AKMOLA NOT READY.

President Nursultan Nazarbaev yesterday postponed from October 23 to December 10 the transfer of Kazakhstan’s capital from Almaty to Akmola; the official inauguration of the new capital has been put back to June 10, 1998. Akmola is not yet ready to accommodate the government, Nazarbaev told a joint session of parliament. Reviewing the logistical, political, and ecological reasons for the transfer, Nazarbaev understandably played down the key consideration of increasing the Kazakh presence in the Russian-settled northern half of the country. (KIA, October 20)

Yeltsin Pours Oil on Troubled Waters.