RUSSIA DOWNPLAYS BULGARIAN NATO DECLARATION.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry yesterday discounted the recent announcement by Bulgaria’s government that it intends to seek NATO membership. A ministry spokesman described the announcement as a "political declaration" by a caretaker government that, he intimated, is unlikely ultimately to be approved by parliament. He suggested that other Eastern European countries that have declared their intention to join NATO could run into a similar obstacle. (Itar-Tass, February 18)

Central Asian Uighurs Protest Against Chinese Repression in Xinjiang-Uighuria.