NEW YORK — Mayor Michael Bloomberg is strong-arming City Council members to support his plan to change the city’s term-limits law so he can run again, the city comptroller said Sunday.
Comptroller William Thompson said some council members had been threatened with losing perks such as committee chairmanships or funding for programs in their districts. He did not say who they were.
“Undue pressure has been placed on them,” Thompson said.
Bloomberg spokesman Stu Loeser said no inappropriate pressure was being applied.
Bloomberg, a Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-independent, announced this month that he would aim to modify the city charter so he could seek a third term. Existing law limits city officeholders to two consecutive four-year terms, and he is set to leave office at the end of 2009.
The billionaire founder of the financial information company Bloomberg LP said he decided to pursue a third term because he believes his financial expertise is crucial during the economic crisis.
The City Council could vote on the term-limits proposal as early as this week.
Illinois: Farrakhan touts unity
Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan stressed unity among religions, while still preaching a message of black empowerment, at a rare public event Sunday deemed “a new beginning” for the Chicago-based movement. In the nearly two-hour speech, Farrakhan covered topics including immigration, public schools, violence and morality. Farrakhan renewed a call for many to get back to the basic tenets of Islam, while still encouraging black pride.
China: Virus kills, sickens kids
Hand, foot and mouth disease has killed three children and sickened about 110 others in eastern China this month, state media reported. Citing a provincial health official, Xinhua News Agency said late Sunday said the children who died from the infectious disease were under 1 year old and came from different towns in Fujian province. Twenty-two of the infected children were still hospitalized for treatment, the report said. Hand, foot and mouth disease is common in young children and is characterized by fever, mouth sores and a rash with blisters.
Israel: Considers Saudi peace plan
Israeli leaders are seriously considering a dormant Saudi plan offering a comprehensive peace between Israel and the Arab, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Sunday. Saudi Arabia first proposed the peace initiative in 2002, offering pan-Arab recognition of Israel in exchange for Israel’s withdrawal from Arab lands captured in 1967 — the West Bank, Gaza Strip, east Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. Barak said he has discussed the Saudi plan with Prime Minister-designate Tzipi Livni, who is in the process of forming a new government, and that Israel is considering a response.
Georgia: Police in separatist South Ossetia are ordered to shoot back
Police in South Ossetia have been ordered to shoot back if they come under fire, a directive that increases the threat of new violence between Georgia and the Russian-backed separatist region. South Ossetia’s top police official issued the order after a police post came under automatic weapons fire Saturday from the ethnic Georgian village of Nikozi, the separatist government said.
Mexico: Cubans to be returned
Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said on Sunday that Mexico has agreed to return Cuban migrants who arrive without documents. Most migrants evade Mexican officials and the few caught are rarely deported. In most cases, they are given transit permits that allow them to reach the U.S. border. Over 90 percent of Cuban migrants now reach the United States this way.
Iraq: Soldier’s dog on way home
An animal rescue group flew into Baghdad on Sunday and picked up Ratchet the dog, which was adopted by Army Spc. Gwen Beberg, 28, of Minneapolis in a case that highlighted military rules barring troops from caring for pets while in Iraq. Ratchet was loaded onto a charter flight, which took off Sunday night for Kuwait. He’s due in Minnesota later this week. It was the third try by Operation Baghdad Pups to get Ratchet out of the country on behalf of Beberg, who says she couldn’t have made it through her 13-month deployment without the affectionate mutt. She and another soldier rescued the puppy from a burning pile of trash in May.
Pakistan: Militants die near border
Pakistani forces killed at least 30 militants near the Afghan border, an army spokesman said. Pakistani soldiers are battling militants on three fronts in the northwest of the country. In the past, the government has tried unsuccessfully to make peace deals with the insurgents, drawing criticism from the United States.
From Herald news services
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