Latvia's town of Ventspils, hoping to duplicate the recent success of Liepaja, seeks to sell its Lenin monument for cash to Western buyers. Those statues fetch a good price for their bronze and are well suited for recycling into bells. A specialized German firm recently... MORE

The State Department announced yesterday that the United States is banning President Alyaksandr Lukashenka and "several dozen" senior Belarusan officials from entering the United States. The measure follows the similar ban imposed by the European Union and other countries, following Lukashenka's unlawful appropriation of diplomatic... MORE

Belarusan Foreign Ministry officials publicly protested yesterday against Poland's reported intention to host a Radio Free Belarus. The officials cited Polish press reports that the radio is to be financed by the United States and the European Union and will use the transmitters of Radio... MORE

An Ilyushin-76 military transport plane of the Ukrainian Air Force crashed during the night of 13-14 July in the Persian Gulf, killing all eight on board. The plane had just taken off from the United Arab Emirates with an as yet unspecified forty-ton cargo bound... MORE

The BBC has broadcast Azerbaijani President Haidar Aliev's interview with the radio's Yerevan correspondent--the first interview granted to an Armenian journalist by Aliev since the beginning of the Karabakh conflict. Asked about the Azerbaijani opposition's calls to overcome the diplomatic deadlock by using military force... MORE

The Supreme Court of Azerbaijan yesterday began the trial of former Prime Minister Suret Huseinov on charges including treason, armed rebellion, creation of unlawful armed units, large-scale embezzlement of state property and drug trafficking. (Turan, Western agencies, July 14) President Haidar Aliev treats Huseinov as... MORE

Russian Prime Minister Sergei Kirienko told the press yesterday that "disputes on certain legal issues remain to be settled" between Russia and Kazakhstan regarding the bilateral delimitation of the northern Caspian sea floor. The agreement recently signed in Moscow by Presidents Boris Yeltsin and Nursultan... MORE

Feliks Kulov was elected by the municipal council yesterday to the post of mayor of Kyrgyzstan's capital, Bishkek. President Askar Akaev had opposed the holding of a popular election for the mayor's post, on the grounds that such an election would be too expensive. Akaev... MORE

Offering assurances to reporters that Moscow intends to invite Japan's new prime minister to Russia for a summit with President Boris Yeltsin, Russian Prime Minister Sergei Kirienko wound up a two-day visit to Japan yesterday with a press conference that followed talks with top Japanese... MORE

Russia's Foreign Ministry yesterday warned Turkey against involving "third countries" in Ankara's efforts to halt the delivery of Russian S-300 air defense missiles to Cyprus. A Russian Foreign Ministry statement claimed that Turkey was orchestrating an "anti-Russian campaign" over the missiles. (Russian agencies, July 14)... MORE