NYMHM: Venezuela trade unions battle; Iraqi oil corruption

Wed Feb 14 17:38:37 PST 2007

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 NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED * February 14, 2007 * Vol. 6, No. 7

 Important but overlooked news from around the world.
 NYMHM is a free service of Newsdesk.org.

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THIS WEEK: 

   Venezuela trade unions are locked in a mafia-style bloodletting, 
   an Orthodox Jew sues over sex-segregated buses, oil corruption
   fuels Iraq's civil war, autism in New Jersey is twice the national 
   average, a "day kidnapping" in the Philippines is linked to the 
   police ... and Pakistan looks for suicide bombing clues at 
   funerals without bodies. 

QUOTED: 

   "Most people come to the organization, but then don't want to 
   file a formal complaint for fear of drawing attention to 
   themselves as homosexuals."

   -- Activist Jolando Jimenez says harassment of gays by Chilean 
   police continues almost ten years after a ban on homosexuality 
   was lifted (see "News & Commentary," below).

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TOP STORIES
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 > Venezuela's Deadly Trade Union Battles 

   Rival trade union leaders, already divided into competing 
   pro- and anti- Chavez camps, are killing each other in a 
   mafia-style vendetta to claim exorbitant hiring fees paid 
   by laborers desperate for work in Venezuela's booming 
   construction industry. 

 > Jewish Women to The Back of The Bus? 

   Orthodox Jew Naomi Ragan of New York City is suing a Jerusalem
   bus company after she was harassed by ultra-conservative men
   for refusing to move to the back of a sex-segregated bus.  

   The company operates 30 such bus lines throughout the city as
   a concession to the powerful Haredi community, a Jewish sect
   known to splatter bleach on women and clothing they deem
   immodest, riot against gays, and prevent their wives and 
   daughters from attending college. 

  > Philippine Kidnapping Linked to Police, Armed Forces

   The thwarted kidnapping of the head of the Philippine Tourism
   Authority has led to the arrest of two police officers and a 
   member of the military. "Day kidnappings," in which victims
   are released within a day after ransom is paid, are common 
   across the country.

Sources: 

"Trade union job-peddling leads to bloodshed"
Inter Press Service, February 13, 2007
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=36548 

"Women fight back against ultra-Orthodox Jews"
Agence France-Presse, February 9, 2007
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=19489 

"Barbers' family escape kidnap try"
Inquirer.net (Philippines), February 10, 2007
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view_article.php?article_id=48681

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AUTISM IN AMERICA
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 > With Autism's Spread, a Mystery and a Lawsuit 

   A new report finds that one in every 60 boys in New Jersey 
   has autism -- nearly twice the national rate. Youth in the
   study were affected regardless of race, and the trend is 
   spread equally throughout the state. 

   Efforts to find suspected clusters of autism there have failed, 
   and calls for more research are matched by a growing demand
   for new funding and services for children with the disorder. 

   In Utah, the Salt Lake Tribune reports that babies born via 
   Caesarean sections or in breech position do appear to have a
   slightly higher rate of autism. 

   But a chemical culprit has been harder to identify, leading to
   a class-action lawsuit by thousands of parents convinced that
   their children developed autism after receiving vaccinations 
   containing a mercury-based preservative. 

   In an op-ed for the Philadelphia Inquirer, researcher Arthur 
   Caplan notes that mercury is no longer used in most vaccines, 
   and that research has failed to correlate the chemical with a 
   spike in autism nationwide over the last 20 years.

Sources: 

"New Jersey has highest rate ever documented in U.S."
The Record (NJ), February 9, 2007
http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkyJmZnYmVsN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk3MDczNzMy

"Study: Low birth weight, C-section risk factors in autism"
Salt Lake Tribune, February 8, 2007
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_5184585

"A mother's battle against mercury"
Hernando Today (FL), February 3, 2007
http://www.hernandotoday.com/MGBE2H8MQXE.html

"Fact: No link of vaccine, autism"
Philadelphia Inquirer, February 6, 2007
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/editorial/16630652.htm

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PAKISTAN
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 > As Bombings Surge, Pakistan Tracks Funerals Without Bodies

   A series of suicide attacks have killed or injured dozens of 
   Pakistani police officers and civilians since September 2006. 
   Residents avoid mosques, markets and public outings with their 
   children, and say the state has "failed" to protect them, 
   the Daily Times reports. 

   Looking for a break, undercover investigators are attending 
   the funerals of young men whose bodies are absent. Their hope
   is to identify not just the culprits, but the groups behind
   the attacks. 

   One militant said groups opposed to President Pervez Musharraf 
   are now joined in the goal of targeting Pakistani officials who 
   represent "the American agenda in the Islamic world," according
   to The News-International.

Sources: 

"Peshawaris 'shell shocked', feel insecure, unprotected"
Daily Times (Pakistan), February 10, 2007
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007/02/10/story_10-2-2007_pg7_45 

"Funerals being monitored to identify bombers"
Daily Times (Pakistan), February 9, 2007
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C02%5C09%5Cstory_9-2-2007_pg7_8 

"Suicide hits 'response to Musharraf's policies'"
The News-International (Pakistan), February 4, 2007
http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=5644

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IRAQ
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 > Militants Target Infrastructure to Exploit Oil

   Attacks on Iraq's electrical grid are causing blackouts around
   the country and affecting oil production, forcing the country 
   to import fuel even as militants freely siphon petroleum from
   state-owned pipelines.

   U.S. officials are well aware that between $20 and $30 million 
   of crude oil is stolen every day, but seem powerless to stop it. 

   Mikel Morris, a Houston oil engineer who worked in Baghdad for
   the State Department, says corruption in the Iraqi Oil Ministry
   is rampant, and the source of most attacks on reconstruction 
   projects and reformist Iraqi oil officials. 

   Morris said that one pipeline company in Southern Iraq is 
   controlled by Shiites, and according to CBS 11 in Texas, 
   "refused to divulge its export contracts, records of sales, 
   or even the names of buyers" 

Sources: 

"Baghdad in dark as electric grid hit again"
United Press International, February 9, 2007
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/29038.html 

"CBS 11 investigates Iraqi crude oil theft"
CBS 11 (TX), February 8, 2007
http://cbs11tv.com/seenon/local_story_039132640.html 

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NEWS & COMMENTARY
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 > No Longer Illegal, Gays Are Still a Target in Chile 

   Although homosexuality was legalized in 1998, gays in Chile 
   still suffer public harassment and, in one case, beatings and 
   attempted rape -- all by the country's own police force. 

   Activists there have called for mandatory human rights training
   for police officers, or Carabineros, but the Santiago Times 
   reports that officials have not welcomed the idea. 

Source: 

"Police abuse of gays continues in Chile"
Santiago Times, February 7, 2007
http://www.tcgnews.com/santiagotimes/index.php?nav=story&story_id=12944&topic_id=1

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Editors: Julia Scott, Josh Wilson
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