In Veliky Novgorod and in four districts of the Novgorod region, the epidemic threshold for the incidence of influenza and acute respiratory viral infections has been exceeded. According to RIA Novosti, citing data from the Center for State Sanitary and Epidemiological Surveillance of the Novgorod Region, 3,710 people fell ill in Veliky Novgorod over the past week, 1,136 of them have the flu. Just the day before, 1,463 people fell ill with acute respiratory viral infections in Veliky Novgorod.

Pyongyang announced the possibility of withdrawing from the 1953 armistice agreement, AP reports citing the North Korean news agency KCNA. The signing of the agreement ended the war between North and South Korea. Since it was formally an agreement and not a peace treaty, technically the two countries remain at war.

On February 18, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev visited Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov. Rector of Moscow State University Viktor Sadovnichy presented him with an honorary doctorate, RIA Novosti reports. The rector noted Nazarbayev's special contribution to the development of friendship between Russia and Kazakhstan.

George Bush. Photo by ar President Bush intends to give diplomats at least two weeks for negotiations on searching for a way out of the Iraqi crisis, the Washington Post sources in the White House told the newspaper. After that, a decision will be made on the beginning of a military operation against the regime ruling in Iraq. It is very likely that the United States and Great Britain this week will make every effort to adopt a resolution on Iraq in the UN Security Council.

The transport police of Russia has begun an experiment to introduce a video surveillance system designed to identify terrorists among passengers at railway stations and airports. This, according to RBC, was announced at a press conference in Vnukovo near Moscow by the head of the Main Directorate of Internal Affairs on Transport of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Zakharenkov.

Due to accidents in heating systems, 4,540 Russians live in unheated houses. As RIA "Novosti" was informed on Tuesday by the Information Department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia, over the past day, heat was restored only in one residential building. Residents of 7 settlements of the country are still deprived of heat.

Photo by ar. In TEGU, the third largest city in South Korea, a 56-year-old man threw a plastic canister into a car, in which there was an incendiary mixture. According to Reuters with reference to the South Korean agency Yonhap, 134 people were killed in the fire that arose. The police have to find out why fire sensors did not work and why the emergency system did not unlock the doors of the wagons. People simply did not have the opportunity to get out of the train.

Yevgeny Nazdratenko, temporarily dismissed by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov from his post as Chairman of the Russian State Committee for Fisheries, sent a letter today to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The official reason for Nazdratenko's dismissal is the scandal with the distribution of industrial fish quotas in Primorye.

Hello magazine owner Eduardo Sanchez Junco has issued a public apology to Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones for inadvertently posting photos from their wedding in a magazine. Junko said that he regrets that he upset the star couple so much, but at the same time he believes that their indignation with the pictures is somewhat inadequate. The London High Court is hearing Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones' lawsuit against Hello!

As tensions escalate over Iraq, China has temporarily postponed the issuance of licenses allowing Chinese commercial fishing vessels to fish in the Persian Gulf and Oman Gulf. It is reported by RIA Novosti. At the same time, all Chinese fishing boats were ordered to leave these areas.

Sergey Yastrzhembsky. Photo from the site www.penza-online.ru Assistant to the President of Russia Sergey Yastrzhembsky said on the air of the Rossiya radio station that the Islamic Benevolence Foundation, which financed Chechen militants, also used Microsoft funds, RIA Novosti reports. According to Yastrzhembsky, now in the USA there is a process over the leaders of this fund, registered in the early 90s in Illinois.

Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi just before the start of the EU summit on Iraq, RIA Novosti reports. According to the Kremlin's press service, Putin confirmed Russia's intention to make the most of the mechanisms and opportunities provided by UN Security Council Resolution 1441 for the political and diplomatic settlement of the Iraqi problem.

Media giant Reuters posted record losses and announced further cuts. This time, according to the BBC, the company's management intends to cut another 3,000 jobs. The world's largest provider of financial information suffered from a sharp fall in the stock markets. Many Reuters clients - primarily banks, brokers and fund managers - have decided to slash their orders. Over the past year, the media giant's share prices have fallen by about 70%.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov signed a program for the restoration of the Chechen Republic for 2003. As reported by RIA Novosti, the press secretary of the federal minister for Chechnya, Stanislav Ilyasov, Alexander Arapov, told reporters on Tuesday. According to him, this year, in accordance with the approved program for the restoration of the economy and social sphere of Chechnya, 3.5 billion rubles will be spent, which is 1 billion less than last year.

Saddam Hussein ordered the Iraqi Defense Minister, Lieutenant General Sultan Hashim Ahmad al-Jabburi Tai, to be placed under house arrest. This is reported by the Guardian, citing sources in the Iraqi opposition. One can only speculate about the reasons for this order. According to one version, the minister is suspected of preparing a coup d'état. According to another, he is suspected of having almost no control over the army, which may refuse to fight the Americans.