HEALTH MINISTRY OFFICIAL ARRESTED FOR CORRUPTION IN CHECHNYA.

Law enforcement officials have arrested Aleksandr Shirshov, chief of the health ministry’s finance and planning department, and charged him with fraud and corruption. Shirshov is accused of embezzling money allotted for Chechnya, and of stealing ambulances. Health minister Eduard Nechaev claims that the fraud amounts to about 1.5 billion rubles. (9)

Latvian Coalition Government Slow to Form.