Maj. Gen.Aleksandr Artemov told Trud August 23 "that thereis every indication that in the near future, the situation withfood supplies in the army, not only in remote garrisons, but alsoin Moscow itself, will get out of hand." As of now, he said,bakeries are refusing to... MORE

Criminals are likelyto increase their representation in the next Duma in order totake advantage of the immunity from criminal prosecution thatDuma members now enjoy, Obshchaya gazeta (no. 34) reported.There are at least 12 criminal kingpins in the current Duma, andthere will be "several times more"... MORE

Russia's deputyatomic energy minister Yevgeny Reshetnikov told Itar-Tass August24 that Moscow had reached an agreement with Tehran to supplynuclear fuel to an Iranian nuclear plant. Despite American objectionsto the deal, "nothing can stop the implementation of theRussian-Iranian contract to build an atomic energy complex"there, Reshetnikov... MORE

A groupof political analysts told Obshchaya gazeta (no. 34) thatthey believe recent assassinations of businessmen and bankersare warning shots and that the next person to be killed by organizedcrime will be a politician, possibly as early as next month. Sayingthat politicians now have a status... MORE

A senior aide to Russian president Boris Yeltsin said that Russiawanted the sanctions against Belgrade lifted quickly or Moscowmight move unilaterally, Russian television reported August 24.Meanwhile, Yeltsin scheduled a visit by German chancellor HelmutKohl for September 2-3 to discuss the issue. And in an extendedinterview... MORE

On a day when Moscowannounced that it was extending its soft peg of the ruble againstthe dollar to the end of 1995, even though that will bring hardshipon some Russian exporters, Moscow was wracked by the beginningsof a banking crisis, despite suggestions by acting Central... MORE

In order to break the deadlock in the Grozny talks and to speedup the disarming of Chechen units, Russian president Boris Yeltsinhas named Oleg Lobov as his personal representative in Chechnyaand dispatched a Security Council delegation to the region. Thatgroup is to report back by... MORE

Units ofthe Tajik opposition attacked but failed to bring down a Russian military helicopter near the Afghan border, Russian televisionreported August 23. The station said that Tajik opposition unitswere massing on the Afghan side and that Russian and Tajik governmentunits were increasing their patrols of... MORE

A Turkish passengerwho had planned to fly from Istanbul to Paris found himself inthe Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod after boarding and failingto get off the plane in time, Itar-Tass reported August 23. Thepassenger who the news service said looked "miserable"was immediately sent back to... MORE

. Pakistani premierBenazir Bhutto of Pakistan signed a series of agreements withKazakhstan's president Nursultan Nazarbayev during a visit toAlmaty August 23, Russian radio reported. Among the agreementsare plans for expanded Pakistani investment and aid to Kazakhstan.On August 24, Bhutto will travel to Kyrgyzstan to participatein... MORE