On July 2 two members of the Islamic extremist organization Hizb-ut-Tahrir (Islamic Party of Liberation) were given two-year prison terms by authorities in Pavlodar, Northern Kazakhstan. Security forces had detained Arman Hamzin (age 29) and Ruslan Ghinatulin (22) two months ago for distributing Hizb-ut-Tahrir leaflets... MORE

In an interview published by two separatist websites on July 5-6, Chechen separatist president Aslan Maskhadov reiterated that he is ready for negotiations with the federal authorities, while claiming that his forces have the means to fight on for years, should the Kremlin choose to... MORE

The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), already with a powerful say in the shape and planning of counter-terrorist operations in Chechnya, has disclosed serious concerns about remarks made by Chechen rebel commander Shamil Basayev on Al-Jazeera television. The FSB believes that future militant attacks may... MORE

One day after the Ukrainian presidential elections officially started on July 3, four major candidates filed their papers with the Central Election Commission. The oligarchic regional clans and political parties of the pro-presidential camp have united behind Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. His own Party of... MORE

At the June 28-29 NATO summit in Istanbul, both Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and U.S. President George W. Bush appealed for NATO to immediately deploy more NATO troops in Afghanistan to boost security for the upcoming September elections. The requests largely fell on deaf ears.... MORE

The Yukos affair began on July 2, 2003, with the arrest of director Platon Lebedev. Exactly one year later, Russian police marked the anniversary with a dramatic raid on the company's downtown Moscow headquarters. At 2:00 p.m. on Saturday July 3, some 50 police and... MORE

At its Istanbul summit last month, the 26-member Atlantic Alliance announced its newfound interest in the strategic regions of the Caucasus and Central Asia. Although the unveiled measures aimed at engaging the region have turned out to be relatively modest, NATO's designs appear to have... MORE

Meeting on June 29 at the level of heads of state and government, the NATO-Ukraine Commission reviewed implementation of the NATO-Ukraine Action Plan adopted at the alliance's preceding summit in Prague, November 2002. The Commission's June 29 review focused both on long-term military and security... MORE

Yuri Shchekochikhin, a State Duma deputy and veteran investigative journalist, died under mysterious circumstances one year ago, and Novaya gazeta, the publication where he was a deputy editor, devoted eight articles to him in its July 1 issue. Shchekochikhin fell ill just prior to a... MORE

The latest surge of violence against poll workers and other civilians in Afghanistan's eastern and southwestern provinces killed at least 18 people and left more than 13 injured, some seriously. President Hamid Karzai, U.S. Ambassador Zalmai Khalilzad, UN Special Envoy Jean Arnault, and the coalition... MORE