MOSCOW BACKS BEIJING ON HONG KONG.

Russian foreign minister Yevgeny Primakov will attend all events marking the handover of Hong Kong to China, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said yesterday. Moscow will not, therefore, join a boycott by London and Washington of a swearing-in ceremony for Hong Kong’s new unelected legislature. The spokesman attributed Moscow’s decision to the fact that Russian-Chinese relations have been developing in a "highly positive" fashion of late. (Russian agencies, June 30)

Russian Researcher Dies in Nuclear Accident.