The head of the Murmansk customs, Ivan Kraskulenko, reported the seizure of a valuable violin made in the early 18th century at the border. According to TVS, customs officials believe that this violin is the work of Antonio Stradivari. According to the customs officer, a case containing a violin was found on the top shelf of a bus bound for Finland. When examined with attesting witnesses, an internal brand was revealed - "Antonio Stradivari, 1713". The find was confiscated and sent to St.

The Central Election Commission of Russia admits the possibility of restricting the holding of referendums during the period of federal election campaigns, RIA Novosti reports. This was announced to journalists on Wednesday by the head of the CEC of the Russian Federation, Alexander Veshnyakov.

Shareholder of RAO "UES of Russia", Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation Viktor Kudryavy filed two lawsuits with the Moscow Arbitration Court. According to RIA Novosti, the first lawsuit contains a demand to oblige the board of directors of RAO to hold an extraordinary general meeting on the issue of electing Anatoly Chubais as chairman of the board. The second lawsuit was filed in connection with a demand to invalidate the decision on RAO's subsidiary, OAO FGC UES.

In Germany, near the city of Wertingen, a truck driver received a "gift of fate" in the form of a mountain goat that jumped right on his knees through the window. According to Ananova, a wild animal accidentally wandered into the residential areas of Vertignen and suffered there such that in a panic it waved right through the high lattice of one garden onto the roadway.

In the Krasnodar Territory, an Italian sailor was detained with suspicion of SARS. According to the duty officer of the southern regional center of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation, on Wednesday morning, an Italian cargo ship was detained on the beam of the port "Kavkaz" in the city of Temryuk, one of the crew members of which is suspected of having atypical pneumonia.

The shareholder of RAO "UES of Russia", Deputy Minister of Energy of Russia Viktor Kudryavy filed a lawsuit with the Moscow Arbitration Court, in which he demands to oblige the board of directors of RAO RAO to convene and hold an extraordinary meeting of shareholders of the energy holding related to the election of the chairman of the board of RAO "UES".

A resident of Naberezhnye Chelny was sentenced to a year of corrective labor with a deduction of 10% of his salary for killing a swan. According to ITAR-TASS, this is the decision of the world court. Citizen Kuznetsov was detained on the banks of the Kama at the scene of the crime. The weapon from which the swan was killed was confiscated from him. A ballistic examination was drawn up on the seized cartridge cases, and the hunter's guilt was fully proven.

In the south of Portugal, there was a major railway accident - two freight trains collided. According to preliminary information, as a result of a head-on collision of two trains, two drivers are listed as missing, two were seriously injured. The collision took place near the port city of Sines, according to Reuters. In addition, on Wednesday morning, a long-distance train collided with a commuter train in the suburbs of Rome near the Tiburtina station, BBC reports.

During a meeting with MGIMO students, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said that Washington intends to support the security forces of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in order to fight terrorism. This was reported to Interfax by one of the participants of the meeting, which was held behind closed doors. Powell noted that during his tour of the Middle East, he met with PNA Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and discussed with him the problems of terrorism in the Palestinian state.

In Germany, the disclosure of an international criminal network, including a Russian criminal group, has been announced.

Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov ordered that a draft law be submitted to the State Duma, according to which the ratification of every treaty in the field of space activities is cancelled. It is reported by "Kommersant" with reference to the DPI.

Former traffic police officer Stanislav Lyubichev was found guilty of assisting the organizers of explosions in Moscow and Volgodonsk - according to the court, in the summer of 1999 he allowed trucks with 6 tons of hexogen to enter Moscow for a bribe. He was sentenced to 4 years in prison, in accordance with Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. For a bag of sugar, Lyubichev escorted through the KamAZ post with a load of explosives. TERROR-99: WE WANT TO KNOW THE TRUTH

Financial consortium "Alfa Group" announced the creation of the company "Gamma Film", which will distribute television series. According to Kommersant , Alfa Group already has at its disposal the largest TV series library on the market, with more than 700 episodes. This library is planned to be expanded in the future. According to experts, the appearance of "Gamma Film" in the TV series market will change the entire structure of this market.

On Tuesday, in the Ukrainian city of Nikolaev, one person died due to poisoning with an unknown gas, two more were hospitalized with signs of poisoning. As RIA Novosti was informed on Wednesday by the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Ukraine, the victims were carrying out repair work in the intershop well of the water supply system of the Zvezda-Mashproekt research and production complex, which specializes in the production of gas turbines.

Doctors of the Amur Region do not confirm the diagnosis of SARS in Denis Soynikov, a resident of Blagoveshchensk. The chief physician of the regional infectious diseases hospital Alexei Tarasov, where the patient is located, said Interfax that the patient's condition at the moment remains "stably serious." However, antibiotics have a positive effect on the treatment of his pulmonary disease, which is excluded in the case of SARS.