Jan 15, 2005

Torture role condemned, ‘No’ vote urged

In Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings, senators mostly held their punches on Alberto R. Gonzales’ role in the torture of Iraq war detainees. But defenders of democratic rights branded Gonzales unfit for the office of U.S. attorney general and called on the senators to reject him. click here for Spanish text

News Analysis

Hadi Saleh, international secretary of the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions, was murdered in his Baghdad home, Jan. 4. His hands and feet were tied, he was blindfolded and beaten, forced to kneel, and strangled with electrical wire.

Want to send President Bush a message during his inauguration? You can turn your back. That’s right. Simple. No signs needed.

Online news hounds clicked with fury to the People’s Weekly World web site last Friday, Jan. 7, to read Tim Wheeler’s story “Memo reveals Bush OK’d torture,” which appeared as the top U.S. news story on Google News. The People’s Weekly World is one of 4,500 news sources for the widely used search engine.

LOS ANGELES — Restoring the trauma center at the Martin Luther King/Charles Drew Medical Center and maintaining the hospital as a comprehensive health care and training center are high priorities for activists here during a week of activities honoring Dr. King.

It is now estimated that more than 150,000 people were killed in the Dec. 26 South Asian tsunami, and the numbers are still rising. Though nothing can stop such a natural disaster, there is substantial evidence that tens of thousands of lives could have been spared had a tsunami warning system been in place.

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Over 170 employees of The Vindicator newspaper remain on strike here as the walkout heads into its third month.

The workers, members of Local 11 of The Newspaper Guild (CWA 34011), are fighting management proposals to reduce health care benefits, impose other takeaways, and limit wage increases to only 1 percent.

JONESBORO, Ga.: New sheriff cleans house / GREENSBORO, N.C.: Bush ally calls for troop withdrawal / PITTSBURGH: Tugboat workers killed / GRANITEVILLE, S.C.: Toxic train wreck kills 9

NewsAnalysis

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — This city’s communities have had enough of real estate developers coming into their neighborhoods, taking over their property and leaving them with little or no voice in the matter.

Labor and people’s organizations are expressing outrage over the proposals made by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in the “State of the State” address he delivered Jan. 5, and the budget he introduced Jan. 10.