Fukushima Daiichi Plant Still Unstable, Japan to Focus on Renewable Energy
Two months after a massive earthquake and tsunami rocked Japan, Prime Minister Naoto Kan has promised a full investigation of the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. He also pledged to de-emphasize nuclear power in the coming years and instead focus on renewable energy, according to the Environment News Service. People across the region hit hardest by the disaster observed a moment of silence yesterday for the 24,834 people who are dead and missing. The Daiichi plant is still unstable and leaking radiation, and many evacuees from the area surrounding the plant remain in shelters. On March 11, a 9.0 earthquake shook Japan and unleashed a tsunami wave that claimed thousands of lives and caused a nuclear disaster at the Daiichi plant.
Attention Dumpster Divers: One-Third of the World's Food Gets Wasted
A new United Nations report reveals that about one-third of the food produced each year for human consumption worldwide gets lost or wasted. That comes out to approximately 1.3 billion tons of food that somehow slips through the cracks and never gets eaten, at least by those who don't dig through the trash. Consumers in rich countries waste 222 million tons of food each year, an amount of eatables that almost equals the entire net food production of sub-Saharan Africa. If you're not a dumpster diver, it's time to join the clean plate club.
NATO Attacks Qaddafi After TV Appearance
Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi made his first television appearance in two weeks last night, and within hours NATO airstrikes blasted his compound, according to Reuters. The strikes left at least three people dead and 25 wounded. A government spokesperson condemned the strikes and said the NATO hit an area where Qaddafi supporters gather every night to chant slogans.
House Panel Approves Billions in Defense and Nuclear Spending
The House Armed Services Committee approved a spending measure today that provides $690 billion to the Pentagon and Energy Department, including $18 billion for new nuclear projects, according to The Hill. The measure also secures $118 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and includes a amendment that could delay the process of a full repeal of the “Don't ask, Don't Tell” ban on openly gay military service members. The amendment adds four more military leaders to the list of those who must certify the official end of the ban.
Angry, shocked, overwhelmed? Take action: Support independent media.
We’ve borne witness to a chaotic first few months in Trump’s presidency.
Over the last months, each executive order has delivered shock and bewilderment — a core part of a strategy to make the right-wing turn feel inevitable and overwhelming. But, as organizer Sandra Avalos implored us to remember in Truthout last November, “Together, we are more powerful than Trump.”
Indeed, the Trump administration is pushing through executive orders, but — as we’ve reported at Truthout — many are in legal limbo and face court challenges from unions and civil rights groups. Efforts to quash anti-racist teaching and DEI programs are stalled by education faculty, staff, and students refusing to comply. And communities across the country are coming together to raise the alarm on ICE raids, inform neighbors of their civil rights, and protect each other in moving shows of solidarity.
It will be a long fight ahead. And as nonprofit movement media, Truthout plans to be there documenting and uplifting resistance.
As we undertake this life-sustaining work, we appeal for your support. Please, if you find value in what we do, join our community of sustainers by making a monthly or one-time gift.