Two formerly pro-regime warlords rebelled January 26 against President Emomali Rakhmonov. In the western city Tursunzade, former mayor and civil war commander Ibodullo Boimatov returned after a short stay in Uzbekistan with a small armored column and 300 armed followers, seized a government military post... MORE

Belarusian president Aleksandr Lukashenko last week took another step in his campaign to stifle what remains of the independent media in Belarus. In a presidential directive devoted to "state information policies," Lukashenko ordered a series of measures to strengthen his office's political oversight of the... MORE

The Ukrainian government's resolve to implement serious economic reforms in 1996 may be put to a severe test February 1, when Donbass coal miners plan to launch a general strike. Union leader Viktor Derzhak announced the strike action yesterday in Kiev, saying miners would not... MORE

Lithuanian president Algirdas Brazauskas yesterday dismissed Prime Minister Adolfas Slezevicius, but the latter vowed to stay in office. Slezevicius told the press yesterday that he would "stay on to resolve the banking crisis, continue economic reforms, and ensure stability" in accordance with the decision of... MORE

Shareholders at ZIL (the Moscow Likhachev Motor Plant), once one of Russia's largest and most prestigious automobile manufacturers, last week dismissed its president and general director, Aleksandr Yefanov. (10) The company has had serious financial difficulties since 1994, when it came close to bankruptcy, and... MORE

Two Russian border guards were killed and seven wounded by unidentified attackers in Ingushetia January 27. In Chechnya itself, six Russian soldiers were officially reported killed and 14 wounded January 27 and 28. Meanwhile, the Chechen command is continuing to negotiate separately with Dagestani and... MORE

A spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service has denied charges made over the weekend that Russia has increased its espionage activities in Germany over the past few years. Head of German counter-intelligence Hansjoerg Geiger said in the weekly German news magazine Der Spiegel that... MORE

Criminal gangs from Russia and other former Soviet states could eventually supplant the Mafia as the "principal organized crime group in the United States," deputy FBI director Jim Moody warned last week. Moody told a congressional subcommittee January 25 that Russian gangs have rapidly grown... MORE

Russian prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, in Washington for talks with Vice President Al Gore, said yesterday that his government would make "certain corrections" to its economic policies, but that the corrections did not signify a departure from the reform process. (5) Chernomyrdin warned that "improper... MORE

NATO inched tentatively toward expansion yesterday when it convened representatives of the 27 countries that have joined the Partnership for Peace program (PfP). Alliance spokesmen suggested that attendees of the Brussels meeting would be given a chance to indicate formally their desire to join NATO.... MORE