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World in brief
Compiled from Times wires President's foes begin strike in VenezuelaCARACAS, Venezuela -- Opponents of President Hugo Chavez launched a general strike Monday and threatened street protests in a bid to oust him, but many businesses remained open and Venezuela's key oil sector appeared to be working. The opponents, who say Chavez's leftist policies have fueled unemployment and hurt democracy, declared their strike a success, estimating that 80 percent of workers stayed home Monday. Organizers hoped the strike, which was expected to last several days, would pressure Chavez to agree to early elections or force his ouster. Chavez said he will not call an early referendum on his presidential term, which ends in 2007. While many shops were shuttered, Caracas' streets bustled with pedestrians, cars crawled through traffic jams, and cafeterias, shoe stores and video shops were open for business. "The strike failed," Labor Minister Maria Cristina Iglesias said, adding that industries producing 85 percent of Venezuela's $100-billion gross domestic product were working. Argentina unfreezes millions in bank accountsBUENOS AIRES -- Argentina took a long-sought step back toward financial normalcy Monday as the government lifted a much-reviled freeze on most bank accounts. Depositors got unrestricted access to their savings and checking accounts for the first time in a year. The freeze was originally imposed to halt a huge drain on the country's bank and currency reserves and was described at the time as a temporary measure. But within three weeks, street demonstrations and food riots had driven Fernando de la Rua out of the presidency and ushered in a period of political chaos and economic collapse. The country is still trying to recover. Monday's decision unlocks about 21-billion pesos in deposits. That sum was worth $21-billion when the freeze went into effect, and the peso was pegged at one U.S. dollar. But since the peg was broken early this year and the peso was allowed to float, it has lost more than 70 percent of its value against the dollar. So the unlocked deposits are now worth less than $6-billion. Long lines formed outside many banks as depositors rushed to make withdrawals. Elsewhere . . .FOUR PALESTINIANS KILLED: Four Palestinians, including a teenager, died Monday in violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Israeli forces were involved in three of the fatalities. The fourth Palestinian was killed when a mortar fired by Palestinians at an Israeli position fell short of its target. U.S. NURSE CONVICTED: An American nurse was convicted Monday in Monaco in the 1999 arson deaths of billionaire banker Edmond Safra and another nurse, and sentenced to 10 years in prison. The defense said Ted Maher, who admitted setting the fire, did not intend for Safra to die. He claimed he intended to trigger the alarm and pose as Safra's rescuer.
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From the Times wire desk
From the AP |
