13 Senators Urge Powell to Send Emergency Funds to Afghanistan
Led by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), 13 U.S. senators joined in a letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell urging the U.S. to immediately send $30 million in emergency relief funds to aid the hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees, primarily women and children, who have fled their homes to escape the brutal rule of the Taliban regime, a total lack of food, and the worst drought to hit Afghanistan in 30 years. As many as 800,000 internal refugees seek relief within Afghanistan; hundreds of thousands have crossed the border to neighboring Pakistan in search of relief, only to find death and starvation in refugee camps.
In addition to Sen. Feinstein, Senators Joseph Biden (D- DE), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), Russell Feingold (D-WI), Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Patty Murray (D-LA), Harry Reid (D-NV), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), and Paul Wellstone (D-WI) also signed the letter to Sec. Powell.
5/20/2013 Afghan Violence Against Women Law Blocked in Parliament - On Saturday, the Speaker of the Lower House of Afghan Parliament delayed a vote on the Elimination of Violence against Women law after two hours of vociferous debate between conservative religious and more liberal members of Parliament. . . .
5/20/2013 Walmart, American Retailers Refuse to Join Bangladesh Accord - Walmart, along with 13 other major North American companies, refused to sign a legally binding agreement to improve working conditions for overseas factory workers that manufacture their clothes after a garment factory collapsed in Bangladesh killing an estimated 1300 workers, the New York Times reports.
The agreement requires retailers pay $500,000 to improve worker safety measures over a five year period. . . .
