The IMF loan was supposedly contingent on the government imposing major austerity measures, but it's not clear President Boris Yeltsin will be able to implement them. Russia's stock market plunged in the second week of August. Trading was briefly suspended August 13, and the U.S. credit rating agencies Moody's and Standard & Poor's downgraded Russia's credit rating to below "junk" status. With the latest dive, Russia's stock market has lost 75 percent of its value since the beginning of the year.

NATO launches military exercises against Kosova
Some 75 war planes and helicopters, as well as 1,700 troops from 14 countries, began NATO-led military exercises in Albania August 17, aimed at demonstrating Washington's willingness to launch air strikes inside Kosova. The military maneuvers, organized and led primarily by U.S. forces, are to continue until August 22.

The Serbian regime has stepped up their war on the Albanians in Kosova, who make up 90 percent of the population, aiming to crush their struggle for independence. Washington and other imperialist governments are using the Serbian regime's massive assaults as a pretext for military intervention in the Yugoslav and Albanian workers states. "NATO has a wide range of contingencies and options ranging from peace support to combat operations," said U.S. Adm. Joseph Lopez, NATO commander of the Allied Forces-South.

More than 500 people have reportedly died and nearly 230,000 have been displaced in Kosova over the last five months.

Mexican peso, stocks tumble
As Mexico's stock market dropped for the ninth day August 12, the country's currency, the peso, skidded to a record low, closing at 9.23 to the U.S. dollar. "The only thing you can say is we're very vulnerable," said Sergio García, head of analysis at Value brokerage firm in Mexico City. The deepening economic crisis in Russia has exacerbated the jitters among capitalist investors. "When it's not Russia, it's Indonesia. When it's not Indonesia, it's Japan. And when everything is going right, the Dow Jones (industrial average) falls."

Floods devastate China
Thousands of people have died and hundreds of millions of dollars in crops and land are threatened in China's worst flooding since 1931. Torrential rains have soaked central and southern China, forcing the evacuation of 13.8 million people from their homes and farms so far. Millions of acres of farmland may need to be intentionally flooded to prevent major cities from being washed out. The floods affected more than 240 million people, or nearly one-fifth of the country's population. In the oil field of Daqing, which produces 50 million tons of crude oil annually - more than one-third of China's total output - 3,000 oil workers and tens of thousands of others placed over 2 million sand bags to try to block the water.

Venezuela: Natives block capitalist expansion in rain forest
Since the beginning of August some 400 Pemon tribespeople near the Imataca rain forest have been blocking traffic on the only highway linking Venezuela and Brazil, effectively halting the construction of a 485-mile power line for mining companies. The powerline construction, which will also destroy the rain forest there, would supply electricity to the gold mining companies who want to exploit the mineral-rich area. In response to the Pemon protest, the government sent in the National Guard with two tanks August 12, who destroyed 20 tents that the Pemons were sleeping in. The Pemon held strong and by the end of the day a deal was struck that all vehicles could pass through the highway, except those involved with the electricity line.

Afghanistan: Taliban advances
In a month-long offensive the reactionary Taliban in Afghanistan, which had controlled three-quarters of the country, has moved to conquer the rest of that Far East nation. In mid-August, Taliban forces captured 14 cities and towns from an alliance of bourgeois opposition forces in the north. Afghanistan borders Pakistan, Iran, and the southern flank of the former Soviet states of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. Only the governments of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Pakistan recognize the Taliban regime. The Taliban is based on remnants of the feudal powers that ruled Afghanistan until 1973. It took power in 1996, following a four- year civil war among rightist forces that had been backed by Washington for two decades in their war against a Moscow-backed government.

Workers at U.S. military base in Turkey strike for wages
Some 1,400 workers from Turkey have been on strike since July 23 at the U.S. Incirlik Air Base. The work stoppage has closed the commissary, gas station, dining halls, and other facilities at the air base, which houses 5,300 military personnel and their families, the Associated Press reported. Services at bases in Ankara and Izmire have also been disrupted. Strikers are demanding that wages be raised every three months in line with inflation, which stands at approximately 70 percent a year. They also demand improved benefits and compensation for earlier pay cuts. Strikers have rejected the latest offer by the U.S. government, proposed in early August. Incirlik is the base hub for U.S. and British spy flights over the "no-fly zone" in northern Iraq.

200 in Washington, D.C., demand Hawaiian independence
Marking the 100th anniversary of the U.S. government's annexation of their islands some 200 people demonstrated in Washington, D.C. August 8, demanding independence for Hawaii. The march comes five years after U.S. president William Clinton was forced to sign a Senate resolution acknowledging the U.S. government's involvement in the 1893 overthrow of the independent Hawaiian government. Protesters pointed out that the resolution does not settle claims against the United States, and pledged to intensify pressure on Washington to return land once owned by native Hawaiians. They added that there is growing support for sovereignty among Hawaiians. Butch Kekahu, organizer of the march, said the Hawaiian people "have already gotten an apology, so now we want to move on to...independence."

Hitching post for prisoners is `unconstitutionally cruel'
A Federal judge ruled August 12 that Alabama's practice of shackling prisoners to a hitching post was unconstitutionally cruel, and suspended the punishment pending a review. The judge, however, did not ban the practice completely and ordered the Alabama Corrections Department to look into whether they could use them "constitutionally." Inmates have challenged the hitching posts as part of a broader lawsuit against the state's 1995 revival of chain gangs. That issue was supposedly settled when the state said it would stop using shackles on inmates who work outside.

- MEGAN ARNEY  
 
 
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