Demonstrators hurled snowballs at the state-run media buildings in the 15th straight day of protests against Milosevic and his decision to annul Nov. 17 local elections that appeared to have been won by the opposition. Police still kept their distance, but one report said reserve police officers were being mobilized nationwide.
Milosevic's propaganda machine, which at first ignored the protests, went on the offensive, dismissing the demonstrators as terrorists, vandals and a "handful" of desperate people.
Minutes before the protesters were to begin their march through the capital yesterday, independent radio station B-92 and the student-run Radio Index went off the air. A government ministry statement said B-92 had been shut down for operating without permission. The station had applied several times - without success - for an official frequency.
The walkout, which shut at least 100 of Russia's 287 coal mines, is the strongest protest in months against a cash shortage that is draining the economy in this sixth winter of painful post-Soviet reform.
It also marks an escalation of labor unrest into a political demand that could find broader support tomorrow when the country's largest federation of trade unions gathers in Moscow.