MOSCOW MARKS TWO VERY DIFFERENT ANNIVERSARIES.

Today and tomorrow are public holidays in Russia, traditionally held to mark the anniversary of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution. In Moscow this morning, Communist party leader Gennady Zyuganov addressed a crowd of around 5,000 demonstrators, waving red flags and singing Soviet-era songs. A BBC correspondent reporting from the scene noted that the numbers of those attending this annual demonstration are decreasing year by year. (BBC World Service, November 7) At a ceremony marking the anniversary yesterday, Zyuganov said only mass protests and the formation of a new government could prevent Russia from plunging into chaos and fratricidal strife.

Meanwhile, some of those Zyuganov blames for this situation held an informal celebration to mark the fifth anniversary of the formation of the government that launched Russia’s market reforms. Those present included Yegor Gaidar, Anatoly Chubais, Gennady Burbulis, Andrei Kozyrev, Aleksandr Shokhin, Mikhail Poltoranin, and Ella Pamfilova. Summing up the achievements of the government he headed, Gaidar said its main task was to create the mechanisms of the market while avoiding famine. But he said his government had not managed to do many things that still remain undone today. Gaidar gave due praise to Yeltsin who, he said, grasped in autumn 1991 that "the time had come to act." (Interfax, November 6)

Russian Government Intervenes in De Beers Negotiations.