SOCIAL PACT REACHED IN KAZAKHSTAN.

A general labor agreement for 1997 was recently signed in Kazakhstan by the government and representatives of workers and employers. Under the terms of the agreement, trade unions will not conduct any protest actions during the year. But a representative of the unions observed that the government’s failure to fulfill its obligations in a similar pact reached last year had led to widespread protest actions across the country on October 17. (Interfax, December 10)

Russia Agrees to Talks with NATO.