Rolls Royce struck in Scotland
Hundreds of workers at the Rolls Royce plant in East Kilbride, Scotland, staged a one-day strike April 20 protesting the company's plan to eliminate 600 jobs. Another strike is planned soon. Rolls Royce is one of the world's top three aircraft engine producers.

As it moved to slash costs and personnel, company spokespersons reported they have won almost 25 percent of the new engine orders on the world market.

Britain: teachers vote to strike
A National Union of Teachers conference voted to take strike action across England and Wales to fight growing class sizes. Some 1 million primary school children are taught in classes of more than 30, and 100,000 in classes of more than 36.

Labour Party leader Tony Blair joined British prime minister John Major in condemning a walkout by the teachers. A strike would be "wrong and misguided," Blair said in the House of Commons.

New Delhi rejects U.S. pressure
"We are not a banana republic to be told who we should like, invite, or dine with," said a member of India's Parliament responding to U.S. treasury secretary Robert Rubin's criticism of a visit by Iranian president Hashemi Rafsanjani. Iran's president was in India April 16-18, to develop business and political ties with New Delhi.

Rubin, visiting India during the same days, expressed Washington's "extremely strong concern" about Iran to Indian prime minister PV Narasimha Rao. Brushing aside the imperial arrogance of the representative of the Clinton administration, Rao told Rafsanjani, "We hope your visit will be a landmark in our bilateral relations."

N. Korea gov't rejects reactors
Government officials from North Korea walked away from talks with Washington April 20, refusing to accept two light- water nuclear reactors from Seoul. Pyongyang agreed to freeze its nuclear program last October, in exchange for two new reactors to replace an old Russian-made facility along with other economic and diplomatic concessions.

Washington has threatened "the possibility of seeking sanctions" if the North Korean regime breaks the freeze on its nuclear program. Pyongyang, which has previously rejected the U.S. government's insistence that it accept the reactors from Seoul, announced it would "resume operation of some nuclear facilities."

Moscow deeper into Tajik conflict
Moscow is getting deeper into a conflict against guerrilla forces in Tajikistan where it already maintains 25,000 troops to bolster the regime. Tajikistan, with 5.4 million people, is the poorest of the former Soviet republics relying heavily on Moscow for economic aid.

Tajik opposition forces were driven out of the country during a civil war in 1992 and have recently launched several raids from Afghanistan.

The Afghan government protested to the United Nations April 13 that Russian planes invaded their airspace and bombed the town of Taloqan, killing 125 people. Russian officials have denied the military action.

Brazilian boasts of boom
Boasting about a 5 percent economic growth rate for the last three years, Brazilian president Fernando Henrique Cardoso arrived in the United States April 17, for a five-day visit. Cardoso is seeking to attract more investment and expand the government's political influence.

Cardoso plans to lobby for Brazil, with a population of 155 million people, to win a permanent seat on an expanded UN Security Council. In May the regime plans to send 1,100 troops to Angola.

Mexican military is costly item
Mexican economist Jorge López Arevalo recently calculated that the 30,000 soldiers deployed to Chiapas over the past year cost the Mexican economy $285 million. López further noted that the resources spent on the military in 1994 was equivalent to the total exports of Mexican coffee for the 1993-94 harvest.

"The annual amount spent by the National Defense Secretariat in Chiapas would enable the government to solve most of the social demands made by the Zapatistas: housing, health, food, roads, education, jobs, and land," said López.

Cuban hijacker granted asylum
Leonel Macías González, accused by the Cuban government of hijacking a government boat and killing a naval officer, was granted political asylum in the United States April 17 and released from a detention center in Miami. The Cuban government had appealed the decision to grant Macías González political asylum in February.

Operation Rescue loses suit
Office equipment and other assets were taken from LifeChoices Inc., the national headquarters of anti-abortion rights Operation Rescue April 19 under a court order obtained by Planned Parenthood of Houston and Southeast Texas. Planned Parenthood won $1 million in punitive damages from the Dallas- based Operation Rescue and the Houston-based Rescue America in May 1994 after a jury ruled that the groups conspired to hinder Planned Parenthood and nine other clinics during the 1992 Republican National Convention.

The LifeChoices office opened in early April in North Dallas next to A Choice for Women, a clinic that performs abortions.

N.Y. homeless to pay rent
The administration of New York governor George Pataki is proposing to charge homeless people for living in public shelters. This measure would include those receiving Supplemental Security Income, a government program for the aged, disabled, and blind. "Anyone with any income should in fact contribute toward the cost of shelter being provided," said Terrence McGrath, spokesman for the state's Department of Social Services.

"The shelter system does not provide people with the services it should now," said Ramón Carrera, who lives in a shelter. "How do we expect people to pay for a bed that in reality ain't even worth paying for?"

GM scores big profits
The General Motors Corp. reported April 20 that the profits at its North American automotive operations were up 152 percent with first quarter earnings of $2.2 billion. GM's chief financial officer, J. Michael Losh, pointed out that "the improvement shows what we have been doing on our cost structure."

Overall, the Big Three U.S. automakers earned profits of $4.3 billion in the quarter compared with $3.4 billion in the same period last year.

Gulf war syndrome confirmed
The U.S. government, after denying the claims of veterans, now admits that the Gulf war syndrome is a genuine ailment, entitling veterans to disability benefits and subsidized medical care. More than 50,000 veterans have reported symptoms of the illness according to the Pentagon.

Hens and rats tested by Pentagon researchers displayed "textbook symptoms" after being exposed to the same combination of anti-nerve gas pills, insecticides, and pest repellents routinely issued to GIs in the region.

Washington also admits that it has no evidence that chemical or biological weapons were used by Baghdad.

- MAURICE WILLIAMS  
 
 
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