International notes
China: Private workplaces should be union / South Africa: Big victory for restaurant waiters / Iraq: U.S. plans prison expansion / Russia: Millions strike for pay, benefits / Korean peninsula: Demand U.S. compensation for war damage
Cuba moves to be dollar-free
Up against sharpened threats against Cuba’s revolution and a reduced flow of U.S. dollars to Cuba, the government there has acted dramatically to move towards a dollar-free domestic economy. The goal is to prioritize dollars for use in international trade.
Results mixed in California contests
In California, Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer won a third term by a whopping 58 percent to 38 percent margin over Republican challenger and former Secretary of State Bill Jones, despite the support Jones received from Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Coalition gets New Hampshire vote out
NASHUA, N.H. — In a state where Republicans outnumber Democrats, voters in New Hampshire gave its electoral votes to Sen. John Kerry and threw out their GOP governor, Craig Benson, to elect Democrat John Lynch.
Votes suppressed in Toledos Precinct 17C
TOLEDO, Ohio — For weeks, voting rights activists in Ohio had been saying they didn’t want their state to be “another Florida,” defined by vote suppression and massive malpractice by election officials. But in the end, it was.
100,000 Iraqi civilians killed
Close to 100,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed as a result of the U.S. invasion, according to a groundbreaking report published online, Oct. 29, by a British medical journal, The Lancet. More than half of the deaths were women and children, according to the report, the first scientific study of the invasion’s effects on Iraqi civilians. click here for Spanish text
Cleveland voters brave rain, dirty tricks
CLEVELAND — Before sunrise at the Aurora School in Bedford City east of Cleveland, nearly 100 voters lined up in the rain. “It’s never been this crowded this early. I’m impressed,” said Camille Huffman, 38, a bank worker who has been voting in the area since she was 18.
Uruguay elects first leftist president
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) — Tabare Vazquez, a former mayor of this capital city, won Uruguay’s presidential election Oct. 31, becoming the nation’s first leftist leader and strengthening a regional shift toward left-leaning governments.
We have our work cut out for us
Editorial This is a deeply divided country. Out of some 114 million votes, George W. Bush garnered just over 3 million more than John Kerry. Bush will claim a mandate for his extremist agenda. Hell, he claimed a mandate when he grabbed the White House in 2000 by one Supreme Court justice vote. But the reality is at least half the country is against him.
No mandate for Bush agenda
WASHINGTON — Bruised but unbowed by labor’s failure to oust George W. Bush in the Nov. 2 election, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney told a news conference here that the movement will “fight like hell” to stop Bush’s ultra-right agenda in his second term. click here for Spanish text
