Iran's Minister of Culture and Islamic Orientation Seyed-Mustafa Mir-Salim opened in Yerevan the government-sponsored days of Iranian culture, amid rhetoric on both sides about a "common Armenian-Iranian history" and strengthening ties among the two peoples." Long-term cultural exchange programs were announced. (9) The festival's warm... MORE

At least two officers were killed, two seriously wounded, and one missing when a resistance detachment attacked a Tajikistan Interior Ministry post in Garm region. According to the ministry's account, the 30-strong detachment was armed with grenade launchers and machine guns and destroyed the police... MORE

Russia's fuel and energy minister Yuri Shafranik declared publicly October 14 that Russia should be "satisfied," indeed "happy" with the AIOC international consortium's October 9 decision to pump early Azeri oil through two pipelines, one via Russia and one via Georgia and Turkey. "We consider... MORE

The foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine, Andrei Kozyrev and Hennady Udovenko, conferred in Moscow on pending bilateral issues. On the Black Sea Fleet, Kozyrev urged the early signing of two agreements: on the fleet's partition, and on the status of its Russian share (the... MORE

Latvia became the first of the Baltic countries to officially apply for full membership of the EU when President Guntis Ulmanis and caretaker Prime Minister Maris Gailis signed the formal documents at a Riga ceremony October 13. But in Vilnius, senior Lithuanian officials said that... MORE

In a Kiev press interview, Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma said that in the absence of and external threat, there was no need to create a CIS military bloc. Kuchma characterized criticism of this position as "legally unfounded." Ukraine, he stressed, has been established by its... MORE

The large Russian delegation which arrived in Cuba last week is discussing ways to resume and complete construction of the Juragua nuclear power plant, a Soviet project frozen in 1991 for lack of funds. Nuclear energy deputy minister Yevgeny Reshetnikov and Atomenergoexport agency director general... MORE

A recent Moscow seminar, entitled "Strong Security Services--Strong Russia," attracted an impressive audience. In attendance were representatives of all of Russia's security agencies, successors to the KGB. Officials of Boris Yeltsin's presidential administration were also there. The occasion for the meeting was the publication of... MORE

A five-month investigation by CBS and US News and World Report concludes that the Russian Mafia can steal nuclear materials to sell abroad, possibly to terrorists or rogue nations, and may have already tried. Confident Skokov Genuflects to Yeltsin.

Yuri Skokov, chairman of the Congress of Russian Communities, has dismissed the widely circulating rumors that President Boris Yeltsin may offer him the position of prime minister. Skokov described Yeltsin as "a president who really wanted to do something good for his people...Boris Yeltsin is... MORE