Some eight thousand people blocked roads and railways yesterday in Maritime Krai in Russia's Far East to demand payment of wage arrears. Administrative offices in the regional capital, Vladivostok, were also picketed. The protesters included miners, power workers and employees of weapons factories. A delegation... MORE

An election was held in Dagestan yesterday for the republic's chief executive body, the State Council. There were no surprises: Magomedali Magomedov was reelected by the Constitutional Assembly to serve a further four years as State Council chairman. Of the 242 members of the republic's... MORE

On June 24, Swedish citizens Daniel and Paulina Brulin, who had been kidnapped in the Dagestani capital, Makhachkala, on January 8 and later taken to Chechnya, were rescued. According to some reports, the rescue took place after a three-day joint operation by Dagestan's security forces,... MORE

A fresh election is to be held on September 27 for the mayor of the city of Nizhny Novgorod. Earlier this week, an oblast court upheld the decision of the regional electoral authorities to annul the mayoral election that took place on May 29. The... MORE

The U.S. White House and State Department, the European Union, OSCE chairman-in-office Bronislaw Geremek and several Western and North European governments have applauded the changes introduced on June 22 by the Latvian parliament to the citizenship law. The supportive statements, issued between June 23 and... MORE

Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma announced yesterday that his Russian counterpart, Boris Yeltsin, has postponed his planned visit to Ukraine. The two presidents were to have met in Crimea for an informal, "no-neckties" summit this month. However, Yeltsin earlier this month asked to have the visit... MORE

According to Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze, the latest developments in Ajaria "do not in the least signify a confrontation between Tbilisi and Batumi." Aslan Abashidze's and the other Ajar leaders' "critical remarks about the central government reflect their desire to solve the problems in close... MORE

Armenian President Robert Kocharian has decreed the creation of a Political Council Attached to the Presidency, made up of representatives of the political parties. Fourteen parties across the political spectrum are represented. These include: the Justice and Unity coalition of five parties--Yerkrapah, Dashnaksutiun, Self-Determination Union,... MORE

The Kremlin announced yesterday that President Boris Yeltsin's official visit to Kazakhstan, planned for June 30-July 3, is being postponed until September. No specific date was announced. The Kremlin cited scheduling conflicts as the reason for postponing the visit, during which Yeltsin and Kazakh President... MORE

In a challenge to the London-based commodity trading company Trans-World Group (TWG), Kazakhstan Mineral Resources Corporation (KMRC) has announced that it intends to finance the construction of Kazakhstan's first aluminum smelter. TWG dismissed the news as "nonsense." (Reuters, June 19) As the former partner of... MORE