Today's Story Line:

Russia doesn't want the West to interfere in its "internal" problem - the war in Chechnya. But the OSCE summiters will likely take up the subject today.

And the US isn't exactly happy with Israel's decision to buy Airbuses. The flap raises questions about the foreign-aid relationship Israel has with the US.

- Faye Bowers Deputy world editor

REPORTERS ON THE JOB

* EVEN FRIENDS FLIP: Moscow correspondent Fred Weir finds Russian sentiment toward the West - from friends and family to the general populace - has overwhelmingly changed since the Western military operation against Yugoslavia. He has lived in Russia for several years, through the USSR war against Afghanistan and the breakup of the former communist country. Fred says that in Soviet times, if you privately criticized the USSR to people, they would generally nod in agreement. But now, he says, it's amazing that this officially pro-Western population is becoming increasingly anti-Western. A couple of weeks ago, just after he returned from Ingushetia, Fred invited an old friend to his dacha for the weekend. Fred was explaining to the friend the horrid conditions along the Ingushetia-Chechnya border. The friend basically told Fred that he was tired of hearing what the Western media say. He told Fred that the West should just stay out of it and let Russia handle its own problems.

CULTURAL SNAPSHOT.

* Two Latin American presidents face off at a summit this week in Cuba - not necessarily over things like human rights, but over a good old baseball game.

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