The imperialist occupation forces are now hunting down "war crimes suspects, "probing beyond the NATO "operations mandate," which supposedly permitted arrests only when an alleged "war criminal" is discovered during "normal duties." The Pentagon is looking to expand on this precedent to go after chauvinist Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and others. "We're now beginning to pick them off," boasted NATO's operational commander in Bosnia, British Gen. Hew Pike. Twenty of the 54 Tribunal suspects have been taken captive.

EU taxes Russian fertilizers
Attempting to stanch price competition from Russian fertilizer companies, government officials from countries in the European Union (EU) agreed to impose "antidumping" taxes on imports of ammonium nitrate from Russia. The import duty will be in addition to a 6.8 percent tax already paid. Fertilizers from Russia have captured almost 20 percent of the European market.

Farmers in France, Spain, and Britain are the main EU consumers of about 6 million tons of ammonium nitrate a year. The chemical is a central ingredient in fertilizer. Last year ICI Fertilizers, the United Kingdom's largest manufacturer, lowered its prices by 12 percent, blaming Russian imports.

EU to end tallow feud with U.S.
Soap and cosmetic moguls in Europe breathed a sigh of relief January 19 when it was announced that a ban on the use of tallow in their products will be lifted in mid-February. Tallow, a fatty substance made by cooking animal carcasses, is an ingredient in soaps and cosmetics. Washington exports $120 million in tallow to Europe per year.

Though currently not enforced, the ban followed the hysteria around the "mad cow disease" in Britain, which ostracized British beef barons from export markets and forced a large-scale destruction of cows there. The carcasses used to make tallow include brains, eyes, and spinal cords -prime suspect areas for the disease.

`No layoffs, cutbacks or no coal!' say striking miners in Spain
Mineworkers who extract coal for the state-owned Spanish company Hunosa blocked roads and a railway line on January 19. It was the 14th day of their strike in northern Spain. The workers are protesting the government's plans for cutbacks and layoffs. Madrid maintains that the austerity measures are needed for participation in the European Monetary Union. The 10,000-strong mineworkers union said it would remain out until negotiations set for January 22 began. The 13 struck mines have lost more than $13 million since the labor action began.

Tel Aviv bombs Lebanon
Israeli government warplanes assaulted southern Lebanon January 23, firing five missiles at villages in Iqlim al- Tuffah, supposedly aimed at Hezbollah fighters. It was the second day of Israeli air raids in the region. Hezbollah, an armed organization fighting to rid their country of Zionist occupation forces, organized attacks on Israeli troops stationed inside Lebanese borders January 22 - 23. The Lebanese fighters also staged demonstrations those same days throughout the country, which were part of annual actions denouncing the U.S.-backed capture of Arab east Jerusalem by Tel Aviv in 1967.

63 die in Mozambique landslide
Rescue squads found 63 bodies following a January 23 landslide in central Zambezia, Mozambique. An estimated 78 people are missing. Relief agencies in that southeast African country have promised to send blankets, clothes, medicine, and other forms of aid, as well as repairing damaged roads and bridges. With an 83 percent peasant population, the living conditions in Zimbabwe remain largely rural. Only 150,000 of its 18 million people have formal sector jobs. More than two- thirds of the population in Mozambique live in poverty and 67 percent of those above 15 years old are illiterate.

Inmates end protest in Colombia
On January 12 more than 300 inmates and 460 relatives ended their occupation of the San Isidro jail in the southwestern city of Popayan, Colombia. Government negotiators were forced to meet prisoners' demands for potable water, better medical attention, and an end to overcrowding. The prison was built to house 900 inmates, but was packed with about 1,100 people.

Newspaper implements `Megan's Law,' attacks privacy rights
In an assault on privacy rights, The Home News Tribune newspaper of East Brunswick, New Jersey, published a January 21 front-page story and two mug shots of a man who was released from prison in 1993 after serving time for alleged child endangerment. The Asbury Park Press, a sister paper, also ran the story. A flier with the information was distributed in New Jersey's Union and Middlesex counties and it was posted on the newspapers' internet sites.

The newspapers received the information from a `sex offender release notice' that New Jersey authorities are allowed to distribute under Megan's Law, which allows cops to inform residents when those convicted of sex crimes move in their neighborhood. Teresa Klink, managing editor of The Home News Tribune, said she considered the flier to be "public information." Klink claimed that she didn't know if the news articles increased the risk of vigilantism, but "decided to be fair and not publish the man's address."

U.S. prison population soars
According to U.S. Justice Department figures, as of last June the number of people behind bars in the United States exceeded 1.7 million - more than double the amount locked up since 1985. Some 9.4 percent more people are being held in city or county jails, which generally confine those awaiting trial or serving terms of a year or less. Contributing factors to the increase include longer prison sentences, more mandatory sentencing laws, and less willingness by the courts to grant paroles. Los Angeles has the largest jail population with 21,962 prisoners, and New York comes in a close second with 17,528. On January 23 a federal judge ruled against an inmate's law suit, claiming that double celling - that is stuffing two inmates into a cell made for one - is not a violation of human rights.

Meanwhile, the Federal Prison Industries (FPI), which puts prisoners to work for $1 an hour in 72 federal prisons around the country, made more than $600 million in 1997 gross sales income. Ira Kirschbaum, general counsel for FPI, praised the prison labor program for "teaching a work ethic -get up on time, work all day long, do a good job."

- BRIAN TAYLOR  
 
 
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