DEFENSE LAW APPROVED.

Russia’s Federation Council yesterday approved the draft law "on defense." The law specifies the government’s powers in the areas of defense and empowers it to determine procedures for allocating defense funding and determining the sources of that funding. A parliamentarian said that the law on defense would lay the foundation for an array of legislative acts regulating Russia’s armed forces. (Interfax & Itar-Tass, May 15)

Russian Customs Decision Hurts Uzbekistan.