18 February 2008, 17:17 Patriarch Alexy II does not hope for a quick restoration of relations with Rome In an interview with the Polish newspaper Dziennik, Patriarch Alexy II said that hopes for reconciliation with Catholic Rome are greatly exaggerated, since Catholic missionary activity in Russia prevents the churches from restoring relations.

February 18, 2008, 11:23 Tolpeko suffered a concussion Russian center forward of Philadelphia Denis Tolpeko suffered a concussion in the match with Montreal (3:5) and was out for an indefinite period, reports Ticker. The 23-year-old Russian has 6 points (1 goals, 5 assists) in 25 NHL games this season. In addition, he has 17 points (8+9) in 24 games for the farm club.

February 18, 2008, 11:43 In the second half of the year, the Federal Tax Service will introduce a unified archive of taxpayer documents The Federal Tax Service ( FTS ) expects to introduce a single centralized archive of documents received from taxpayers in the second half of 2008, which will make it possible not to re-request documents that have already been received by the tax authorities.

18 February 2008, 08:16 Konyukhov's yacht was caught in a hurricane A hurricane moving from Antarctica north towards the equator hit the yacht of Russian traveler Fyodor Konyukhov today . By satellite phone, Konyukhov said this night that from the cold wind, gusts of which reach 50 knots, he is hiding the yacht in the hollows between passing giant waves.

18 February 2008, 13:13 LSE ceases trading in Northern Rock shares The London Stock Exchange (LSE) has temporarily suspended trading in shares of the British bank Northern Rock, due to its nationalization, which was announced the day before. This is stated in the exchange message. “The Exchange will temporarily suspend trading in the bank's shares from 18 February 2008 following an announcement by Her Majesty's Government,” the statement said. // «Gazeta.Ru»

18 February 2008, 10:41 Times: Europe needs to find a compromise with Russia on Kosovo Russia will never accept Kosovo's independence not because it supports Serbia. But because he wants to maintain stability in relation to his own unrecognized republics.

18 February 2008, 04:13 Damyanovich and Chernogaev will fly to the Lucha-Energia gathering is scheduled to fly to the Luch-Energia location for a training camp in Turkey On Monday, midfielder of the Bosnian national team Dario Damjanovic , who has played in Hajduk from Split in recent years, . In the current Croatian championship, Damjanovic played 11 matches, and in total his track record includes more than 100 games in the Croatian league, Sport-Express reports.

18 February 2008, 11:24 Vedomosti: Transneft distributed 16 billion rubles between 6 banks Transneft distributed the money (16 billion rubles) that was kept in accounts at Alfa Bank among six large Russian banks. These include Gazprombank , Rossiya Bank and others. The president of the oil transporter, Nikolai Tokarev, announced this in an interview with the Vedomosti newspaper.

18 February 2008, 09:09 Times: Kosovo is not afraid of Russia Russia was unable to prevent Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence. According to The Times newspaper , despite threats from Russia that Kosovo will become a precedent for other unrecognized republics, Kosovo was not afraid of these threats. // «Gazeta.Ru»

18 February 2008, 22:15 Three people killed in shelling near Baghdad Three people were killed and 15 injured on Monday in a mortar attack near Baghdad International Airport. According to the Iraqi army command, the shells landed in the Khadra region, predominantly populated by Shiites. // Reuters

18 February 2008, 14:22 Nevzlin stated that his rights were violated during the investigation in Russia Former co-owner of YUKOS Leonid Nevzlin believes that his constitutional rights have been violated in connection with the filing of a criminal case against him in court.

18 February 2008, 09:58 25 pogrom participants arrested near Paris French police began carrying out raids in the suburbs of Paris on Monday to arrest those involved in protests and clashes with police last November. According to a local police source, as a result of the operation, 25 people participating in the protests were arrested.

18 February 2008, 21:53 The German party expelled its member who wanted the revival of the Stasi Germany's Left party has expelled one of its members from the regional parliament after declaring its desire to revive the country's Stasi secret police. Earlier, 60-year-old member of parliament in the East German state of Lower Saxony, Christel Wegner, said that he would like to see a new socialist Germany and resume the activities of the Stasi in the country, which existed during the GDR.

17:15 (February 18) Russian Parliament: Kosovo's secession violates the foundations of international law The Russian Parliament condemned in a joint statement of the chambers the declaration of independence of Kosovo as a violation of one of the basic principles of international law - the inviolability of the territorial integrity of states, said State Duma Chairman Boris Gryzlov.

18 February 2008, 02:00 Drogba and Carvalho could leave Chelsea in the summer Chelsea striker Didier Drogba and Portuguese Blues defender Ricardo Carvalho may leave the club in the summer. Barcelona are interested in the Portuguese, reports TMW.