Representatives of the Christian Orthodox hierarchies of Kyiv, Moscow and Constantinople (Istanbul) are expected to meet in Switzerland in late August to discuss the possible unification of Orthodox churches in Ukraine. This issue will also be examined by the synod of the Russian Orthodox Church,... MORE

Nearly three weeks after the July 21-23 summit of Group of Seven countries and Russia in Japan, there still remain big question marks about the topic that many believe was the highlight of the summit meeting: the "missile deal" said to have been negotiated by... MORE

Boris Berezovsky, the tycoon who recently resigned from the State Duma and has become a vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin's efforts to centralize power, has formally launched a "constructive opposition" to the Kremlin's policies. In a statement published yesterday, Berezovsky and eight other well-known... MORE

Russian officials and citizens alike yesterday were still trying to make sense of the August 8 explosion at Moscow's Pushkin Square, apparently the work of terrorists. Reports immediately after the blast and into yesterday remained contradictory and many of them turned out to be inaccurate.... MORE

On August 4 in Minsk, the rapporteurs on Belarus for the Council of Europe (CE) announced that they would not recommend that the Council send observers to Belarusan parliamentary elections in October. The announcement makes it a virtual certainty that the West and the new... MORE

The Russian authorities have arrested three suspects in connection with the explosion yesterday at Pushkin Square in central Moscow. The blast took place at around 6 PM inside a crowded pedestrian walkway which passes underneath Pushkin Square and Tverskaya Street, one of central Moscow's thoroughfares.... MORE

Not surprisingly, Russian political officials--and, undoubtedly, most Russian citizens--believe that Chechen separatist rebels were behind yesterday's bombing at Moscow's Pushkin Square. Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov was the most unequivocal among the officials, stating in a television interview late last night that the incident had "an... MORE

The Russian Defense Ministry leadership may be on the verge of taking a new series of debilitating blows, as military prosecutors pursue an investigation allegedly implicating four senior generals in what could be a massive embezzlement case. Details of the investigation remain sketchy, but various... MORE

The Baltic Hope-2000 exercise is underway from August 7 through 13 at the Adazi military range in Latvia. Using English as the sole language of command among Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian units, some 350 military engineers from the three countries are operating as a single... MORE

Estonia recorded GDP growth of 5.2 percent in the first quarter of 2000 (www.stat.ee, "Main indicators"). Although domestic demand is growing quickly (9 percent), much of the growth can be attributed to growing demand in Western Europe for Estonia's exports. In the first half of... MORE