Turkish forces kill Greek Cypriot
Turkish military forces occupying the northern third of the island of Cyprus shot and killed a Greek Cypriot October 13. The man was shot dead in a buffer zone occupied by United Kingdom military bases that divides the island. Four people have been killed in the buffer area since tensions began to mount in August.

The Athens-backed Cypriot government called the killing "blatant cold-blooded murder." Costas Smitis, Greece's prime minister, has pledged military support for the regime in Cyprus, using the tensions between Athens and Ankara to advance a massive militarization program to the tune of $12 billion in arms spending. Kurdish factions battle in Iraq
The Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP), backed by Iraqi government, recaptured the town of Koi Sanjaq from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) on October 18. The fighting halted a recent offensive by the PUK to retake northern territory in Iraq, lost in August and September to the KDP. The PUK had launched a counteroffensive October 13 seizing Sulaymaniyah and Koi Sanjaq, the second largest city in the region.

U.S. state department spokesman Nicholas Burns warned the Iraqi regime did not have any "kind of role to play militarily in the northern part of Iraq." Under the pretext of protecting the Kurdish population in northern Iraq, U.S. president William Clinton ordered two rounds of cruise missile strikes in southern Iraq in September. Mexican peso hits 1996 low
The Mexican peso dropped in value to 12.7 U.S. cents on October 16 - its lowest level this year. The country's central bank has sought to shore up the currency throughout the year by buying up pesos to keep the peso valued at 13.3 U.S. cents. Banco de Mexico sopped up some 40 million pesos out of circulation October 14-15 buying pesos and raising liquidity of the bank.

According to the New York Times, the peso slide was buttressed by investors' "anxiety" when Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo canceled the sale of 61 petrochemical plants on October 13. Rightist wins Nicaragua election
Initial results of the October 20 presidential elections in Nicaragua indicated Liberal Alliance candidate Arnoldo Alemán won by a nearly 10 percent margin over Daniel Ortega, candidate of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN). Ortega was president of the Sandinista-led workers and farmers government that came to power in the 1979 revolution. Following the FSLN's retreat from leading the revolution forward in the late 1980s, capitalist politician Violeta Chamorro won the presidency in 1990.

Alemán, the former mayor of the capital Managua, ran on a platform of bringing in more foreign investment and establishing closer relations with Washington. Ortega called for a recount, alleging "serious irregularities" in the balloting. War continues in Afghanistan
Gen. Rashid Dostum and Ahmed Shah Massoud, former rivals in Afghanistan, formed an alliance to oppose of the reactionary Taliban regime that assumed power September 27 after 4 years of power struggles resulting from the defeat of the Moscow-backed regime in 1992.

Dostum, who had previously abstained from sending troops to fight, sent tanks and troops to the front lines. Dostum has called for a cease-fire and negotiations that would set up a broad based government that included Taliban representation. Abdullah, a spokesman for Massoud said, "we will have a joint strategy against Taliban, whether in talks or in fighting." Ruling party gains in Japan
Japanese prime minister Ryutaro Hashimoto's Liberal Party gained in parliamentary elections October 20, going from 211 seats to 239 in the 500-member lower house of parliament. Hashimoto immediately turned to forming a new coalition government. The Social Democrats, part of the previous governing coalition, lost half of their seats, going from 30 to 15.

The Liberal Democrats were Japan's ruling party from 1955 through most of the postwar era. Following a series of political scandals, the LDP tumbled after a no-confidence vote in July of 1993. EU demands Poland `reform'
European Union (EU) officials told the Polish government that it would have to step up capitalist economic reforms to be considered for membership in the 15-nation formation. EU foreign affairs commissioner Hans van den Broek said "major adjustments" would be needed to put Poland in EU trim.

"This requires nothing less than a transformation of the economic and administrative landscape of the country - from the acceleration of privatization to the reform of public administration," van den Broek explained. Israeli settlers grab Arab land
Israeli soldiers restrained angry Palestinians October 17 as they watched Zionist settlers unwrap and place barbed wire around a stretch of land they claimed Palestinians were illegally using. The Palestinian owner of the plot, Salem Jaber, together with 30 of his relatives, furiously watched the fence go up. "This land is ours," he said.

Zvi Katzover, mayor of Kiryat Arba, claimed the Palestinians were illegally living on the plot, but Jaber said he had the deeds to prove ownership of the land. "There won't be peace between us. There will be butchery. It is us or them," concluded Jaber in frustration. Zaire gov't to expel refugees
Zairian prime minister Leon Kengo wa Dondo announced October 16 plans to close all refugee camps in eastern Zaire - where more than a million Rwandans have taken refuge. Dondo accused the regime in Rwanda of "unacceptable behavior."

Rwandan and Zaire troops governments have exchanged heavy weapon and mortar fire twice in September, with the Rwandan foreign ministry charging the Zaire government with using the refugee camps as de facto bases for Hutu attacks on Rwanda. Social Security shorts thousands
The Social Security Administration claimed that a computer blunder had cheated 700,000 people of $850 million worth of social security benefits. In 1994, the first chunk of mistakes were uncovered with some 400,000 recipients getting shorted by $10 - $20 a week for over a decade. While these people were compensated, a further investigation unearthed 300,000 more that were not given the money due.

Nearly 60,000 have died who never received the money they were owed. Dow inflates to 6000 mark
The Dow Jones industrial stock average hit a record 6020 October 16, prompting optimism among market speculators. "The fact that we closed above the 6000 level is kind of psychologically important for this market...and could give us a base for another upward move," Bob Basel, of listed Smith Barney, told the Wall Street Journal.

The big business financial daily said that bond investors, nervous about the inflated bubble, had to be reassured by a 0.3 percent rise in the consumer price index. The Dow Jones dropped nearly 200 points between July 4 and July 12, sending Wall Street into a frenzy. 25,000 students march in Mexico
More than 25,000 students marched in Mexico City, in rememberance of the Tlatelolco massacre 28 years ago. On October 2, 1968, students, workers and peasants poured into the streets demanding price decreases, an end to persecution by the Mexican military, and other measures. The Mexican army was sent in, slaughtering over 300 civilian protesters.

- BRIAN TAYLOR  
 
 
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