Okinawans protest U.S. military
Residents of Henoko, a small village on the Japanese island
of Okinawa, say they will protest the U.S. military's plans to
build a floating airfield in the East China Sea just off the
coast of their village. Tokyo and Washington drew up the
"heliport" plan -proposed to be 1,600 yards long and 550 yards
wide - after the U.S. government was forced to give up Futenma
Marine Cops Air Station in central Okinawa. The withdrawal came
after thousands of Okinawans protested the presence of U.S.
military bases last year.
Some 75 percent of the U.S. military forces in Japan are stationed in Okinawa. In a 1996 referendum, 90 percent of voters in Okinawa favored reducing the U.S. military presence, and in a September poll conducted by the Okinawa Times, about 60 percent of residents in the city of Nago, near Henoko, opposed the floating military site. About 21 percent were in favor.
Moscow seeks loans to pay wages
Moscow reached a deal December 12 with the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) to get $1.7 billion worth of new loans in
order to pay back wages. Thousands of workers who have not
been paid for months have taken part in strikes and other
protests. In return for the IMF deal, the Yeltsin
administration promised to step up tax collections and cut
government spending.
Moscow also promised to give its finance ministry authority over the ministry of the interior and the defense ministry. But the conditions for the loans will require approval from legislature, which is not a foregone conclusion. Meanwhile, the central bank in Russia spent most of November propping up the ruble, the country's monetary unit, spending over $4 billion of its foreign currency reserves.
German unemployment up again
Unemployment in Germany rose again to reach a new post-World
War II high, climbing to 11.8 percent or 4.53 million people in
November. According to the Federal Labor Office, the number of
jobless in western Germany fell by 3,000, but in eastern
Germany the figure swelled by 15,000 to nearly 1.5 million
people.
Tel Aviv outlaws census
On December 10 the Israeli government pushed through
legislation that "widens the authority to prevent all
activities of the PLO [Palestinian Liberation Organization] or
of the Palestinian Authority inconsistent with the sovereignty
of the state of Israel," said a Israeli Minister of Justice.
The move was aimed at halting the Palestinian Authority from
conducting a census in East Jerusalem, where some 180,000
Palestinians live, as well as in the West Bank and Gaza.
Israeli television reported that police arrested a Palestinian woman for conducting the census, which included dozens of questions on housing conditions, health, and economic status of Palestinians - information that the Palestinian Authority wants to prepare the formation of a Palestinian state. Eastern Jerusalem was part of Jordan before it was seized by the Zionist regime along with the West Bank in 1967.
Albright visits Congo
U.S. secretary of state Madeleine Albright visited Congo,
formerly Zaire, December 12 touting the need for a "commitment
to open markets, honest government, and the rule of law."
Albright is the highest-ranking U.S. government official to
visit the country since a rebellion ousted Washington's
longtime lackey, corrupt dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, in May.
Albright suggested the White House might offer $35 million in aid to the new regime, headed by Laurent Kabila, but declared that the Clinton administration would be on the lookout for "human rights" violations. The president of Congo responded that the $10 million in U.S. aid this year was "insignificant, absolutely insignificant." Kabila added that whatever would be delivered by the U.S. government next year, he hoped would come "without conditions."
Thousands strike in Bolivia
Workers in Bolivia began a 24-hour strike and street
demonstrations December 10 protesting a government fuel price
increase of 25 percent. The Bolivian Workers' Confederation
(COB) called the labor action. Thousands of workers gathered in
downtown La Paz, the capital city, demanding the Hugo Banzer
government cancel the price rise and provide economic and
social compensation to confront the cost-of-living increase.
The government deployed 9,000 cops in the streets during the protest action. Following the gas price hike, businesses raised prices for public services, food, and other necessities - often by more than 25 percent. Charges for public transportation in the city and provinces went up more than 50 percent.
Native land rights in Canada
The Canadian Supreme Court ruled December 11 that aboriginal
oral history may serve as a valid record of long-standing land
claims. The ruling came in a case by the Gitxsan and
Wet'suwet'en tribes, who have been fighting since the 1970s for
land rights over 22,400 square miles in northern British
Columbia - a region rich in salmon, minerals, and lumber.
In 1991 a British Columbia court ruled that the tribes' right to the land was invalidated more than a century ago with the passage of colonial legislation. Most land in Canada was stolen from Native peoples who never signed treaties surrendering title to the colonizers. Dozens of aboriginal communities have been fighting for land-claim settlements.
New Jersey gov't moves to implement `sex offender alerts'
On December 9, U.S. Supreme Court judge David Souter refused
to extend a ban on the implementation of "Megan's law," which
includes notifying residents of paroled "sex offenders" in
their area. Peter Verniero, the state's Attorney General,
immediately set in motion "alerts" to schools, youth groups,
women's organizations, and neighbors in areas where 635 so-
called sex offenders live.
Meanwhile, the New Jersey Supreme Court approved rules that allow just 14 days for a person on parole to appeal the release of their name under the notification law. A judge then decides if a person merits this extra punishment. In these hearings the prosecution is supposed to prove that the alleged offender is a public safety risk. Under a previous set of rules that was rejected by a federal appeals court, the burden of proof would have been on the former prisoner to show they were not a threat.
- MEGAN ARNEY