Striking Russian coal miners in the Kuzbass, some of whom have not been paid for six months, today blocked the Trans-Siberian Railway. They were joined on strike today by other public sector workers also demanding payment of wage arrears. (BBC, May 15) Meanwhile, 600 coal... MORE

There has been widespread condemnation of the bombing of the Lubavitch Marina Roshcha synagogue in downtown Moscow yesterday. This was the third attack on the synagogue in five years and caused extensive damage. President Boris Yeltsin called on the police to lose no time in... MORE

The Speaker of the lower house of the Russian parliament, Gennady Seleznev, said yesterday that he was "categorically opposed" to suggestions that President Yeltsin might run for a third term in 2000. (Itar-Tass, May 14) Seleznev was reacting to a surprise statement by the Speaker... MORE

General Ismail Karaday--chief of the Turkish General Staff--will visit Moscow next week to confer with Defense Minister Marshal Igor Sergeyev, his Russian counterpart General Anatoly Kvashnin and Security Council Secretary Andrei Kokoshin. Karaday is sure to bring up the controversial sale of Russian S-300 air... MORE

Like the Russian imperial eagle, the CIS now has two heads. As had been predicted, President Yeltsin has named Ivan Rybkin as his plenipotentiary representative to the CIS member-states. Announcing the appointment yesterday, presidential spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky said this is a new position in the... MORE

Some 300 young Russians rallied yesterday under red flags in downtown Riga at the call of the Socialist Party's youth wing. The main slogans included: --"Official status for the Russian language in Latvia" --"We are not an ethnic minority, we are half the country" --"Away... MORE

The Ukrainian cabinet of ministers decided yesterday to initiate the creation of an international consortium for the transport of Caspian oil to Ukraine. Prime Minister Valery Pustovoytenko told the cabinet session that the project is to be treated as a "national priority." The cabinet assigned... MORE

Georgian Parliament Chairman Zurab Zhvania yesterday described as legitimate the Georgian guerrilla movement in Abkhazia. Receiving a Russian parliamentary delegation in Tbilisi, Zhvania condemned the Russian-supported ethnic cleansing in Abkhazia and rejected the double standard whereby Russian veterans "who fought in Ukraine or Moldova are... MORE

Kremlin foreign policy coordinator Sergei Yastrzhembsky yesterday announced that Moscow is drafting a "special treaty to legalize the new association of three countries"--Russia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan--"for resisting religious extremism." According to Yastrzhembsky, the treaty and the "association" will be open to all countries that share... MORE

Meeting in Beijing on May 7, Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji and Kazakhstan's Prime Minister Nurlan Balgimbaev signed five cooperation agreements focusing on Chinese aid to Kazakhstan and bilateral cooperation in space, tourism, sports and culture. This visit was Balgimbaev's first to China since assuming office... MORE