Metal workers strike in Russia
More than 10,000 workers went on strike May 31, over living conditions at the Nadezhdinsky metallurgical plant, in Russia's Far North. The strike cut production at the plant, a subsidiary of the Norilsk Nickel corporation, in half and reduced Norilsk's total output by 12 percent.

Meanwhile Russian president Boris Yeltsin has been campaigning hard for reelection, with the backing of Washington and other imperialist governments. Russia's Central Bank protested June 6 a move by Yeltsin to turn over $1 billion to help pay for the federal deficit, which has risen as he ordered the payment of tens of trillions of rubles in wages, pensions and other benefits to workers in order to win votes.

Apology for `comfort women'
Japan's prime minister, Ryutaro Hashimoto, announced in early June that he would apologize to the "comfort women" who were forced into prostitution houses for the Japanese military during World War II. A private fund was set up last summer to compensate the women, but Japanese officials refused to apologize.

In 1991 the Japanese government admitted it officially organized the prostitution conscription of Korean, Chinese, Dutch, and Filipina women. Historians estimate that up to 200,000 Asian women, mostly Koreans, were forced into the Japanese military brothels.

U.S. probes against North Korea
Lt. Gen. Richard Meyer, commander of all U.S. military forces in Japan, told the Washington Post that the U.S. military in Asia is focused on preparing for armed conflict with North Korea, in an interview printed June 8. Meyer added that U.S. troops training in Japan are supposed to prepare for any regional conflict, but that Pyongyang is at the top of their immediate agenda. Washington has some 100,000 troops and its most advanced equipment stationed in the region.

The U.S. government claims that North Korean forces may attack South Korea due to the food shortages in the country. The Clinton administration announced June 7 it would grant 10,000 tons of food assistance to North Korea, a fraction of the 60,000 tons the United Nations called for to immediately relieve the famine.

Liberian refugees denied port
Ghanaian officials drove a Russian cargo ship carrying refugees from Liberia out of the country's waters June 9. The Zolotitsa has been stranded at sea for two weeks, packed with 450 passengers - including many Ghanaian nationals - who paid $60- 70 each to get away from fighting in the Liberian capital, Monrovia. The government in Togo also refused to allow the ship to dock there.

In May, some 2,000 refugees aboard the Bulk Challenge remained at sea for 10 days as one government after another denied them port along the West African coast. Finally, after international pressure, those deemed "eligible" were granted refugee status in Ghana.

Workers in Morocco hold sit-in
Since May 20 hundreds of jobless graduates demanding jobs have taken over a trade union building in central Rabat, the Moroccan capital. More than 1,000 men and women are estimated to be in the building. On June 3, riot police sent reinforcements to the seized trade union hall. Reuters reported that dozens of youth were chanting slogans and waving banners from the building, where they are packed into every room, the cellar, and the roof. The two main trade unions have called a general strike to force the government to honor previous commitments to increase wages and respect trade unions.

UN official threatens to reimpose sanctions against Belgrade
The president of the United Nations war crimes tribunal said June 6 that it may reimpose sanctions on Serbia and on the so- called Republica Srpska in Bosnia if two leaders of the Belgrade- backed Bosnian Serb forces are not arrested. Judge Antonio Cassese is campaigning for the arrest of chauvinist leader Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb military commander, on war crimes charges. Previous economic sanctions were lifted after the Dayton accord partitioning Bosnia was signed last December.

Carl Bildt, the former Swedish prime minister who is overseeing the civilian implementation of the agreement, warned that reimposing sanctions must be considered carefully because "the consequences are very dramatic." Both U.S. secretary of state Warren Christopher and NATO European commander Gen. George Joulwan said the imperialist troops would step up patrols in Bosnia with the intention of arresting Karadzic.

British beef ban eased
The European Commission eased the 10-week-old ban on British beef products -imposed in the name of fighting "mad cow" disease - June 6. The commission voted to allow Britain to export bull semen, beef fat, and beef-based gelatin.

The same week a leaked report from the British Treasury Department stated that the United Kingdom will be displaced as one of the seven biggest world economies in the next 20 years. The document predicts that in 2015 the top seven markets will be China, India, Brazil, Indonesia, the United States, Japan, and Germany.

OAS criticizes Cuba embargo
The Organization of American States (OAS) voted overwhelmingly for a resolution criticizing the "Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act," or Helms-Burton bill, signed by U.S. president William Clinton in March. Washington, which generally dominates the organization, was the sole dissenter. Cuba has been excluded from the OAS since 1962 at the U.S. government's insistence.

The resolution adopted by the OAS opposes all laws that "obstruct international trade and investment" or "the free movement of persons." The new U.S. law tightens the anti-Cuba embargo by allowing U.S. lawsuits against foreign companies that "traffic" in property formerly owned by U.S. capitalists that was seized by Cuban workers and peasants after the 1959 revolution. It also calls for excluding the executives of such companies from the United States. The U.S. delegate to the OAS, Harriet Babbitt, called the vote an act of "diplomatic cowardice." A spokesman for the Cuban Foreign Ministry said the resolution was "really a surprise" and thanked the OAS members for their support.

Orange County sells bonds again
It has been eighteen months since Orange County, California, declared bankruptcy, losing $1.7 billion and wiping out workers' pensions, school funds, and other moneys invested there.

On June 5, the county issued $900 million of new debt on Wall Street. Nearly all of the bonds were snatched up quickly by investors looking at the higher return rates. After the 1994 collapse, Orange County officials eliminated 41 percent of the county's operating budget by cutting 3,000 jobs, slashing prenatal care programs, closing abused women clinics, and ending programs for children and low-income families.

- MEGAN ARNEY  
 
 
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