Sunday's air raid near Damascus was the first time in three decades that Israel has struck directly at Syria.

Last week, the military top brass, President Vladimir Putin, administration officials, ministers, security chiefs, Duma deputies and journalists gathered in the Defense Ministry to hear Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov present a document that was presented to the press as ""The Public Part of the Military Doctrine.""

When news of the putsch broke on the morning of Aug. 19, 1991, Beth Knobel had been an intern at the NBC office in Moscow for barely three months.

Brunswick UBS Brunswick UBS has appointed Dmitry Koloty as a head of domestic sales. Koloty joined Brunswick UBS from United Financial Group where he was a director, equity sales. Prior to joining UFG in 2002, Koloty was a sales executive in the international sales team at Merrill Lynch in London. He holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. PwC Alex Bertolotti has been appointed a partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers, responsible for provision of audit and business advisory services to financial companies and institutions. Bertolotti will focus specifically on developing a securitization and pensions practice in Russia. Previously, Bertolotti worked for Andersen and then Deloitte & Touche following the firms' merger in Britain. His experience has developed through a wide range of transactions and involvement in various regulatory-driven projects in Britain, Saudi Arabia and Brunei, together with his work for clients from the securitization and pension sectors.

March on Moscow MOSCOW (AP) -- Around 50 Russian servicemen and law enforcement officers were starting a 400-kilometer march from Smolensk to Moscow on Wednesday to protest housing policies they say have left them homeless despite years of service. Most of the marchers have been retired from active duty but have not received housing, NTV television reported. The march is intended to arrive in Moscow in time for a forum on housing for military and law enforcement employees that begins Oct. 24. The goal is to draw the government's attention to acute housing problems in the military and law enforcement, Interfax reported. Iraq 'Hidden Agenda' NEW YORK (AP) -- Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev said Tuesday he believes U.S. President George W. Bush had a ""hidden agenda"" in invading Iraq and had been less than forthright in explaining his reasons for the attack.

The word here is that Russia's publishing industry is back on its feet after languishing for years amid the country's economic collapse and political dislocation. But more interesting than that bit of news, perhaps, is that Russia chose the Frankfurt Book Fair, which opened Tuesday, to trumpet its literary comeback.