Venezuela

Banks abandon strike

Under intense pressure from President Hugo Chavez, Venezuela’s banks agreed to abandon a 59-day-old opposition strike — the latest sign the drive to force Chavez’s quick ouster was unraveling.

Wednesday’s decision came as the government nibbled away at the strike’s core: a walkout that hobbled the oil industry, the world’s No. 5 exporter.

Output surpassed 1 million barrels a day this week, a third of normal. Oil provides half of government income and 70 percent of export revenue.

Venezuela’s National Banking Council said its members would return to normal operating hours on Monday. For two months, thousands of people have waited in long lines while banks opened just three hours a day.

Washington, D.C.

Post office seeks permission to offer early retirement

The U.S. Postal Service is seeking authority to offer early retirement to workers whose jobs are eliminated by automation.

In a letter to the Office of Personnel Management, the agency said that it expected automation to eliminate about 16,000 jobs by the end of the fiscal year.

Most of that reduction can be accomplished through attrition, said spokesman Gerry Kreienkemp. But attrition won’t be sufficient to reach the full 16,000 so the post office wants permission to offer early retirement to workers who want to leave but haven’t enough years on the job.

The offer would cover crafts such as mail sorters and clerks covered by the American Postal Workers Union.

Phoenix

Immigrants held hostage as smugglers demand ransom

About 60 illegal immigrants were held hostage in a Phoenix house while smugglers demanded payment from their families, police said Wednesday.

Police said a man who was allegedly being held at the house escaped Tuesday afternoon and called 911. Investigators found about 60 immigrants and four alleged smugglers in the home, Detective Tony Morales said.

One of the alleged smugglers was booked on suspicion of sexually assaulting a woman held at the house. The rest of the alleged smugglers and immigrants were turned over to immigration authorities.