YELTSIN’S OFFICE TO USE SOVIET-ERA NAMES FOR NON-RUSSIAN COUNTRIES.

Boris Yeltsin and his staff will use the Soviet-era namesfor the former Soviet republics and their capitals rather thanemploying the names that the peoples of those countries now use,Moskovsky komsomolets said August 22. Thus, Yeltsin’s officeplans to call Kyrgyzstan Kirgizia and Ashgabat Ashkhabad. Thepaper said that this shift to the past had been taken for easeof pronunciation. Many non-Russians are likely to see this stepas involving rather more.

Moscow to Reform Pension System.