President Bill Clinton used an address to graduates of the U.S. West Point Military Academy on May 30 to defend NATO enlargement and to urge the American people to support the extension of NATO's security umbrella over the Eastern European countries expected to be admitted... MORE

As expected, Russian prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and former Federation Council speaker Vladimir Shumeiko joined forces on May 30 with former presidential aide Sergei Filatov and set up a new political coalition, the Union of Progressive Forces. Conspicuous by its absence was the main party... MORE

Russian president Boris Yeltsin's representatives in the regions are to get broader powers, presidential aide Aleksandr Kazakov has announced. In the future, they will be responsible for coordinating the activities of all federal bodies in the krais and oblasts. (Russian Radio, May 29) The presidential... MORE

Russian first deputy premier Boris Nemtsov and his family have so far failed to obtain Moscow residence permits to live in the apartment assigned to them by the federal government. Nemtsov blames low-level bureaucrats who, he says, are trying to pay him back for introducing... MORE

Economy Minister Yakov Urinson says the Russian government is planning measures to encourage the adoption of international accounting standards by Russian companies. So far, only 15 percent of Russian exporters have adopted the international system, Urinson said. (RIA, May 29) Clinton Nominates Ambassador to Russia.

U.S. president Bill Clinton has nominated James Collins as the next U.S. ambassador to Russia. Collins currently serves as ambassador-at-large and special advisor to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright for the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union. The post of Ambassador to Russia... MORE

A soldier serving with the Russian military force based in Georgia's breakaway Abkhazia region yesterday shot to death 11 of his comrades as they slept, and then took his own life. Three other servicemen were wounded in the incident and are reported to be in... MORE

Yuri Koptev, the general director of the Russian Space Agency, arrived in Japan yesterday for talks on cooperation in the launching of the international space station Alpha. The discussions will include the leaders of Japan's National Space Development Agency, the U.S. NASA, and the European... MORE

Guards at a Chechen checkpoint on the border with Russia's Stavropol krai reportedly fired automatic weapons yesterday at two vehicles carrying officials of the Stavropol krai branch of the Russian MVD. None of the Stavropol police officials were injured. According to the chief of the... MORE

Russian president Boris Yeltsin has replaced Vladimir Ignatenko, his official representative in Primorsky krai. Ignatenko will not be out of a job, however: he has already been appointed deputy governor by his chum, Primorsky krai governor Yevgeny Nazdratenko. Indeed, Ignatenko's closeness to Nazdratenko had long... MORE