A confrontation between London and Moscow over alleged British spying activities skittered uncertainly into a second day yesterday as Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) announced that nine British diplomats would be expelled from Russia. A more cautious and conciliatory Russian foreign ministry, however, claimed that... MORE

Tajik officials said this morning that unidentified gunmen killed the chief of staff of Tajikistan's State Security Ministry border troops and gravely wounded another officer, during an overnight attack on the apartment of the border troops' commander, Lt. General Kurbon Cholov in Dushanbe. Also this... MORE

Germany has extended to Georgia a loan of DM 50 million, repayable in 40 years, to assist the overhaul of the country's power-generating industry. The German move is one of several reflecting president Eduard Shevardnadze's high political standing in Bonn. (Itar-Tass, Interfax May 6 and... MORE

President Leonid Kuchma yesterday called for reconciliation between leftist and rightist groups in Ukrainian society and between the former Red Army's World War II veterans and the veterans of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, which resisted both Nazi and Soviet control of Ukraine during the war... MORE

The commander of Russian airborne forces yesterday said that the shooting death of one Russian soldier and the wounding of another were the result of an accidental firing of an automatic weapon. The casualties were sustained by Russian IFOR troops serving in Bosnia. The sergeant... MORE

German foreign minister Klaus Kinkel yesterday called for the development of stronger links between Russia and NATO in the security field, as well as for closer cooperation between Russia and both the EU and OSCE. His remarks came during a meeting of the Western European... MORE

Speaking to the crowd on the campaign stump yesterday, Russian president Boris Yeltsin said he is in good health, plays tennis, and works 18-20 hours a day. (Interfax, May 7) According to an unconfirmed report in the latest issue of Zavtra, Yeltsin, who last year... MORE

During talks in Moscow yesterday with his South Korean counterpart, Russian foreign minister Yevgeny Primakov once again called for Moscow to be included in peace talks on the Korean peninsula. As Russian officials have numerous times in the past, Primakov called for the convening of... MORE

. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe will consider the admission of Belarus to the CE, but only if a CE commission finds that Belarus is a sovereign country in relation to Russia. The commission made this announcement yesterday following a special session... MORE

During a twenty-minute telephone conversation yesterday, U.S. president Bill Clinton reportedly received assurances from Russian president Boris Yeltsin that the June presidential elections in Russia would be free, fair, and held on schedule. A White House spokesman said Clinton had stressed the importance of the... MORE