Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated No My Hyun on his election as President of the Republic of Korea. As RIA Novosti was told on Saturday in the press service of the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin expressed confidence that the activities of Roh My-hyun as head of state "will ensure the continuity of the course towards further strengthening friendly ties and deepening fruitful cooperation between Russia and the Republic of Korea."

President Bush canceled his trip to Africa in order to focus entirely on the issue of Iraq, AP reports. An agency source in the White House said that Bush would not want to leave America during a critical decision-making period. The trip to Africa was scheduled for January 10-17, 2003.

The Russian Foreign Ministry published a message on Saturday in connection with the adoption by the European Parliament of a resolution following the EU summit in Copenhagen. The European Parliament resolution welcomes Denmark's decision not to extradite Akhmed Zakayev. The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the resolution "caused bewilderment in Moscow." The position of the parliament is called "instigatory" in the message of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In the city of Neya (Kostroma region), three young people were detained for beating and robbing a kindergarten teacher and her husband on the street. According to IMA-Press, the good memory of the victim helped the operatives to get on the trail of the raiders: she not only recognized her former pupils in the young robbers, but also remembered their names and surnames.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said in an interview with BBC News that it is too early to talk about the inevitability of a war against Iraq. According to him, in order for the Security Council to make a decision on the start of a military operation, Iraq must twice violate the UN Security Council resolution.

Two 50-year-old fishermen drowned in the Gulf of Finland near Fort Krasnaya Gorka, Interfax reports. Rescuers found their bodies on Saturday. Ignoring the warnings about the worsening weather, the fishermen went on a winter fishing trip. The circumstances of their death are being investigated. One of the preliminary versions is that the fishermen fell through the fragile ice.

In one of the small markets of the city of Kropotkin, Krasnodar Territory, a gas cylinder exploded. The blast wave shattered windows in nearby houses, Interfax reports. There are no victims or injured, the circumstances of the explosion are being investigated. The operational duty officer of the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Krasnodar Territory reported that, according to preliminary data, there was an explosion of a gas boiler in the boiler room in Kropotkin. There are no victims.

http://www.newsru.com/world/21dec2002/posol.html The Foreign Ministry of Turkmenistan announced the ambassador of Uzbekistan in Ashgabat Abdurashid Kadyrov Persona Non Grad for "actions incompatible with the high status of a diplomat." According to RIA Novosti, at the request of the Foreign Ministry of Turkmenistan Kadyrov, he must leave the country within 24 hours. The Foreign Ministry of Turkmenistan sent the corresponding official note to the Foreign Ministry of Uzbekistan.

School # 740 is on fire in the north of Moscow, RIA Novosti reports. The fire at the school, located at number 95 on the Leningrad highway, started around 16.00 Moscow time. The fire area is 150 m. 10 fire brigades are working at the scene.

According to "Ekho Moskvy" with reference to the separatists' website "Kavkaz-Center", Chechen separatists carried out a sabotage operation in the regional center of Achkhoy-Martan. On the territory of the military commandant's office on Friday afternoon, a minibus was blown up, in which there were Russian special forces soldiers. As a result, according to the militants, seven servicemen were killed and four wounded. The command of the federal forces has not yet commented on this news.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law amending the federal law on the budget for 2002, according to which more than 13 million rubles are allocated to eliminate the consequences of the terrorist attack in Moscow on October 23-26.

John Negroponte. Photo by ar The United States imposed a veto on the UN Security Council, condemning Israel for the recent murders of three employees of this organization, Reuters reports. The resolution was supported by 12 countries-member countries, Bulgaria and Cameroon abstained. According to the AR, the US Ambassador to the UN John Negroponta said that the resolution does not contribute to attempts to establish peace in the Middle East.

In the US state of New Mexico, a tour bus collided with a cargo trailer, reports AP. There were 26 passengers and the driver on the bus. A seven-year-old child and a 54-year-old woman died. At least fifteen people were injured, three of them in critical condition, including a nine-year-old boy. The accident happened Friday evening on a freeway. Six helicopters took the wounded to hospitals in the states of New Mexico and Arizona.

Heavy snowfalls are not expected in Moscow in the coming days, the CEO said Hydrometeorological Bureau for Moscow and the Moscow Region Alexey Lyakhov. According to him, over the past day, the increase in snow cover in the city has increased by about three centimeters. Around noon, the snowfall practically stopped, but by evening, after a break, the snow will go again. During the day, another 2 to 4 cm of snow can fall in Moscow.

In the south of Pakistan in the city of Hyderabad, a bus exploded, AP reports. According to local authorities, two people died and 18 were injured. No group has yet claimed responsibility for this explosion. Investigators are at the scene of the explosion.