It took two days, three rounds of voting, and extensive horse-trading before Gennady Seleznev, member of the Communist party of the Russian Federation (KPRF), was elected chairman of the new Duma yesterday. Seleznev won 231 votes, beating his main rivals Ivan Rybkin (150 votes) and... MORE

Abandoning the last pretense of a rescue mission, Russian forces carpet-bombed the Dagestani village of Pervomaiskoye with Grad rockets and artillery yesterday, the third consecutive day of their unsuccessful assault on Chechen hostage-takers. From the outset of the operation, the "power" ministries' goal of killing... MORE

1. Russian TV, Reuters, January 16 2. Itar-Tass, Interfax, NTV, Western agencies, January 16 3. UPI, January 15 4. Kommersant daily, January 16 5. Interfax, January 16 6. Interfax, January 16 7. Reuter, January 16 8. Interfax, January 16 9. Reuter, January 16 10. Interfax,... MORE

. Uzbek president Islam Karimov awarded medals to a large group of Uzbek army and security officers on Motherland Defenders' Day, marking the establishment of Uzbekistan's national armed forces in 1992. The country inherited a considerable military infrastructure and a large amount of obsolete military... MORE

Tajikistan's president Emomali Rakhmonov has signed a decree pardoning Democratic party leader Shodmon Yusuf and deputy leaders Oinihol Bobonazarova and Bozor Sobir and ordering their release from jail. The president claimed to have been "guided by the principles of humanism and mercy" and the fact... MORE

Azerbaijani president Heydar Aliyev will hold a bilateral meeting with Armenian president Levon Ter-Petrosian to discuss proposals for settling the Karabakh conflict, aides to Aliyev said yesterday. The meeting is expected to take place during or before the CIS summit scheduled for January 19 in... MORE

Following last week's election of Agrarian party leader Semyon Sharetsky as speaker, the Belarusian parliament yesterday elected three deputy chairmen of parliament. They are Vasil Navikou, leader of the parliament's largest, Communist party faction; Yury Malumou, director of personnel policies in the administration of president... MORE

A recent article on military reform by retired Lt. General Aleksandr Lebed offers little original on the subject, suggesting that Lebed has failed to develop a compelling platform on the issue. The announced presidential candidate has been a tireless critic of the current defense minister... MORE

Members of a Council of Europe human rights commission, in Moscow last weekend, said they were prepared to support Russia's admission to the Council. Continuing violation of human rights in the country, however, precluded Russia from being considered a "rule of law state," they said.... MORE

Russian president Boris Yeltsin conferred with Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma in the Kremlin yesterday on a full range of bilateral issues. The two countries' foreign and defense ministers, Yevgeny Primakov and Pavel Grachev for Russia, Hennady Udovenko and Valeri Shmarov for Ukraine, held parallel meetings.... MORE