Marital Moscow

He wasn't well enough to greet MADELEINE ALBRIGHT. And he hasn't made it to his Kremlin office once this year. But what really got BORIS YELTSIN upset was missing the wedding of his eldest grandchild. KATYA OKULOVA, ITAR-TASS was pleased to report, married at the tender age of 19. The groom, we are cryptically told, is a "fellow classmate." (Katya is a history major at Moscow State, although she has been on "academic leave.") Kremlin handlers are willing to discuss the particulars of the President's bleeding ulcer, but Katya's nuptials--which, given her grandpa's state, looked a bit rushed--are strictly off limits. Reports in the Russian media, however, indicated that Grandpa (who turns 68 this week) was "extremely sad" not to be there. Yeltsin did give his blessing and a bouquet to the newlyweds--when they stopped by the Kremlin hospital after the service.

--By Andrew Meier/Moscow