The next day dozens of Palestinian youth again clashed with Zionist forces in Bethlehem, throwing rocks, bottles, and firebombs. The Israeli soldiers responded with rubber bullets and tear gas, injuring seven. Meanwhile, the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu repeated its refusal to agree to further withdrawals of its troops from the West Bank without major concessions from the Palestinian Authority, especially agreement to crack down on militants fighting for self- determination. Palestinian Authority leader Yasir Arafat has rejected these demands.

UN troops will stay in Lebanon
The United Nations Security Council announced January 30 that it would keep 4,500 "peacekeepers" in southern Lebanon. UN forces were scheduled to leave in January, but now have extended the mission to July 31. These military troops have occupied Lebanon since 1978, after Tel Aviv invaded that country. In addition, some 1,500 Zionist soldiers and a pro-Israeli government militia of 2,500 have remained in southern Lebanon since 1985, supposedly to protect bordering cities in Israel from attack.

India troops fire on protesters
Indian government troops opened fire on angry Navapachi villagers in Kashmir January 31. Soldiers had nabbed three villagers they claimed were suspected Muslim separatist rebels.

Some Navapachians protested this act and about 60 residents stoned the soldiers when they refused to release the "suspects." Troops fired on the protesters, killing nine of them.

Cuba: more doctors to S. Africa
On January 28 a contingent of 69 doctors from Cuba arrived in South Africa. This brings the total number of Cuban doctors serving there since 1995 to 341. According to South African health ministry spokesman Vincent Hlongwane, there is a "desperate shortage" of physicians, especially in the rural areas. The latest group, who will be deployed in the rural and semi-urban areas of Eastern Cape, Gauteng, and the Free State and North-West provinces, are among 125 doctors that socialist Cuba is sending early this year. The 76 others are set to arrive during March and April, Hlongwane said.

Meanwhile, 42 South African students departed January 29 for Cuba to study medicine on a six-year agreement with Havana. They were selected from rural areas, to which they will return to practice medicine for at least six years.

Russian toilers: `back pay now!'
Thousands of miners, defense industry workers, and others in Russia blocked that country's main railroad January 27 and held protests from Siberia to the Pacific coast demanding back pay. Workers, who have not been paid in seven months, paralyzed Trans-Siberian railway for two hours in some areas. They threatened to block it again in a month if their demands are not met. In Polusayevo, Siberia, more than 50 miners seized the executive offices of the mining bosses and held 20 of them captive. Miners there have not been paid in two years. No one has been allowed in or out of the offices, according to a January 28 article in the Financial Times.

Church weakens abortion access in Germany on Pope's urging
The Roman Catholic Church in Germany, following a five-page letter sent by Pope John Paul II, said January 27 that it would cease to issue certificates to women confirming they received mandated counseling prior to an abortion. In Germany abortion is technically not legal, but can be carried out without prosecution within the first 12 weeks after obtaining a certificate earned by attending official counseling sessions. Abortion was virtually banned in West Germany, but following reunification with East Germany - where abortions were legal through the first three months - the current law was negotiated. The Catholic Church there runs 264 of the 1,685 "pregnancy counseling" centers.

Bolivians: `No more austerity'
Thousands of workers and peasants took to the streets in major cities across Bolivia January 20 to demand more pay and an end to government austerity measures. The march in La Paz brought the capital to a standstill for several hours, as businesses and banks shut down. Peasants in Santa Cruz organized a "March for Life" that demanded government assistance in solving the crisis facing small agricultural producers. The peasants have also said they will block highways to press their demands. On the day of the protest, many of them decided to join with miners and other workers and vendors. Protest actions also took place in the cities of Cochabamba and Oruro. The Bolivian government says it is "studying" the demand for higher wages, but only in the context of "not putting economic stability at risk."

Brazil gov't okays pay cut
The Brazilian Senate in a 51-to-23 vote passed a bill that allows employers to cut the wages of "short-term" workers employed 18 months or less by 36 percent. The government argues the more "flexible" wage is needed to combat unemployment. The legislation, which was already passed in the lower house of Congress, now awaits approval from President Fernando Henrique Cardoso. A Reuters article notes, "For the next year economists see slower growth and increased unemployment for the Brazilian economy, Latin America's largest."

Haitian hospital workers strike
On January 5 hundreds of janitors, cleaners, stretcher bearers, and other hospital workers in Haiti began walking off the job demanding a 300 percent wage increase and health coverage. The next day emergency room workers joined the strike, and nurses walked out January 7. "We can't live on starvation wages," said Felix Levy, a plaster cast maker at the hospital. The big-business press flooded the coverage of this strike with photos and articles about children and the elderly who supposedly died due to the walkout. The strike ended January 13 when union officials agreed to a plan under which the Haitian health ministry will pay for health-care benefits and hospital employees' transport to and from work. There was not a raise in wages.

N.Y. mayor wants cuts in CUNY
New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani on January 29 threatened to cut government funding of so-called remedial classes in reading, writing, and mathematics at the community colleges of the City University of New York (CUNY). CUNY offers open admissions to all students with a high school diploma or equivalent, and has 65,000 students enrolled in its six community colleges. Among them are many immigrants who make use of the "remedial" classes to study English. The mayor proposed that colleges should solicit private companies to fund for the programs.

- BRIAN TAYLOR  
 
 
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