Three soldiers belonging to a special-operations unit of Estonia's armed forces have been arrested after holding up a group of farmers at gunpoint in order to rob them of 75,000 kroons (US$5,100). The intended victims turned out to be armed and shot in self-defense, critically... MORE

The Belarusan opposition's Central Electoral Commission (CEC) Chairman Viktar Hanchar made public yesterday the returns of the country's alternative presidential election, which was conducted from May 6-16. The legitimate parliamentary leadership had mandated the holding of the election in accordance with the 1994 constitution and... MORE

A Moscow court yesterday backed the decision of city officials to deny registration to the Glasnost Foundation, one of Russia's oldest human rights groups, which is run by the veteran Soviet-era dissident and human rights activist Sergei Grigoryants. The group had protested the city authorities'... MORE

After his talks with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott and Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari in Helsinki, Viktor Chernomyrdin proceeded yesterday to Belgrade, where he held some seven hours of talks with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. Details of those negotiations were also scarce, but... MORE

Marathon talks in Helsinki, Bonn and Belgrade yesterday yielded hints from officials involved that a political resolution of the Kosovo conflict may be within reach. But there was no sign of a diplomatic breakthrough at any of the negotiating sessions. Yesterday's talks came as NATO... MORE

The conflicting signals over the appointment of Aleksandr Zhukov as first deputy prime minister of economics would appear to be part of an under-the-carpet power struggle going on in Yeltsin's inner circle over who will control the cabinet. According to Moscow's ever-buzzing political rumor mill,... MORE

It didn't take long. Just a day after his confirmation as prime minister, Sergei Stepashin is already in a certain amount of trouble. Just how much remains to be seen. This morning, Moscow time, Aleksandr Zhukov--the head of the State Duma's budget committee who over... MORE

General Anthony Zinni, commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces Central Command, conferred with Uzbek Defense Minister Colonel-General Hikmatulla Tursunov in Tashkent on May 17-18. The two discussed plans to expand bilateral military cooperation and preparations for the forthcoming multilateral exercise in the CentrasBat series,... MORE

China has just delivered eight Typhoon multiple-launcher tactical missile systems to Armenia--the first known Chinese-Armenian arms deal. The delivery was agreed upon during a joint visit of Russia's and Armenia's defense ministers, Igor Sergeev and Vazgen Sarkisian, to Beijing last year. Originally a predecessor of... MORE

Nine members of what Armenian authorities describe as a "criminal gang" went on trial on May 14 in Yerevan on murder charges carrying the death penalty. Led by Armen Ter-Sahakian, the group consists partly of former agents of the Internal Affairs Ministry associated with Vano... MORE