FUEL CRISIS OVER-FOR NOW.

The energy crisis that left homes and factories in Russia’s Far East without electricity seems to have been resolved, at least temporarily. Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin announced that the government would grant emergency fuel to Maritime Krai after local leaders appealed for help to Security Council Secretary Aleksandr Lebed. Lebed responded with a public statement that national security was being put at risk because power outages were damaging the ability of the armed forces to do their jobs in the region. But Maritime krai Governor Yevgeny Nazdratenko warned that the government’s emergency aid was only a stopgap solution and that a permanent solution to the problem of non-payments remained to be found. (Interfax, July 18)

Looted Art a Major Issue, Bonn Says.