An Italian court refused to extradite to Russia the former director of strategic planning and corporate finance of YUKOS, Alexei Golubovich. Since the reasons for the refusal are not substantiated, it is likely that this decision will soon be appealed. Golubovich himself states that he is ready to voluntarily come to Russia and appear before the Prosecutor General if the extradition request is withdrawn.

St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matvienko is celebrating these days the third anniversary of her easy election to the post of mayor of the president’s favorite city. On this occasion, local sociologists promptly conducted a study, according to which Valentina Ivanovna’s rating exceeded the presidential rating, providing a good opportunity for ridicule by various non-state-minded citizens. Although in fact the survey results turned out to be very correct.

The prime minister presented the Moscow synagogue with a Hanukkah lamp, wishing that the light from it would always illuminate the building itself and Jewish life in Russia and Israel. Olmert was given a special edition of Solomon's Song of Songs as a gift. About 500 people took part in the celebrations. Mayor Luzhkov recalled that during the war the synagogue premises housed a hospital.

In Primorye, a candidate for mayor of Dalnegorsk, a member of the United Russia party, Dmitry Fatyanov, was shot with a Kalashnikov assault rifle. The murder occurred in the midst of the election campaign: the first round took place on October 8, the second was scheduled for the 22nd. The elections have been practically disrupted, spontaneous rallies are being held in Dalnegorsk, there is talk of a mysterious “timber mafia,” and it is obvious to everyone that the murder is political.

Before the people had time to come to their senses after Putin’s revelations that the murdered Anna harmed the authorities more than her articles, we received a new portion of “voluntary confessions.” At a meeting with the Israeli prime minister, the president said that he envied the masculine exploits of his Israeli colleague, who raped ten (10!) women. Well, I’ll be honest, in the latter case I can understand Putin’s words. President Katsav is truly strong, repeating the labors of Hercules.

Lawyers on both sides in the case of Andrei Sychev, at the request of his mother, will conclude a truce. Previously, both sides were planning to appeal the verdict: to Sivyakov’s defenders it seemed unjustifiably harsh, to Sychev’s – soft.

A proposal to cancel work books was made by the head of the State Duma Committee on Labor and Employment, Andrei Isaev. This is a rare case when I agree with the communists. On the one hand, the work record book has long been a fiction: they fake it, “put it there” out of friendship, and sell it on the subway. And when applying for a job, they have long believed in their word and looked more at the person, and not at the pieces of paper. On the other hand, why cancel?

“Nationalists of all countries unite, we have the same problems and we need to solve them together!” - said D. Duke during ((http://xeno.sova-center.ru/45A29F2/81DEA1A meeting)). Upon completion, Kuryanovich invited Duke to the Russian March 2006, which is scheduled for November 4. It is interesting that this was a completely official meeting - not on neutral territory, but in the building of the State Duma, and preparations for the Right March became one of the main topics discussed.

Not long ago, the United Russia party announced the doctrine of sovereign democracy it had adopted. Frankly, I still don’t understand what sovereign democracy is. I even expected that United Russia representatives would explain this to me on Vladimir Solovyov’s Sunday program, where they were invited to debate Nemtsov and Konchalovsky on this issue; Nemtsov and Konchalovsky were ready, but United Russia evaded.

In the Kremlin About political murders October 19, 2006 Julia Latynina On the eve of the elections, the city of Dalnegorsk was killed by candidate for mayor of Mr. Fotonyanov. And Mr. Gryzlov immediately suggested a political motive. This is quite natural, because the candidate was from United Russia. It is easy to find out experimentally that when two candidates are fighting for the mayor’s post, one of them is usually from United Russia.

Rumors about the early resignation of Roman Abramovich have excited Chukotka. An official statement by the Chukotka government, released the day before, said that reports of a change of governor led “to the destabilization of the work of not only government bodies, but also the entire economy of the region.” They don’t want to let the governor go; according to yesterday’s statement by the Chukotka government, the local public intends to ask Roman Abramovich to remain as governor until 2020.

In recent days, Anna Politkovskaya was remembered all over the world. Both in Paris by Notre Dame and Helsinki, the Russian embassy was crowded. In Moscow, at the entrance, where Anna was shot, there were smaller people, at Solovetsky stone - even less ... But Politkovskaya wrote more about the Caucasus. There were her many friends and colleagues. They were going to remember Anna on October 16, on Monday. Conduct pickets in Nazran and Grozny.

Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Army General Yuri Baluevsky, will visit Israel in December, where he will sign a program document in the field of bilateral military cooperation.