DAKAR, Senegal — At least 700,000 people have fled their homes in Ivory Coast’s main city, Abidjan, to escape the increasing violence and collapsing economy stemming from the nation’s political crisis, the United Nations said Friday.
Daily gunfire spurred by Laurent Gbagbo’s efforts to stay in power after losing a presidential election in November has pushed thousands of residents out of neighborhoods surrounding the city’s central districts, while the closing of banks and businesses have led to widespread unemployment.
“The massive displacement in Abidjan and elsewhere is being fueled by fears of all-out war,” a representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees told reporters Friday in Geneva, estimating that 700,000 to one million people had already left their homes.[....]
By Sabrina Tavernise and Robert Gebeloff, New York Times, March 24/25, 2011
The percentage of the nation’s African-American population living in the South has hit its highest point in half a century, census data shows. Gains in suburbs, too. The young and educated quit cities, the North and the Midwest.
By Nayla Razzouk and Caroline Alexander, Bloomberg News, March 24, 2011
Syria’s government considers the demands of protesters “legitimate” and may lift an emergency law under which most constitutional rights have been suspended since 1963, a presidential adviser said after reports that demonstrators were killed in the southern city of Daraa.
LISBON, Portugal – Portugal's financial collapse appeared inevitable on Thursday, as markets took the government's resignation as proof the debt-heavy country will lose its year-long battle to avoid a bailout....The Socialist government quit late Wednesday after opposition parties rejected its latest debt-reduction plan, generating new market jitters and likely shortening the time the country can hold out before asking for help....
In the wake of Japan’s cascading disasters, signs of economic loss can be found in many corners of the globe, from Sendai, on the battered Japanese coast, to Paris to Marion, Ark.
Note the webpage includes a small paginated chart in the left column listing related Supply Line Disrputions reported in various industries around the world.
By Edmund Sanders, Los Angeles Times, March 19/20, 2011
The militant group that rules the Gaza Strip acknowledges firing dozens of shells into Israel, the first time it has done so since the Israeli assault on the territory two years ago. Israel responds with tank fire. Two Israelis and five Palestinians are wounded.
By Richard A. Oppel Jr., New York Times, March 18, 2011
Arizona established itself over the past year as the most aggressive state in cracking down on illegal immigrants, gaining so much momentum with its efforts that several other states vowed to follow suit. But now the harsh realities of economics appear to have intruded, and Arizona may be looking to shed the image of hard-line anti-immigration pioneer.
Going to use this thread to post information on topic in comments rather than clog up the "In the News" section with multiple posts. And others are welcome to contribute if they'd like.
By Rasool Dawar, Canadian Press, March 17, 2011 MIR ALI, Pakistan — U.S. drone aircraft fired four missiles at a building in a militant sanctuary in northwestern Pakistan on Thursday, killing 38 people in an unusually deadly strike, Pakistani officials said. A senior Pakistani intelligence official said the dead were militants meeting to discuss plans to send fighters to Afghanistan; the local governor said they were innocent tribal elders and police....
By Jeremy W. Peters, New York Times Business, March 17, 2011
....Beginning March 28, visitors to NYTimes.com will be able to read 20 articles a month without paying, a limit that company executives said was intended to draw in subscription revenue from the most loyal readers while not driving away the casual visitors who make up the vast majority of the site’s traffic.
Once readers click on their 21st article, they will have the option of buying one of three digital news packages —....
