For the last several days, the Russian media has focused primarily on the U.S.-British air strikes against Iraq. And, like the Russia's government and its politicians across the political spectrum, the Russian press was virtually uniform today (December 18) in its condemnation of the strikes.... MORE

Aside from its rhetoric, the Kremlin has taken several practical steps over the past two days to demonstrate its displeasure over developments in the Persian Gulf. Yeltsin summoned Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and Defense Minister Igor Sergeev, each in the midst of visits abroad, back... MORE

Russian officials from across the political spectrum erupted with predictable fury yesterday to the launching of air strikes on Iraq by the United States and Britain. Russian President Boris Yeltsin, whose various infirmities have in recent months turned him into little more than a bit... MORE

The International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Board of Directors released on December 15 a loan of US$217 million to Kazakhstan, the first tranche of a US$433 million extended fund facility (EFF). This EFF had been approved earlier as a precautionary facility which could be drawn down... MORE

President Imomali Rahmonov's December 13-16 official visit to Iran probably marked a turning point in Tajikistan's post-civil war and post-Soviet evolution. As a head of state officially committed to combating "radical Islam," Rahmonov made his peace with a government which represents one of the sources... MORE

Under an intergovernmental agreement signed in Moscow yesterday, Russia has extended a US$20.6 million credit to Armenia to support the operation of the Medzamor nuclear power plant in 1999-2000. Armenia will use the credit to buy nuclear fuel and equipment components from Russian firms and... MORE

According to the Georgian special services, international terrorist organizations have chosen Chechnya as one of their main bases, and training camps for Islamic guerrillas are already operating in the republic. Georgian intelligence claims that the four Western engineers employed by a British telecommunications firm, who... MORE

The Schengen group of European Union countries--France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria and Italy--decided yesterday to introduce visa-free travel in relation to the Baltic states. The Executive Committee of the Schengen group approved the measure on a German initiative during yesterday's meeting in Berlin. Effective... MORE

The general staff of the Angolan army confirmed yesterday that a Ukrainian AN-12 plane was shot down on December 14 by a surface-to-air missile over a combat zone. Aboard the plane were five Ukrainian crewmen, five Angolan officers and an unspecified cargo. The Kyiv-based Khors... MORE

The circumstances surrounding the raids by tax police last week on the homes and offices of businessman Sergei Lisovsky and several of his associates became murkier Tuesday (December 15), when Lisovsky's lawyer was severely beaten. Anatoly Kucharena was hospitalized with a concussion, skull fracture and... MORE