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. […]
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Nobel Peace Prize Supports World Free of Chemical Weapons
OSLO, Norway, October 11, 2013 (ENS) – The Nobel Peace Prize for 2013 goes to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons for its extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons. The honor comes as the OPCW oversees the destruction by Syria of its chemical weapons stockpiles with a deadline of mid-2014. […]
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Stranded Cargo Ship Spills Oil in Vietnam Fishing Grounds
HANOI, Vietnam, October 8, 2013 (ENS) – Oil is spilling from a cargo vessel that ran aground on the reefs off Vietnam’s Ly Son island, roughly 730 kilometers (450 miles) south of the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi. […]
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Russia Charges Greenpeace Arctic Protesters with Piracy
AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands, October 3, 2013 (ENS) – Russian prosecutors have charged 30 people with piracy – 28 Greenpeace activists and two journalists – following what Greenpeace describes as “a peaceful protest” against oil drilling in the Russian Arctic. […]
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Russian Court Detains Greenpeace Arctic Drilling Protesters
AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands, September 26, 2013 (ENS) – Greenpeace International condemned a series of Russian court rulings today which left 30 activists in custody pending investigations into a protest against Gazprom’s Arctic oil drilling earlier this month off Russia’s northern coast. […]
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Quake in Pakistan’s Remote Southwest Kills 328, Forms New Island
KARACHI, Pakistan, September 25, 2013 (ENS) – A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake hit Balochistan province in southwest Pakistan on Tuesday afternoon, killing at least 328 people and injuring more than 445 others. The temblor caused the seabed to rise, creating a new island. […]
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Mexico’s Double Storms Leave 115 Dead, 68 Missing
MEXICO CITY, Mexico, September 23, 2013 (ENS) – Two hurricanes which struck Mexico last week have claimed the lives of 115 people as rescuers continue to search for 68 others believed to have died in a massive landslide in a remote coffee-growing village. […]
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Russian Coast Guard Boards Greenpeace Ship, Arrests Crew
AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands, September 19, 2013 (ENS) – In a shallow sea on Russia’s northwest coast, the Russian Coast Guard today boarded the Greenpeace International ship Arctic Sunrise and is arresting the 25 activists on board. […]
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Russian Coast Guard Fires on Greenpeace Ship, Arrests Two
AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands, September 18, 2013 (ENS) – The Russian Coast Guard has fired shots at a Greenpeace International ship in the Russian Arctic and four Greenpeace activists were arrested today during a protest of oil drilling in the fragile, pristine environment. […]
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UN: “Clear and Convincing” Evidence of Syrian Chemical Attacks
NEW YORK, New York, September 16, 2013 (ENS) – A United Nations team investigating the possible use of chemical weapons in Syria has found “clear and convincing evidence” that Sarin gas, a chemical weapon, was used in an incident on August 21 in the Ghouta area on the outskirts of Damascus. […]
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Syria Joins Chemical Weapons Treaty, U.S.-Russia Reach Deal
NEW YORK, New York, September 16, 2013 (ENS) – The Syrian government of President Bassar Al-Assad has formally acceded to the international treaty on banning chemical weapons, effective October 14. Simultaneously, U.S. and Russian diplomats have agreed on removal and destruction of all Syria’s chemical weapons by the first half of 2014. […]
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Colorado’s Historic Flooding Claims Four Lives
BOULDER, Colorado, September 13, 2013 (ENS) – Four people are dead and at least 80 others are unaccounted for today as heavy rain adds to the flood waters that have forced the evacuation of some areas of Boulder and several surrounding towns. The National Weather Service said Boulder has had 13.55 inches of rain since the storm began. […]
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EPA Chemist Who Revealed Twin Towers Toxic Dust Fired – Again
WASHINGTON, DC, September 11, 2013 (ENS) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency scientist who first revealed the dangers of toxic dust at the World Trade Center disaster site has received a second notice of proposed removal from her job more than a year after a federal civil service court ordered her returned to work. […]
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Rim Fire Suppression Costs Exceed $100 million
TUOLUMNE CITY, California, September 10, 2013 (ENS) – The cost for battling a three-week old wildfire both within and outside Yosemite National Park has reached $100.4 million. Although fire officials say the Rim Fire is 80 percent contained, the fire has burned 254,000 acres, or 398 square miles, and is still intensifing within the containment area. […]
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Japan’s Government Plans Ice Wall to Control Fukushima Radiation
TOKYO, Japan, September 5, 2013 (ENS) – The Japanese government is preparing to construct a frozen underground wall at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant as a test to see if it will stop groundwater from flowing into the contaminated facility and keep radioactive water from flowing out. […]
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10 Coastal Cities at Greatest Flood Risk as Sea Levels Rise
WASHINGTON, DC, September 3, 2013 (ENS) – The World Bank has crunched the numbers and the results are in. Five of the world’s 10 cities most at risk of flooding as climate change causes sea levels to rise, are in the United States. […]