Tensions bubble in Mideast over sustained bombing of Iraq
Foreign ministers of the 22-member Arab League adopted a
statement March 17 calling for respect of Iraqi sovereignty,
but fell short of condemning the repeated bombing of Iraq by
U.S. and British warplanes. The debate at the meeting reflected
the pressure of growing anger among toilers in that region
around the near-daily bombings. Syrian foreign minister Farouk
Shara berated Washington and London, accusing them of using
"double standards" to enforce UN resolutions against Iraq,
while allowing the Israeli government to violate other
resolutions that call for withdrawal of Zionist settlements
occupying Arab territories. Shara warned the imperialist
nations that their actions "threaten the security and stability
of the region." After the U.S.-led invaders of Iraq began a new
stage of bombing in December, there have been protests across
the Middle East.
Since 1991 U.S. and British rulers have imposed a "no-fly zone" on two-thirds of Iraqi air space. In recent days, the Iraqi government has broken the "no-fly zone" to shuttle Muslims "pilgrims" to Mecca for the annual Haj. The Saudi Arabian government refused Washington's request to prevent the aircraft from landing there or seize them on arrival.
Workers in Israel demand raise
Workers in Israeli's military industry went on strike in
early March for a wage increase. Workers at Bezeq, the largest
telephone company in Israel, followed suit on March 12. On
March 15 they were joined by 80,000 civil service employees
demanding a 16 percent wage increase. Airports, sea ports,
hospitals, clinics, half a million phone lines, and various
other government and private institutions have been affected by
the indefinite strike.
Finance Minister Meir Sheetrit, according to his deputy spokesman, offered civil service workers a 3.8 percent pay rise to supposedly keep up with inflation, but this was rejected. Civil Service Commissioner Shmuel Hollander said workers would not be paid while on strike. The finance ministry issued a statement saying it was preparing for a drawn-out fight. Meanwhile, 400,000 other public sector employees have threatened to join the open-ended strike if the government does not implement a more substantial wage raise.
Miners rally across Ukraine
Fed up with the Ukrainian government's refusal to pay back
wages, 20,000 coal miners across the Ukraine held protest
rallies and "ground meetings" March 18. Officials tried their
best to prevent nationwide actions, including declaring
buses - usually used to take miners to work, but that day would
transport workers to the actions -"not in working condition."
The government now owes miners $800 million and the figure
swells by about $25 million every month. Ukrainian officials
have earmarked a measly $400 million for mining in the 1999
budget. Five thousand miners protested in Lugansk. Actions also
took place in Pavlograd and Chervonorgad. In Donetsk 8,000
miners slipped through police cordons to hold a demonstration
calling for the government to resign due to its inability to
pay off their back wages.
Oil layoffs in Venezuela
Venezuela petroleum bosses say they will fire 12,000 oil
workers over the next six months, cutting their workforce from
42,000 to 30,000. Oil barons blame the steady downward slide in
oil prices for the sackings. The price of oil in Venezuela, the
western hemisphere's second-largest oil producer, dropped from
$16.32 per barrel in 1997 to $10.76 per barrel in 1998.
Mexican gov't jails `leftist rebels'
A Mexican court ordered Erika Zamora Pardo and Efren Cortéz
Chávez to serve five years in prison on charges of conspiracy
and incitement of rebellion. Zamora and Cortéz were arrested
last June during what the Associated Press describes as a
"clash" between "antidrug" troops and a "rebel group" meeting
in a schoolhouse in the village of El Charco. Villagers say the
so-called antinarcotics squad surrounded the schoolhouse and
massacred those inside. The Mexican government denies the
allegation.
North Carolina clinic is bombed
A bomb partially exploded outside the Femcare clinic in
Asheville, North Carolina, March 13 - shortly before the clinic
was scheduled to open. No one was wounded. This same clinic was
subject to an anthrax letter hoax in February, and a
threatening phone call last July. The bomb, which was defused
by cops, could have destroyed one end of the clinic if it
completely detonated.
New Jersey cops settle race suit
The New Jersey State Police agreed to pay $225,000 in a
settlement with Dorothy Cobbs, a Black woman who said she was
brutalized by traffic cops in 1996. Cops claim the settlement
admits no wrongdoing and was done to avoid court costs. Cobbs,
52, says she was returning to New York from a trip to Atlantic
City, New Jersey. New Jersey state trooper Patrick O'Dwyer
pulled her over, claiming she had a busted tail light.
Cobbs said O'Dwyer swore at her, grabbed her by the wrist, punched her in the face, maced her, and tackled her as she fled across the highway median. Then he arrested her. At cop headquarters Cobbs was slammed against a wall, spat on, and abused further. O'Dwyer's claims he saw Cobbs driving slowly and pulled her over, supposedly to offer assistance. He said he smelled alcohol on her breath and asked her to get out of the car. He claimed she got out of line during questioning.
Skinhead guilty in Denver killing
Skinhead Jeremiah Barnum was found guilty of murder,
attempted murder, and ethnic intimidation by a jury trial March
15 for the 1997 killing of a West African immigrant and the
wounding of a bystander. Oumar Dia was standing at a bus stop
in Denver when he was shot and killed by Barnum and his alleged
cohort Nathan Thill. Jeannie VanVelkinburgh, who is white, was
shot when coming to Dia's aid. She is now paralyzed. Barnum was
sentenced to life imprisonment with no parole. Thill, who is
accused of pulling the trigger, is scheduled to stand trial in
April.
County official in Maryland says ballot limits will exclude
`riffraff'
The county council of Montgomery, Maryland, crafted a bill to quadruple the number of signatures needed by independent candidates to appear on the ballot in special elections to replace council members who leave office early. The bill has been pegged around council member Betty Ann Krahnke, who has fallen ill and may not finish her term. It would raise the number of signatures required to run for district council from 250 to 1,000. County-wide candidates would need 4,000 signatures, up from 1,000. One council member said the bill aims "to keep the riffraff off the ballot."
- BRIAN TAYLOR