Iraq sanctions extended
The United Nations Security Council voted September 8 to extend its five-year-old trade sanctions against Iraq. The decision came a few weeks after the Clinton administration's failed move to topple the Iraqi government, which included the high-profile defection of two top Iraqi military officials followed by the sending of 1,000 U.S. troops to the Persian Gulf for military "exercises" in neighboring Kuwait. U.S. Ambassador to the UN Madeleine Albright indicated at that time that Washington would try to prevent any easing of sanctions, which are reviewed every 60 days, for at least another year.

Chechens protest troops
More than 1,000 residents of Grozny, Chechnya's capital, rallied September 8 at the scene of the killing of a Chechen teenager by Russian troops. Later, several hundred Chechens demonstrated outside the headquarters of the Moscow-backed provisional government, waving Islamic flags and demanding Russian troops leave the city.

The Russian military sent armored personnel carriers and about 200 policemen to the scene and threatened to use force to disperse the crowds. A July 30 military pact mandating disarmament by Chechen rebels and the start of Russian withdrawal has not been carried out.

Street to honor fascist protested
Rome mayor Francesco Rutelli sparked protests when he announced plans to name a city street for Giuseppe Bottai, who was minister of education in Benito Mussolini's fascist government from 1936 to 1943. Rutelli, a former member of the Italian Communist Party who now represents the Green Party, said it was an effort at reconciliation between antifascists and those who supported the Mussolini regime. The fascist National Alliance and the Vatican newspaper applauded Rutelli's proposal.

During the fascist regime, Bottai signed a law in 1938 banning Jewish students and teachers from the schools.

Paris offers Bonn nuke umbrella
Alain Juppé, the French prime minister, said September 7 at an international forum on Franco-German relations that Paris may offer to cover Germany under its "nuclear umbrella." French government officials had previously mentioned extending France's nuclear capability to provide a European nuclear defense policy, but hadn't specified any countries.

"In a world in which nuclear weapons will continue to play an essential role," Juppé said, it was "all the more important to guarantee Germany's security against this threat." German foreign minister Klaus Kinkel said the idea was "interesting," while Defense Minister Volker Ruhe was more skeptical.

Deportation for Haitian rightist
A U.S. immigration judge ordered the deportation to Haiti of death squad leader Emmanuel Constant September 5. Constant was charged in Haiti with crimes of murder, torture, and rape for his role in the military government that overthrew President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 1991. He was head of the right-wing Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti.

Constant fled to the United States following Aristide's restoration last year. Following international outrage at the fact that he had been granted a tourist visa, U.S. authorities revoked his visa and arrested him May 10.

General strike hits Argentina
Argentina's main union federation, the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), called a 12-hour general strike September 6 to demand relief from record unemployment, which has risen above 18 percent. One hundred thousand workers turned out for a rally in Buenos Aires addressed by CGT leaders. In the cities of Córdoba and Tucumán, unions held a 24-hour strike, shutting down most industry there. It was only the second general strike against the CGT-backed Peronist government of Carlos Menem, which came to power in 1989.

Brazil's banks reeling
The Brazilian government's year-long move to curtail inflation and prevent capital flight has had a harsh impact on the country's banking industry. More than a dozen banks have closed or faced government intervention since the Real Plan was launched and numerous others are expected to merge in order to survive.

Monthly inflation has fallen from 50 percent in July 1994 to 2 percent. Previously, many banks gained up to 40 percent of their revenue from inflationary gains, using customer deposits that paid little or no interest to invest in government debt instruments that paid back as much as 2 percent a day in inflation adjustments.This year the government has raised interest rates and bank reserve requirements.

Antiabortion laws blocked
Laws restricting abortion access in three states were halted in separate federal court decisions. On August 31, an appeals court ruled that a 1993 South Dakota law requiring doctors to notify the parents of minors seeking abortions was illegal since it didn't give minors an alternative. The three-judge panel ruled that young women should have the option of going before a judge or some other authority to seek authorization for an abortion.

The same day a judge temporarily blocked enforcement of a new Indiana law requiring women to wait 18 hours before obtaining an abortion. Earlier in August an appeals court struck down much of a four-year-old Utah law that barred abortions except in cases of rape, incest, and pregnancies endangering the mother's life.

Merger-driven layoffs rise
Layoff announcements leaped 39 percent in August to more than 32,200 following a recent burst of major corporate mergers. Chief among them was the joining of the Chemical and Chase Manhattan banks to form the largest U.S. bank. Company heads announced that 12,000 jobs will be cut as a result.

Despite the big August jump, the number of layoffs for the first eight months of this year is about 40 percent lower than the same period last year. "Regardless of the total number," the Wall Street Journal remarked, "periodic waves of layoffs will heighten worker insecurity and restrain wage growth."

Judge to halt implant settlement
U.S. district judge Sam Pointer announced that he would scrap a $4.25 billion breast implant settlement by the end of September unless there are "extraordinary developments." Some 440,000 women injured by breast implants have registered to participate in the 1993 settlement, far exceeding estimates.

Several companies agreed to settle the case while denying they had harmed anyone. However plaintiffs' lawyers are pressing the companies for a new monetary agreement as it would now require $24 billion to give each claimant what they had been promised.

In an attempt to minimize its liability, the largest defendant, Dow Corning, filed for bankruptcy, saying that many women dropped out of the settlement and sued it individually.  
 
 
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