...pushed -- in vain -- to extend Mir's life. Gennady Seleznyov, the speaker of the lower house of parliament, the State Duma, said Monday that he sent a letter to Putin earlier this month, proposing to upgrade Mir into Mir-2. According to...

...month, the budget won quick initial approval from the Communist-dominated lower house of Russia's parliament, the State Duma. Lawmakers are required to hold three more readings of the budget, and have promised to move quickly. However, the...

...the worst since the Soviet collapse -- was too dire to delay approval. The lower house of parliament, known as the State Duma, refrained from lambasting the government and voted 303-65 to approve the 1999 budget after its first reading. Mr...

...desperately needs an austere, realistic budget for resolving the economic crisis. The lower house of parliament, the State Duma, is to begin discussing the draft budget Thursday. Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov, whose parliamentary faction...

...since October without waiting for parliament approval. The bill passed unanimously Wednesday by the lower house, the State Duma, allows a total $1.2 billion worth of rubles to be printed in the next two weeks. The bill also requires Russian...

...political turmoil has only deepened public dissatisfaction. The Communist-dominated lower house of parliament, the State Duma, may have sensed Yeltsin's vulnerability when it chose to challenge his nomination of Chernomyrdin to replace Prime...

...economic crisis is gaining momentum with catastrophic speed," acting Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin warned the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, before it torpedoed his nomination 273-138. "We are all standing on the edge and...

...parliamentary leaders proposed as a condition for confirming his appointment. The leaders called a special session of the State Duma for Monday to consider the confirmation. "We must forget ambitions, we must stabilize the situation and ease tension...

...manage." Chernomyrdin suggested that one way to mend relations with the hard-line lower house of parliament, the State Duma, would be to give in to their calls for a "government of accord" with prominent jobs given to Communists and other...

...including an eagerly awaited announcement on debt restructuring. Acting Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin also asked the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, to set aside "for the time being" a set of economic austerity measures demanded by...