Japan's car sales plummet
Japan's largest carmakers reported a dramatic drop in sales in August. Honda Motors saw its sales dive the furthest - 13.1 percent in Japan and 35.6 percent overseas. Toyota's domestic sales fell 10.7 percent, and its exports 25 percent, and Nissan's sales fell too. All three companies cut their production.

Jobless totals rising worldwide
Up to one-third of the world's 3 billion workers will be either without a job or underemployed by next year, according to forecasts published by the International Labour Organization. That means 150 million people by the end of this year, with a further 25 to 30 percent of workers underemployed - between 750 million to 900 million people. By the end of the year the unemployment rate in Indonesia is expected to reach 12 percent, three times the rate in 1996 and in Thailand nearly 2 million people will be without a job. In central and eastern Europe joblessness will rise from zero percent a few years ago to 9 percent; and in the European Union states just over 10 percent of the population does not have a job.

UK cops hold `antiterrorist' raid
Seven men of Middle Eastern origin were arrested in London September 24 in a "antiterrorist" raid by British police and held for interrogation. Al-Ahram, an Egyptian newspaper, reported that one of those arrested is Adel Abdel-Meguid Abdel- Bari, head of the International Office for the Defense of the Egyptian People in London. Using a bombing in Northern Ireland as the pretext, the British government recently passed laws it termed "draconian" that, among other things, restrict the right to silence for those arrested on suspicion of "terrorism."

U.S., E.U. clash at meeting
At a World Trade Organization meeting September 22, Washington and the European Union accused each other of "legal harassment" and "delaying tactics" over EU banana imports. Hoping to further open up European markets, the U.S. government is seeking to end the EU's preferential banana trade agreements with several Caribbean nations. The WTO has ruled in favor of U.S. agribusinesses, which have substantial holdings in Latin American banana production, giving the go-ahead for U.S. and South American capital to seek "compensation" and authorized "retaliation for lost trade."

France: strikes protest austerity
Partial strikes affected airports, schools, hospitals, and prisons across France September 24, as unionists protested the government's austerity measures. State-owned Air France was forced to cancel some flights as pilots began a two-day strike protesting salaries, schedules, and working conditions. About 3,900 unionists at Orly airport went on strike from 7:00 a.m. to noon; and some of the 100 firefighters joined the walkout, forcing the closure of one of the airport's two runways.

Ecuador: workers and students protest price hikes, call strike
The decision by the newly elected government in Ecuador to raise prices on gasoline, electricity, and public transportation has sparked a wave of protests by workers and students since September 16. They are demanding the government suspend all price increases, especially a 400 percent hike in cooking gas and a 350 percent rise in electricity rates. Police assaulted a September 24 demonstration in the capital, Quito, with tear gas. Some demonstrators responded with Molotov cocktails. Six people were injured and 20 arrested.

The United Workers Front (FUT) announced plans for a general strike October 1 along with other organizations of workers, indigenous peoples, students, and teachers. The Federation of Oil Workers at the state-owned Petroecuador oil company also announced September 25 that it will strike October 1 over the price increases, despite the government threats to apply an emergency decree to force them to work under military laws.

State employees stage two-day national stoppage in Colombia
Thousands of people marched September 25 during the second and last day of a national strike against the government's planned austerity measures. Workers are demanding a readjustment of the salaries for 1999 at least to level with the inflation -estimated at 18 percent. The government offered a 14-percent increase of 14 percent. "The people of Colombia are not responsible for the crisis," said Wilson Borja, president of the state employees union FENALTRASE, which organizes 650,000 workers. Other protest marches took place around the country.

Court upholds U.S. military policy against homosexuals
A Federal appeals court ruled September 23 that the U.S. military's long-standing policy of banning homosexual activity and its policy of "don't ask, don't tell" is constitutional because of "special circumstances." The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit said that individual rights traditionally have been curtailed in the armed forces. The move overturns two rulings by a Federal District judge who struck down the military's policy. That 1995 ruling said the policies violated the constitutional guarantees of equal protection and free speech under the First Amendment. As it stands, military policy will in effect discharge anyone who is found to have engaged in homosexual activity, including holding hands and conduct that takes place off base and in private.

New Illinois law requires HIV-positive notification
In a move that attacks democratic rights, the Illinois Pubic Health Department announced September 24 that it would track those infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. At least 31 states already require that the names of people who test positive for the virus be reported to health officials. At least 29 states have passed laws making it a crime to knowingly transmit or expose others to HIV. Similar laws are pending in 16 states. The state of New York recently passed a law also requiring partner notification.

- MEGAN ARNEY  
 
 
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