Abkhaz president Vladislav Ardzinba on April 30 appointed Sergey Bagapsh as prime minister and Sergey Shamba as foreign minister of the unrecognized republic. Bagapsh had hitherto served as Abkhazia's permanent representative to Moscow, with the rank of deputy prime minister. Bagapsh and Shamba replace, respectively,... MORE

Tajikistan's top security officials yesterday announced a mandate from President Imomali Rahmonov to uncover "all those who carried out, organized, and commissioned" the April 30 assassination attempt against the President in Leninabad region's capital Hojent. The officials insinuated that the attempt was perpetrated by a... MORE

Lt. Col. Khamzat Dzeitov, deputy interior minister of the Republic of Ingushetia, and his driver were shot dead on April 29 as they drove a suspected criminal to prison. The prisoner escaped. Dzeitov is the second high-ranking official of Ingushetia's Interior Ministry to meet a... MORE

U.S. deputy secretary of state Strobe Talbott yesterday held talks in Moscow with Russian foreign minister Yevgeny Primakov. The talks focused on Russia-NATO relations and were aimed at preparing for U.S. secretary of state Madeleine Albright's own meeting with Primakov in Moscow today. Talbott is... MORE

Anatoly Chubais told journalists in Washington that the World Bank will release to Russia a $600 million loan by the end of June which will go immediately to pay wage arrears. (Interfax, April 30) He said that the IMF has approved the government's economic program... MORE

Members of the Duma's "Anti-NATO Group" have reportedly sent an official message to Russia's foreign minister and Federal Security Service director inquiring whether the presence of large numbers of American organizations in Russia may not be a threat to the nation's security. The inquiry links... MORE

A minority of Russians surveyed in a nationwide VTsIOM poll agreed with President Yeltsin's April 15 appeal to buy Russian. (Interfax, April 30) Only 12 percent approved Yeltsin's appeal, although another 29 percent said they generally prefer to buy Russian. Five percent always prefer to... MORE

The defense minister of Belarus, Lt. Gen. Aleksandr Chumakov (a native of Russia), stated yesterday that the "absolute majority" of the Belarusan military approve the planned union with Russia. Chumakov announced that a joint Russia-Belarus defense policy concept has already been worked out. However, talk... MORE

Russian president Boris Yeltsin cut short his Black Sea vacation and returned to Moscow yesterday evening, reportedly disgusted by poor weather which spoiled his holiday. This morning, the president made a nationwide radio address in honor of May Day, a public holiday throughout the CIS.... MORE

Russian Security Council secretary Ivan Rybkin and his deputy, Boris Berezovsky, were in Chechnya yesterday for talks with the leaders of the breakaway republic. Rybkin said on arrival that "Many, in both Chechnya and Russia, want to break the fragile peace" but "no one has... MORE