The Israeli interior ministry also approved the construction of a Jewish religious seminary on an East Jerusalem site slated for an Arab girls' school. In response, Palestinian cabinet secretary Ahmed Rahman called for Palestinians to "mobilize to defend Jerusalem" against settlement expansion.

Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority president Yasser Arafat invited Hamas to join his cabinet. Hamas leaders said they would attend discussions with leaders of the Palestinian Authority but would not participate in the cabinet, because the formation of the cabinet was one of the conditions of the agreement signed four years ago between Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization and Tel Aviv, a pact opposed by Hamas.

Miners march on Moscow for payment of back wages...
Siberian coal miners marched to the Russian government headquarters June 11 with a banner that asked President Boris Yeltsin, "Boris, why are we dying for free in the mines?" Miners continue to demand that Moscow pay back wages.

In May, thousands of miners went on strike across Russia demanding $1.45 billion in back pay. During the strike the Federation of Russian Independent Trade Unions threatened a national strike if wages were not paid by July 1.

...while Ukraine miners fight on
"Thieves, give us our money back," was the slogan written on the side of a coal miner's helmet that summarized the message of 1,000 striking miners who marched 310 miles into the Ukranian capital, Kiev, June 11 demanding eight months' unpaid back pay plus wage and pension increases.

The strikers, who have widespread support among working people in Ukraine, surrounded the presidential headquarters parliament. Workers at 45 of the 276 mines in the Ukraine are on strike. Another demand by the strikers is more state funding for safety equipment. More than 170 miners have been killed in the mines this year.

Philippine Airlines pilots strike, defy gov't back-to-work order
Members of the Airline Pilots' Association of the Philippines went on strike June 5, crippling Philippine Airlines (PAL). The 620 unionists are protesting the company's firing of a union member, a reduction in crew rest time during stopovers on trans-Pacific flights, and PAL's retirement policies.

The airline claims such steps are needed because of the effects of the Asian financial crisis. Philippine Airlines officials said the strike, which is causing the company daily losses of $3.8 million, has brought the formerly state- owned company "closer to the brink of insolvency," a situation it said was aggravated by the economic turmoil.

On June 7, airline bosses fired hundreds of pilots who defied its return-to-work order. The next day 300 strikers marched to PAL offices with signs reading "No Compromise," and "We Can't Take It Any More." The Philippine government stepped in that day and ordered unionists back to work, but the union pilots vowed to stay out.

On another front of the economic crisis the newly elected regime of Joseph Estrada will have to confront, about 200 Filipino peasants poured onto a golf course June 10 in the capital city of Manila to protest the regime's default on carrying through a 10.6 million acre land redistribution to landless farmers. The action took place on the 10th anniversary of the government's land reform program. Peasants say big landowners convert land to industrial estates, golf courses, or housing developments to avoid expropriation. The farmers laid rice seedlings on the 10th hole in a three-hour protest.

Nigeria riot cops attack protests against new military government
Nigerian riot police attacked antigovernment protests organized June 12 by capitalist opposition forces following the death of Gen. Sani Abacha, the country's military ruler for five years. The opposition was calling for the release of imprisoned bourgeois opposition leader Moshood Abiola. Hundreds of protesters scattered as gun shots and tear gas filled the streets. Maj. Gen. Abdusalam Abubakar, who stepped in after Abacha's death, promised a "democratic transition," but the new military government has given no indication it plans to release political prisoners or meet other popular demands for democratic rights.

Nigeria was a direct British colony until it won formal independence in 1962. Since then, London has continued to back repressive, pro-imperialist regimes. Abacha took power in 1993, cracking down on opponents in the cities and mounting a brutal campaign against the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), which was waging a fight against dictatorial rule and against mass pollution of their region by Dutch Shell. Hundreds of activists including central leaders of MOSOP were killed by the military under Abacha's orders.

Haitian boat sinks, dozens killed
A boat carrying more than 100 Haitians sank June 8 after cops in the Turks and Caicos Islands fired shots, leaving at least 30 dead, according to accounts by Haitian passengers. Turks and Caicos is a British island colony between Cuba and the Bahamas.

Many immigrants from Haiti migrate to the islands in that area looking for work. Government officials were making great efforts to prove that no bullets hit the ship or passengers aboard. They do not dispute, however, the likelihood that the gunfire by the cops caused the Haitians to rush to one side of the boat, causing the capsize.

Former dictator in Argentina faces charges of child abduction
"Murderer! Murderer!" shouted protesters who jeered former Argentine military dictator Jorge Videla June 11 as he was escorted to court by riot cops. Videla was detained and held for questioning on charges of child abduction carried out during his time as junta leader. He has refused to testify in court. Videla presided over the U.S.-backed military dictatorship in Argentina in 1976-83, when tens of thousands of workers and other people in that South American country were "disappeared" and killed by government- organized death squads. Videla was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1985 for human rights abuses. But in 1990 President Carlos Menem pardoned him and other senior and middle-ranking officers.

-BRIAN TAYLOR  
 
 
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