Valdas Adamkus yesterday took the oath of office for a five-year term as president of Lithuania. His is the first case of a political refugee from Communism to be elected president in the liberated native country. Born in Kaunas in 1926, at age 18 Adamkus... MORE

Half of the old banknotes and coins have already been removed from circulation. The process will be completed before May, Prime Minister Chernomyrdin said yesterday. (Itar-Tass, February 26) Russia redenominated the ruble on January 1, lopping three zeroes off the old rubles. The old notes... MORE

Yesterday morning, inhabitants of four border districts in Dagestan blocked the "Kavkaz" federal highway, the Chelyusovskaya Hydroelectric Power Station, and two minor roads. They had only one demand: that all Dagestani citizens forcibly held in Chechnya -- including the seven policemen from the Kazbekovsky district... MORE

In his weekly radio address broadcast this morning, President Yeltsin said the growth of a new middle class is essential for economic growth, prosperity and stability. He said there are already one million small businesses in Russia, accounting for 12 percent of GDP and employing... MORE

The confusion caused by Yeltsin's unpredictable behavior distracted attention from the tough report delivered at yesterday's meeting by Prime Minister Chernomyrdin. Chernomyrdin announced that the government intends to make still further cuts in the 1998 federal budget. The budget has not yet been approved by... MORE

Yesterday's much-hyped meeting of the Russian government -- an event earmarked for high drama -- spiraled into confusion and ended in farce. President Boris Yeltsin opened the all-day meeting, most of which was televised live, at 10 a.m. in the Russian government building. In opening... MORE

The latest exchange between Washington and Moscow on leaks of Russian missile technology came as Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi wound up two days of talks with Russian leaders in Moscow. Although reports at the close of Kharrazi's stay yesterday made no mention of the... MORE

Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) yesterday denied a report in the February 23 Washington Times alleging that Russia is continuing to channel missile technology to Iran. An SVR spokesman intimated that the report was part of a broader campaign by the United States to undermine... MORE

The Zviadist militants released yesterday the last two hostages -- a Czech and a Uruguayan -- of the four UN officers whom they had abducted on February 19 near Zugdidi in Mingrelia. Some fifteen abductors gave themselves up to Georgian authorities. The group's leader, Gocha... MORE

Interviewed by Aleksandr Bovin in yesterday's issue of the Moscow daily Izvestia, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma graded Russian-Ukrainian political relations with a "B+" at present, up from "barely a C" one year ago. While crediting the progress on the Russian side to President Boris Yeltsin... MORE