At the first-ever Azerbaijani-Kazakh summit, held yesterday in Baku, Presidents Haydar Aliev and Nursultan Nazarbayev supported the sectoral division of the Caspian Sea's continental platform and its mineral resources among the littoral states. (Interfax, Western agencies, September 16) Michael Jackson Tours Moscow.

Pop-star Michael Jackson is touring Moscow in advance of a concert scheduled for tomorrow. His visit has been widely covered on Russian television and has included meetings with Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov and President Yeltsin's former chief bodyguard, Aleksandr Korzhakov. Korzhakov turned up in a... MORE

On the eve of a visit to Moscow by a top Iraqi diplomat, Russia's Foreign Ministry yesterday continued to take credit for Baghdad's pledge not to fire on allied aircraft patrolling the expanded "no-fly zones" over Iraq. But, in contrast to the sharply condemnatory language... MORE

Kremlin leaders are said to be thinking about creating a new elite security service that would be tasked with "exerting influence" on select political movements--as well as on nationalist and religious groups--across Russia, with the goal of ensuring the realization of presidential policies. Quoting "well-informed"... MORE

Dushanbe military officials acknowledged over the weekend that the opposition has captured the district center Tajikabad, threatens the district center Komsomolabad, and has gained control over Jirgatal district after capturing its center on September 6. The Defense, Internal Affairs, and National Security ministries and the... MORE

The European Union's commissioner for external relations, Hans van den Broek, completed a visit to Kiev with a statement that "a strong independent Ukraine is vitally important to the EU, which will therefore continue the policy of supporting Ukraine." Van den Broek met with the... MORE

As winter approaches in Russia's Far East, electricity workers in Primorsky krai today began an indefinite strike over unpaid wages. The power workers are also calling for the introduction of presidential rule in the territory, saying that only the federal authorities can resolve the region's... MORE

Baltic leaders are reacting coolly to a Kremlin statement which challenged the legal basis of the restoration of the Baltic states' independence. In separate interviews, Estonian prime minister Tiit Vahi and Latvian foreign minister Valdis Birkavs expressed "perplexity" over a Kremlin spokesman's "disregard of obvious... MORE

The Russian press has published extracts from a letter sent at the end of last month by Aleksandr Lebed to President Yeltsin. (Izvestiya, August 13) In it, the Security Council secretary strongly criticized Russia's draft 1997 budget, prepared by the Chernomyrdin government and presently under... MORE

A consortium of the U.S. companies AMOCO and UNOCAL seeks a 40 percent stake for each in Azerbaijan's untapped Dan-Ulduzu and Ashrafi offshore oilfields, AMOCO-Eurasia president Don Stacy announced in Baku following talks with President Haydar Aliev. Estimated reserves of the two fields are at... MORE