News Briefs

pstrongLocal and global news related to 9-11-01 from alternative media and grassroots organizations and affilitates of PNN/strong/p pDIV align="left" TABLE cellpadding="5"TR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TDTR VALIGN="TOP"TD pby PNN Staff/p pbSTOCKS TRADED ON AIRLINES AND WORLD TRADE CENTER BUSINESSES THREE DAYS PRIOR TO CRISIS/b/p p The Chicago Board Options Exchange, the World's largest options market, has joined a widening probe of bearish trades in airline, insurance and brokerage stocks prior to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon./p p Officials with the exchange said Tuesday that they are investigating an unusually high volume of sales "put" options on stocks such as UAL Corp. and AMR Corp. parent companies of United Airlines and American Airlines in the days before their jets were used to destroy the World Trade Center./p pbDANGEROUS CHANGES IN IMMIGRATION LAWS/b/p pThe Bush Administration announced changes in Justice Dept Guidelines that will allow the government to detain indefintely legal immigrants suspected of crimes during a "national emergency" without bringing charges against them. Previously, the Justice Department could detain immigrants for only 24 hours unless they were charged with a crime or held on Visa violatons. /p pbINFORMATION ALERT: ISRAELI ARMY KILLS 11 PALESTINIANS/b/p pISRAEL ATTEMPTS TO USE ATTACKS IN USA TO JUSTIFY INCREASING AGGRESSION AGAINST PALESTINIANS/p pThe Palestine Monitor, A PNGO Information Clearinghousebr / br /12 September 2001/p pWith world attention focused on the shocking situation in the United States,br / Israeli attacks on Palestinian civilian areas have already escalated inbr / severity, with Palestinian groups also fearful that certain Israeli attemptsbr / to exploit the tragedy in America to dehumanize the Palestinians will bebr / used to justify expanding the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land andbr / peoples./p pJenin and its environs in particular are under sustained and serious attack,br / with the death toll from here alone reaching eight. At 2 in the morning, the Israeli army invaded Jenin, and has now placed it under siege, with tanks positioned strategically on hill tops circling the area./p pIsraeli forces are currently shelling the city and refugee camp. Thebr / villages of Qabatiya, Tammoun, and Toubas have come under heavy attack, andbr / it has just been reported that the Israeli army has attempted to stormbr / Tammoun./p pAttacks on the Araba area of Jenin blasted the home of Asad Adaqa, killingbr / him immediately, as well as Waíil Multaq Isaf, and a small girl, Balqisbr / Arda. In Libqaya, shelling from tanks and helicopters killed Tawfiq Abu Sharar,br / Thair Mahdawiy and Shahr Bani Audeh. Israeli tank shelling in Jenin Refugee Camp killed Iyad Al Masri and Ibrahim al Fayd. Three more Palestinians also were killed by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip./p pThe Israeli attacks have wounded over one hundred Palestinians, the woundedbr / are in serious threat as the continuous bombardment prevents medical teamsbr / and ambulances from reaching them. The siege on Jenin, isolating itbr / completely from surrounding villages, also means that the injured are unablebr / to reach Jenin hospital for urgently required medical care./p pThe situation is likely to deteriorate: Israeli military troops and tanksbr / already surround Nablus, and there is widespread fear of what moves thebr / Israeli army will make in the next few hours. With attention deflected tobr / the United States, Israel is trying to act with carte blanche in thebr / Occupied Palestinian Territories./p pFor more information, contact Mustafa Barghouthi, 059-254-218, and seebr / www.palestinemonitor.org/p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p