Draconomicon
09-04-2005, 06:12 AM
Hopefully this will help to lessen the impact of this horrible catastrophe.
U.S. thanks dozens of foreign countries for aid
By Sue Pleming
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Friday thanked dozens of foreign governments -- rich and poor, enemy and friend -- for their offers to help the world's wealthiest country recover from devastating Hurricane Katrina.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said just as the United States responded generously to disasters worldwide, so had nearly 60 nations come to America's side after Hurricane Katrina ripped through New Orleans and other parts of the U.S. Gulf Coast, killing hundreds and possibly thousands of people.
"Today, we are seeing a similar urgent, warm and compassionate reaction from the international community in response to Katrina," Rice told a news conference.
Rice said no aid had been turned down and she was particularly moved by an offer from Sri Lanka, itself recovering from last year's Indian Ocean tsunami.
"Every contribution is important," said Rice, who plans to visit some of the stricken areas over the weekend in Alabama, where her own family comes from.
The State Department has set up a task force to cope with the dozens of offers coming in from foreign nations, trying to match them up with needs on the ground.
Embassies in the U.S. capital have swamped the department with offers, ranging from cash donations to helicopters, tents and medical teams.
While help has come from longtime American friends such as Japan, Germany, Canada, France and Britain, offers have also been made by critics of the U.S. government, including Cuba and Venezuela.
Cuban President Fidel Castro, calling a "truce" in Havana's ideological enmity with Washington, offered to fly 1,100 doctors to Houston with 26 tons of medicine to treat people in the disaster area.
Castro's leftist ally, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez offered to send cheap fuel but the State Department said a decision had not been made on whether to accept this offer.
In Mexico City, a Foreign Ministry official told reporters Mexico was sending 15 truckloads of water, food and medical supplies via Texas, and the Mexican navy had offered to send two ships, two helicopters and 15 amphibious vehicles
Rice canceled her vacation this week and returned to work when the devastation from the hurricane became clear. She said she had spoken via telephone to her counterparts in a number of foreign capitals.
"In my discussions with my counterparts, I've been heartened at their offers of both short-term and long-term support," she said.
The State Department has also been trying to track down all of its 165 employees who work at a busy passport office in New Orleans and has tried to secure the office from looters.
In addition, State Department specialists who usually are used abroad in disasters have been assigned to help with the relief efforts.
The department said offers of help had been received from: Australia, Austria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Belgium, Canada, China, Columbia, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, the European Union, France, Germany, Guatemala, Greece, Guyana, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, NATO, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Organization of American States, Paraguay, Philippines, Portugal, South Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the World Health Organization.
© Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved.
http://today.reuters.com/news/NewsArticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2005-09-02T235528Z_01_BAU271501_RTRIDST_0_USREPORT-WEATHER-KATRINA-FOREIGN-DC.XML
International agency offers fuel reserves to U.S.
Friday, September 2, 2005 Posted: 1751 GMT (0151 HKT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A Bush administration official said the International Energy Agency "has agreed to make 60 million barrels of product available" to help the United States weather the economic problems caused by Hurricane Katrina.
Samuel Bodman said the product, crude oil or gasoline, will go to the marketplace over the next month at the rate of 2 million barrels per day.
"The United States welcomes this historic and unanimous decision," Bodman said.
The announcement comes after the 26 members of the IEA debated by telephone and e-mail about releasing some reserves because damage from Katrina curtailed production along the Gulf of Mexico.
More reserves would help the United States cope with the oil supply shortage spurred by the hurricane. The United States is a member of the agency.
In the United States, the Association of Oil Pipelines said all pipelines that had been put out of service by Katrina were operating, but at lowered capacity.
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/US/09/02/iea.reserves/index.html
Schroeder backs world oil reserve release
BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on Friday said he supported a U.S. request for the release of international oil reserves in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Schroeder said Germany's had a "historic duty" to support the United States because of U.S. aid to post-World War II Germany.
"The United States of America has asked the International Energy Agency (IEA) to put part of the international oil reserves on the market. It is natural for us to support that American request," said Schroeder told a hastily called news conference.
More reserves would help the United States cope with an oil supply shortage caused by the hurricane.
The IEA did not confirm a U.S. request. But the 26 members of the IEA are debating by telephone and e-mail about releasing some oil because damage from Katrina curtailed production along the Gulf of Mexico.
A U.S. Embassy spokesman in Berlin said he's unaware of any U.S. request, although he said the United States welcomed any help offered.
Schroeder's statement comes amid concern across Europe over growing gasoline prices. Also, he is currently is in the middle of an election campaign, and polls are indicating he will lose to conservative challenger Angela Merkel. The election is September 18.
"The pictures we've seen on TV are difficult to bear," he said. "It's not only our historic duty, since we received so much help after the Second World War, but we should of course give all the help that's possible."
Schroeder said a "consequence" of an IEA move is "that national governments will give some of their reserves" to soften oil prices.
"There is also a great responsibility of the international companies that serve this market. Right after such a situation, with terrible pictures from America, they not only have business responsibilities but also human ones; there should be international solidarity," Schroeder said.
CNN Berlin Correspondent Chris Burns contributed to this report
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/09/02/germany.katrina.oil/index.html
U.S. thanks dozens of foreign countries for aid
By Sue Pleming
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Friday thanked dozens of foreign governments -- rich and poor, enemy and friend -- for their offers to help the world's wealthiest country recover from devastating Hurricane Katrina.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said just as the United States responded generously to disasters worldwide, so had nearly 60 nations come to America's side after Hurricane Katrina ripped through New Orleans and other parts of the U.S. Gulf Coast, killing hundreds and possibly thousands of people.
"Today, we are seeing a similar urgent, warm and compassionate reaction from the international community in response to Katrina," Rice told a news conference.
Rice said no aid had been turned down and she was particularly moved by an offer from Sri Lanka, itself recovering from last year's Indian Ocean tsunami.
"Every contribution is important," said Rice, who plans to visit some of the stricken areas over the weekend in Alabama, where her own family comes from.
The State Department has set up a task force to cope with the dozens of offers coming in from foreign nations, trying to match them up with needs on the ground.
Embassies in the U.S. capital have swamped the department with offers, ranging from cash donations to helicopters, tents and medical teams.
While help has come from longtime American friends such as Japan, Germany, Canada, France and Britain, offers have also been made by critics of the U.S. government, including Cuba and Venezuela.
Cuban President Fidel Castro, calling a "truce" in Havana's ideological enmity with Washington, offered to fly 1,100 doctors to Houston with 26 tons of medicine to treat people in the disaster area.
Castro's leftist ally, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez offered to send cheap fuel but the State Department said a decision had not been made on whether to accept this offer.
In Mexico City, a Foreign Ministry official told reporters Mexico was sending 15 truckloads of water, food and medical supplies via Texas, and the Mexican navy had offered to send two ships, two helicopters and 15 amphibious vehicles
Rice canceled her vacation this week and returned to work when the devastation from the hurricane became clear. She said she had spoken via telephone to her counterparts in a number of foreign capitals.
"In my discussions with my counterparts, I've been heartened at their offers of both short-term and long-term support," she said.
The State Department has also been trying to track down all of its 165 employees who work at a busy passport office in New Orleans and has tried to secure the office from looters.
In addition, State Department specialists who usually are used abroad in disasters have been assigned to help with the relief efforts.
The department said offers of help had been received from: Australia, Austria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Belgium, Canada, China, Columbia, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, the European Union, France, Germany, Guatemala, Greece, Guyana, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, NATO, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Organization of American States, Paraguay, Philippines, Portugal, South Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the World Health Organization.
© Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved.
http://today.reuters.com/news/NewsArticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2005-09-02T235528Z_01_BAU271501_RTRIDST_0_USREPORT-WEATHER-KATRINA-FOREIGN-DC.XML
International agency offers fuel reserves to U.S.
Friday, September 2, 2005 Posted: 1751 GMT (0151 HKT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A Bush administration official said the International Energy Agency "has agreed to make 60 million barrels of product available" to help the United States weather the economic problems caused by Hurricane Katrina.
Samuel Bodman said the product, crude oil or gasoline, will go to the marketplace over the next month at the rate of 2 million barrels per day.
"The United States welcomes this historic and unanimous decision," Bodman said.
The announcement comes after the 26 members of the IEA debated by telephone and e-mail about releasing some reserves because damage from Katrina curtailed production along the Gulf of Mexico.
More reserves would help the United States cope with the oil supply shortage spurred by the hurricane. The United States is a member of the agency.
In the United States, the Association of Oil Pipelines said all pipelines that had been put out of service by Katrina were operating, but at lowered capacity.
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/US/09/02/iea.reserves/index.html
Schroeder backs world oil reserve release
BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on Friday said he supported a U.S. request for the release of international oil reserves in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Schroeder said Germany's had a "historic duty" to support the United States because of U.S. aid to post-World War II Germany.
"The United States of America has asked the International Energy Agency (IEA) to put part of the international oil reserves on the market. It is natural for us to support that American request," said Schroeder told a hastily called news conference.
More reserves would help the United States cope with an oil supply shortage caused by the hurricane.
The IEA did not confirm a U.S. request. But the 26 members of the IEA are debating by telephone and e-mail about releasing some oil because damage from Katrina curtailed production along the Gulf of Mexico.
A U.S. Embassy spokesman in Berlin said he's unaware of any U.S. request, although he said the United States welcomed any help offered.
Schroeder's statement comes amid concern across Europe over growing gasoline prices. Also, he is currently is in the middle of an election campaign, and polls are indicating he will lose to conservative challenger Angela Merkel. The election is September 18.
"The pictures we've seen on TV are difficult to bear," he said. "It's not only our historic duty, since we received so much help after the Second World War, but we should of course give all the help that's possible."
Schroeder said a "consequence" of an IEA move is "that national governments will give some of their reserves" to soften oil prices.
"There is also a great responsibility of the international companies that serve this market. Right after such a situation, with terrible pictures from America, they not only have business responsibilities but also human ones; there should be international solidarity," Schroeder said.
CNN Berlin Correspondent Chris Burns contributed to this report
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/09/02/germany.katrina.oil/index.html