M A I N   N E W S

May Day rallies focus on poverty, Iraq

Russian Communists carrying red flags march across the bridge during a demonstration in Central Moscow on Saturday. Russia has traditional long May Day holidays with various demonstrations and military parades. — Reuters photo

Moscow, May 1
Thousands marched in cities around the world today to mark International Labour Day protesting against poverty and the war in Iraq as well as calling for improved workplace safety.

In northern China, celebrations were marred by reports that 35 coal miners had died and 16 were missing in two accidents that underscored the dismal plight of many workers on the May Day.

A gas explosion ripped through a mine in northern Shanxi province yesterday leaving 35 dead and one missing, while 15 miners were feared dead from a flood in an illegally operating mine in Inner Mongolia, officials and press reports said today.

In Moscow, several thousand Russian communists marched with banners proclaiming: “Bring back the Soviet Union and friendship between peoples” and “selling off the land is a betrayal of the fatherland”. — AFP