That is the conclusionof a report in the July 19 issue of Trud. More than 12,000people died in traffic accidents during the first half of 1995,plane crashes claimed 38 more lives, and railroad accidents stillmore, the paper said.

The Russianforeign ministry said July 20 that Moscow had "essentially"decided to recognize passports issued by the Palestinians, Interfaxreported. Such a step, the ministry's spokesman added, would bothstrengthen Palestinian national consciousness and would help resolvevarious humanitarian problems. Who was Rudolf Abel?

Rudolf Abel, the Soviet spy who workedin the United States and was exchanged for U-2 pilot Gary Powers,was the cover name for William Fischer, whom the Soviets dispatchedto the US under the name Emil Goldfus in 1948 to engage in atomicespionage, Moscow's Security magazine said... MORE

TheFederal Employment Service which has consistently underreportedunemployment in Russia, and given upbeat projections for the future,now says that unemployment will rise to 15 percent by the endof next year, Ostankino television reported July 20. Muscovites Face Higher Cost of Living.

Residents of Russia'scapital now spend 50 percent more on basic foods than do Russiansliving in other cities, a situation that has been compounded bythe Russian government's imposition of new tariffs on importedfoods, Russian radio reported July 19.

A recentpoll found that Russians are increasingly pessimistic and apathetic,and are weighted down with concerns about surviving day to day,Russian radio reported July 19. The sociologists who conductedthe investigation suggested that such attitudes were a potential"breeding ground" for the growth of anti-reform movementsbased on nostalgia... MORE

The latest gangland-stylekilling of a Russian banker in Moscow brings the number of bankerskilled there in the last two years to 16, Interfax reported July20. More than two dozen others have been attacked but survived,the news service said. Attacks on bankers are part of the... MORE

Except for war-torn Tajikistan, Russia has the highest monthlyinflation rate in the CIS, the director of the Institute for EconomicAnalysis told Trud July 19. Andrei Illarionov said thatRussia could achieve financial stability as the Baltic stateshave done, but that the government was issuing too much... MORE

Gunssmuggled out of Chechnya have become an important part of theillegal arms market in Russia, Rossiiskie vesti reportedon July 19. The paper surveyed illegal arms markets throughoutthe country, noting that in Tyumen "one can buy any kindof gun one wants" and for relatively modest prices,... MORE

Russia extracted2.5 percent less gas and oil in the first half of 1995 than itdid in the same period in 1994, Russian radio reported July 19.The only bright spot was in firms which had received Western investment;their production increased during the same period. Russia Completes... MORE