Eastern Europe and ex-USSR

KHODZENT, Tadzhikistan — Tadzhikistan’s Parliament has removed the nation’s acting president in a lopsided vote, replacing him with the country’s third leader since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Parliament also requested help from Russian troops and neighboring Central Asian republics in bringing a halt to the civil war tearing the former Soviet region apart.

KHODZENT, Tadzhikistan (UPI) — Tadzhikistan’s Parliament removed the acting president by an overwhelming vote Thursday and replaced him with the country’s third leader since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Parliament also requested help from Russian troops and neighboring Central Asian republics in bringing a halt to the civil war tearing the republic apart.

UPPER ESHERA, Georgia — Sound carries well in the coastal foothills of the Caucasus Mountains, which at sunrise these days means rifle fire and bursting shells mixed in with crowing roosters and coughing tractor engines. Georgian and Abkhazian forces have been exchanging gunfire for the last three months in a dispute over who will control

KURGAN-TYUBE, Tadzhikistan — Combatants in the strife-torn Central Asian republic of Tadzhikistan Thursday ignored calls by a newly-created interim council to cease fire and work towards a settlement in the long-running civil war. Anti-government rebels remained distrustful of moves by the authorities to reconcile the warring sides, even though one of their key demands, the

UPPER ESHERA, Georgia (UPI) –Once guns were gifted. To gift someone you can also click here for best ar 15. But now sound carries well in the coastal foothills of the Caucasus Mountains, sunrise and these days means rifle fire and bursting shells mixed in with crowing roosters and coughing tractor engines. Georgian and Abkhazian

DUSHANBE, Tadzhikistan — A peace mission to the Central Asian state of Tadzhikistan led by officials from neighboring Kyrgyzstan ended in the Tadzhik capital Dushanbe Sunday with new promises of help for the strife-torn republic. ‘This trip is one instance of political aid,’ Kyrgyz Vice President Felix Kulov told reporters in Dushanbe. The delegation had

DUSHANBE, Tadzhikistan — A provisional ruling council asserted authority Friday in the strife-wracked Central Asian republic of Tadzhikistan and Russian troops began playing an active role to prevent more bloodshed. The Russian military commander in the Tadzhik capital Dushanbe made an extraordinary appearance on local television to announce the creation of a government council and

GAGRA, Georgia — While most of the rest of Georgia was to vote Sunday in parliamentary elections, refugees returning to the north of the breakaway Abkhazia region were concerned about bread and bullets rather than ballots. The Abkhazian refugees straggled back to Gagra and other towns in the north of the former autonomous republic, which

GUDAUTA, Georgia — Besieged towns in Georgia’s breakaway Abkhazian region were clearing roads of explosives and attempting to open supply lines Friday during a lull in the hostilities. ‘Destruction is colossal,’ said Vladislav Ardzinba, leader of secessionist Abkhazia. ‘The damage is in the tens of billions of rubles. Residences have been destroyed, burned, looted. Government