Vladimir Lukin, chairman of the Russian Duma's International Affairs Committee and a leader of the Yabloko faction, was elected April 22 as a deputy chairman of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly (PACE). (Itar-Tass, April 22) On January 25 of this year, PACE voted to... MORE

On the day before Boris Yeltsin's arrival in Beijing, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman yesterday rejected a call, made during the recent nuclear security summit in Moscow, for a global ban on nuclear tests. Russia had agreed to the ban during the summit, and Boris... MORE

Under an agreement signed last week with Uzbekistan, South Korea's Daewoo conglomerate assumed 100 percent ownership of the Tashlak textile plant for $2.5 million. Daewoo has committed $60 million this year for the plant's modernization. The plant's entire output of 10,000 tons of cotton yarn... MORE

Azerbaijani president Heydar Aliyyev yesterday dismissed as "primitive insinuations" the speculation that the arrest and extradition of opposition leaders by the Russian authorities would be rewarded with Azerbaijani concessions. Aliev and the General Prosecutor's office suggested that punishment of extradited opposition leaders sentenced or indicted... MORE

Yesterday in Luxembourg, Presidents Eduard Shevardnadze of Georgia, Levon Ter-Petrosian of Armenia, and Heydar Aliyev of Azerbaijan signed in the name of their respective countries partnership and cooperation agreements with the European Union. The agreements provide for institutionalized political dialogue at the ministerial level, most-favored-nation... MORE

North Ossetian president Akhsarbek Galazov yesterday called for a meeting of the heads of the Russian Federation's constituent republics in the North Caucasus and the presidents of the three Transcaucasus countries, to be chaired by Boris Yeltsin, in an effort to search for a comprehensive... MORE

The popular independent newspaper Moskovsky komsomolets marked Lenin's birthday by giving its front page over to nostalgic articles harking back to the past, including letters from readers complaining about the collapse of the Soviet Union and an interview with Yegor Ligachev (who used to be... MORE

Communists in many parts of Russia celebrated the 126th anniversary of Lenin's birth yesterday. In Moscow, Communist party leader and presidential candidate Gennady Zyuganov headed a procession of hundreds of people carrying red flags to lay wreaths at Lenin's mausoleum on Red Square. "This is... MORE

Communist party leader Gennady Zyuganov, who has complained about biased media coverage of his presidential campaign, was interviewed by the NTV independent TV company on Sunday night. (NTV, April 21) Quizzed on his party's economic plans, Zyuganov said he would soon be publishing his economic... MORE

During talks with Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres in Jerusalem April 21, Russian foreign minister Yevgeny Primakov was told that Israel was committed to U.S. mediation in the settlement of the Lebanon conflict and that Peres preferred "efforts in this direction to be concentrated in... MORE