On a swing through northern Kazakhstan, President NursultanNazarbayev continued to press his case for shifting the capitalof his country from Almaty to Akmola, Russian radio reported August17. Himself a native of Almaty, a city he said would remain thecountry's cultural and financial hub, Nazarbayev suggested... MORE

Approximately 100 supporters of the Ukrainian National Assemblydisrupted a court hearing on whether that group should be bannedbecause it has sent its members to fight in various conflictsaround the periphery of the former Soviet Union, Kiev radio reportedAugust 17. The Ukrainian authorities opened the case... MORE

Ukrainian officials havescaled back their predictions on the size of this year's harvestfrom 44 to 37 million tons, just 1.5 million more than last year'stake, Kiev radio reported August 17. The government spokesmenblamed the continuing drought, machinery shortages, and even locustsfor the shortfall but said... MORE

EmreGonensay, an advisor to Turkish premier Tansu Ciller, told theAnatolian news agency August 17 that he would lead a delegationto Moscow to seek an agreement on a route for oil pipelines comingout of Central Asia and the Caucasus. Gonensay made his remarksafter a visit to... MORE

Latvia'sgovernment budget deficit will rise from 40 to 90 million latsas a result of the government's commitment to repay depositorsat failed banks, BNS reported August 17. The Latvian cabinet isseeking to prevent the situation from getting even worse by orderingall departments to cut their budgets... MORE

Belarusian presidentAleksandr Lukashenko will probably be forced to repeal a tax onthe movement of goods through his country because Russian andother traders have been avoiding the tax by traveling throughneighboring countries rather than Belarus, Vechernyaya Moskvareported August 16. Ukrainians Protest Court Hearing on Banning Militant... MORE

A recent scholarly conference"On the Social, Economic and Political Aspects of TransferringRussia's Capital from Moscow" backed the idea of moving thecountry's political center to Novosibirsk, Kontinent (no.32) reported. Part of the reason regional leaders want to movethe capital out of Moscow is that they believe... MORE

Estonian, Latvianand Lithuanian volunteers will join the Danish peacekeeping battalionin Croatia during the next ten days. BNS reported August 17. Latvian Budget Deficit Seen Rising by $90 Million.

The president ofYakutiya-Sakha Mikhail Nikolayev reportedly is considering adoptingthe Kalmyk model for extending his term through early electionsor by referendum, Russian radio reported August 17. If other regionalleaders follow suit, Boris Yeltsin might also. Duma Candidates Seen as Unstable.

A Russian analyst tolda Moscow conference that the average candidate in the state Dumaelections has had one nervous problem or another, is unstable,and suffers from stress or other mental trauma, Izvestiya reportedAugust 17.