At UN headquarters in New York yesterday Kazakhstan's foreign minister, Kasymzhomart Tokayev, signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty on behalf of his government. Kazakhstan, which gave up an inherited Soviet nuclear arsenal, becomes one of six former Soviet countries to sign the treaty. In 1991... MORE

Azerbaijan's Supreme Court today begins the trial of 37 former officers of the Internal Affairs Ministry's OMON special-purpose regiment. They are charged with high treason for having participated in a March 1995 coup attempt led by the deputy minister and OMON commander, Col. Rovshan Javadov.... MORE

Russian foreign minister Yevgeny Primakov admitted to journalists in New York on September 28 that NATO enlargement appears to be inevitable. The Kremlin's chief diplomat also restated both Russia's opposition to NATO's plans and Moscow's threat to reconsider its adherence to the Conventional Forces in... MORE

North Korea reacted sharply on September 30 to the recent delivery of Russian BMP-3 combat fighting vehicles and T-80 tanks to South Korea. The North Korean news agency called these actions "reckless and irresponsible" and a "serious military-political problem which jeopardizes peace and security in... MORE

. Russian prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin has ordered the creation of a commission to coordinate government activities related to the financing of Russia's army and other power ministries. To be headed by First Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Potanin, the commission is also to analyze the... MORE

The Prime Minister of Malaysia charged in a UN speech on September 27 that Russia has "shut the gates of mercy on the Chechens and with rockets and bombs has killed indiscriminately and with appalling brutality." In a speech that also included criticism of the... MORE

Ninety-three members of the Russian parliament (three more than the required minimum) are calling on Russia's Constitutional Court to declare whether or not the Khasavyurt accords are in line with the Russian Constitution. (Interfax, September 30) The accords, signed by Security Council Secretary Aleksandr Lebed... MORE

The withdrawal of federal forces from Chechnya is proceeding as planned and may be completed ahead of schedule, according to military sources cited by Itar-Tass and Interfax. The first phase is to be concluded today, October 1, when the last of the military units not... MORE

Concern is growing over outbreaks of "Chechen syndrome" among Russian veterans of the war in Chechnya, with a rise in suicides and random violence among Russian servicemen who saw action in Chechnya. (NTV, September 29) The suicide rate for the armed services has long been... MORE

". The Washington-based Armenian National Committee of America is "deeply troubled that the Armenian presidential election, like the parliamentary election in July 1995, was conducted in a decidedly undemocratic environment marked by widespread ballot manipulation," an ANCA communique said. The communique deplored "the government's systematic... MORE