The agreement by the three main Palestinian factions to suspend attacks on Israelis is based on bad faith -- and that may give it a fragile chance of success.

A brief look at the stories making headlines in the Russian-language press

The corridors of power have swelled with people from a military, law enforcement or security service background; and legislatures at all levels have been overrun by businessmen.

Gryzlov's proactive stance prevented a potential PR disaster for the Interior Ministry and United Russia.

$153Bln in Debt MOSCOW (Reuters) -- The country's external debt stood at $153.5 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2003, up from $152.1 billion at the end of 2002, the Central Bank said Tuesday. The data is presented at face value and calculated according to international methodology, the Central Bank said. New Caspian Venture MOSCOW (AP) -- LUKoil and Gazprom announced Tuesday the creation of a joint venture to tap reserves in the Caspian Sea. The new company, TsentrCaspneftegaz, will be the Russian operator of the Tsentralny hydrocarbon structure, a potential energy reserve situated in the Russian sector of the Caspian Sea. Recoverable reserves there amount to 521 million metric tons, LUKoil said. The Caspian is believed to contain the world's third-largest energy reserves. Russia shares the sea with Kazakhstan, Iran, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, although they have failed to reach an overall agreement on dividing the Caspian since the Soviet collapse.