Boris N Yeltsin

The lower house of Russia's parliament substantially weakened a Kremlin bill that would grant former presidents sweeping immunity from prosecution, in a move that could bring legal problems for Boris N. Yeltsin. Under the new version, a former president can be prosecuted if parliament first agrees to strip immunity. Immediately after Yeltsin resigned Dec. 31, 1999, his successor, Vladimir V. Putin, signed a decree guaranteeing immunity for former presidents.

A top aide to former Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin accused of accepting bribes on behalf of the ex-leader was arrested as he arrived in the United States, according to Russian news reports. Pavel P. Borodin, former chief of the Kremlin property department, was arrested at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport on a warrant issued by Swiss prosecutors, who have been investigating Borodin for bribery and other corruption charges, the reports said.

A year ago, a Russian public thoroughly sick and tired of Boris N. Yeltsin got his opposite as its new leader. In place of Yeltsin's bearlike physique, palpable humanity, boozy work habits, flashes of vision, embrace of pluralism and rejection of the country's Soviet past, Russians now have as their president Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, the anti-Yeltsin. Whereas Yeltsin had long been ailing and rarely strayed from his suburban Moscow dacha, Putin is vigorous and gads about the globe.

Now we know: It was dust. On New Year's Eve, when Boris N. Yeltsin raised a chubby finger and wiped his eye while reading his resignation speech, many wondered whether he might be shedding a tear, perhaps for his presidency, perhaps for his country. But no. According to excerpts from Yeltsin's new memoirs, the soon-to-be former president was brimming with excitement and jubilation, and the cause of the gesture was no more than a stray mote of dust.

A visibly moved Boris N. Yeltsin celebrated a Christmas Mass with Orthodox priests and East European leaders Friday, concluding his Holy Land pilgrimage at the site revered as Jesus' birthplace. The smell of incense and candles filled the air as priests sang and paraded in the 4th century Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, built over the spot where tradition says Jesus was born. Orthodox churches worldwide celebrate Christmas on Jan.

Making his first trip abroad since his abrupt resignation last week, former Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin visited Israel and the Palestinian territories Thursday, telling reporters that he was settling in "gradually" to his new life as a private citizen.

A top Kremlin official predicted Sunday that acting President Vladimir V. Putin will easily win the Russian presidency in March--in part because a law signed by former President Boris N. Yeltsin on his last day in office will make it tough for rival candidates to get on the ballot. Igor V.

Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin's resignation speech was filled with fine words, but "democracy" wasn't one of them. In fact, while he referred four times to the constitution and six times to national elections, Yeltsin made no mention Friday of what the constitution and elections are supposed to bring: participatory democracy in which the will of the people determines who rules.

Today I am turning to you for the last time with New Year's greetings. But that's not all. Today I am turning to you for the last time as president of Russia. . . . I have understood that it was necessary for me to do this. Russia must enter the new millennium with new politicians, with new faces, with new, smart, strong, energetic people. And we who have been in power for many years already, we must go. . . . I want to ask for your forgiveness.

Boris N. Yeltsin has performed one last service for Russia. His health shattered, his mental state unpredictable, of late more a national embarrassment than an effective leader, Yeltsin has resigned from the presidency to which he was twice democratically elected. Under the constitution, Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin becomes acting president, with a new election required in three months. Yeltsin had already named Putin as his preferred successor.