RUSSIAN SECRET POLICE GIVEN NEW POWERS, MORE FUNDS.

Russia’s FederalSecurity Service (FSB) will soon have powers that “even the KGB did not dreamof,” Kommersant-daily reported May 18. The paper said that the Duma hadgiven preliminary approval May 17 to a bill that would allow the FSB toengage in wiretapping, monitoring of computer nets, and the setting up offiles on Russians–all in the name of fighting crime. The same day, theRussian finance ministry said that there must be increases in the budgets ofthe state security services. The ministry added that it could pay for theseincreases through cutbacks in the military, a step that will only fuel thealready-existing conflicts between the military and the security services.

Can Moscow Get Tough With Ukraine?