News In Brief
The House was likely to pass a proposal to withhold a portion of the $582 million in back dues owed to the UN in retaliation for the ouster of the US from the Human Rights Commission - unless membership is reinstated. President Bush criticized the measure, saying approval would be "extremely damaging" to the US's ability to cooperate in multilateral organizations. The amendment to a State Department funding bill would freeze a final installment of $244 million scheduled to be paid next year. The UN commission added Sudan, known for its violations of human rights.
The mother of an unarmed black man fatally shot in Cincinnati by a white police officer filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against him and the city. In her suit, Angela Leisure claims the death of Timothy Thomas is part of a pattern of civil-rights abuses by Cincinnati police. The suit, filed in US District Court, seeks unspecified damages. Thomas was shot April 7 as he fled from police trying to arrest him on misdemeanor warrants. The officer, Stephen Roach, pleaded innocent to misdemeanor charges of negligent homicide and obstructing official business tied to the shooting. (Related story, page 3.)
A surge in the Mexican population in the US paced the explosive growth among Hispanics over the past decade, the Census Bureau reported. Of 35.3 million Hispanics, there were 20.6 million Mexican-Americans in 2000, up 53 percent from 1990. Puerto Ricans were the next biggest Hispanic group, increasing 25 percent to 3.4 million. The Cuban population was third-largest, up 19 percent.
Bush named conservative John Walters as his drug-policy director and pledged to pay "unprecedented attention" to helping addicted Americans get treatment. Walters, known for his tough approach on drugs, has said he will start by focusing on the problem of addiction.
Hundreds of anti-globalization protesters marched peacefully through the streets of Honolulu to demonstrate opposition to the meeting of the Asian Development Bank. Delegates for the 59-nation bank were to attend a series of global finance meetings through today. At the meeting, Japan reached deals with South Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand to lend billions of dollars to help support their currencies if they suffer setbacks, the first sign that an Asia-wide currency safety net is taking shape, analysts said.
(c) Copyright 2001. The Christian Science Monitor
