In Russia, a wrathful prosecutor declared his inability to sentence Russian oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky to more than 10 years in prison, adding that miscreants still at large should bear this in mind. The guarantor of the Constitution - President Vladimir Putin - has not... MORE

Following a meeting on May 27 with Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Alvaro Gil-Robles, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov declared that the issue of Chechnya "is dropping off the politicized agenda of our relations with the Council of Europe just as it has... MORE

Whether by strategic design with Russia, by bureaucratic drift or a combination thereof, Western diplomats are rushing a pseudo-settlement of the Trans-Dniester problem that would, if implemented in the next few months, turn Moldova into a Russian satellite and ensure a Communist landslide in upcoming... MORE

A demarcation ceremony was held at the Gishtkuprik customs checkpoint on May 19 to officially delineate the Uzbek-Kazakh border. The demarcation process was begun in fall 2003. Gishtkuprik is located 17km from Tashkent. Astana and Tashkent plan to plant border poles along the entire length... MORE

As summer approaches in Afghanistan and the peak fighting season lies ahead, the 20,000-strong U.S. military is making increasing contact with the enemy. But the enemy is no longer limited to pockets of suspected al-Qaeda fugitives and their Taliban allies in the mountains near the... MORE

The presidential address which Vladimir Putin delivered to the Federal Assembly on May 26 was bound to be anti-climatic. Wednesday's oration was overshadowed by more dramatic political events this spring, such as Putin's re-election as president in March and the firing of Prime Minister Mikhail... MORE

International naval exercises in the Baltic Sea, which begin on June 2, will see 15 European nations and the U.S. joined by the landing ship Kaliningrad and the escort vessel Neustrashimy, representing the Russian Baltic Fleet. These high-profile exercises will showcase the Baltic Fleet and... MORE

Speaking at a rally and a news conference on the occasion of Georgia's National Day (May 26), President Mikheil Saakashvili reached out to Abkhazia and South Ossetia with proposals for mutually acceptable political arrangements between the central government and the two breakaway areas. "We propose... MORE

According to an unidentified official from the Northwest Frontier, Pakistani security forces have launched a search for the widow of a suspected Uzbek terrorist. Accused of establishing a training camp for female suicide bombers along the Afghan-Pakistan border, the woman's husband is said to have... MORE

President Hamid Karzai's Kabul government - strongly backed by U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad - is struggling to smooth the road to successful general elections this September. There appears to be two obstacles. One is whittling the power of warlords so that they cannot influence the... MORE