RUSSIAN WORKERS PROTEST.

Security forces were on alert this morning as workers across Russia began a day of protest over unpaid wages and pensions. Tens of thousands of workers demonstrated this morning in the Far East. Trade union leaders said they expected 20 million people to take part in what they claimed would be the biggest protest in post-Soviet Russia. So far, the demonstrations have been peaceful and smaller than union leaders predicted, the BBC reported. (BBC World Service, March 27)

Kremlin Tries to Defuse Tensions.