President Boris Yeltsin is reported this morning to have nominated Russia's acting Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov for the post of prime minister. (BBC, September 10) Leaders of the State Duma, who have twice rejected Yeltsin's nomination of Viktor Chernomyrdin for the post, are likely to... MORE

Tajik President Imomali Rakhmonov opened festively on September 7 the first section of a broad-gauge railway, intended to link southwestern Tajikistan with the international Karakorum highway that runs to the east of the country. The Tajik railway's first section runs from Kurgonteppe to Kulob. According... MORE

On September 7 the Belarusan army began a brigade-level staff and troop exercise at Lyasnouski training grounds near Baranavichi. Defense Minister Lieutenant-General Aleksandr Chumakov commands the exercise. It includes 2,500 troops and ninety armored vehicles practicing defensive combat against a hypothetical foreign invasion and electronic... MORE

High-level officials from thirty-four countries conferred on September 8 and 9 in Baku on the plan to create a Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Central Asia (TRACECA)--a network of rail, highway, ferry and pipeline links. Initiated by the European Union, TRACECA enjoys strong support from the newly independent... MORE

Russian border guard forces ceased patrolling the central and northern sectors of Georgia's maritime border as of yesterday. Both land-based troops and the naval component of Russian border forces relocated southward to Batumi in Ajaria. Moscow's reluctant decision follows a September 6 incident, when Georgian... MORE

Some 100 Russian nuclear scientists yesterday began picketing at the country's Atomic Energy Ministry building in Moscow. The scientists were said to be demanding that the government clear up salary arrears to nuclear energy workers and pay off Defense Ministry debts to the nuclear industry.... MORE

Latvia is prepared to contribute food aid to Russia, Prime Minister Guntars Krasts announced yesterday. Krasts recommended that the Baltic Sea countries and the European Union set up a special assistance fund for Russia to alleviate social tensions there during the economic crisis. Foreign Minister... MORE

Russia's Foreign Ministry yesterday denied reports that agreements reached during the recent Russian-U.S. summit in Moscow in any way obligate Russia to cut back its arms sales to India. Foreign Ministry spokesman Vladimir Rakhmanin told reporters yesterday that "bilateral cooperation in defense and in the... MORE

A number of warnings were heard yesterday about the possibility of civil disturbances in various parts of Russia if the present turmoil continues. A senior Russian official--acting head of the government staff, Igor Shabdurasulov--appeared on television to reassure people that there is no danger of... MORE

A spokesman for the British Foreign Office said yesterday that an emergency meeting of the Group of Seven, originally scheduled for September 12 in London, is likely to be postponed for several days. The meeting is to bring together high-ranking representatives of the finance and... MORE