Vladimir Putin. Grani.ru collage When the Russian political leadership with the filing of Yevgeny Primakov decisively and uncompromisingly opposed the growth of the aggressive North Atlantic Union, at some of the numerous conferences of that time, I allowed myself to notice that the real problems between Russia and the West would not begin due to the expansion of NATO, but when the European Union began to expand.

In the Slovak town of Trebišov, two police officers were injured in a clash with gypsies who ransacked a grocery store. Several people were detained, Svoboda reports. Gypsies had already looted several shops in the east of the country late last week after the government cut unemployment benefits.

Frame of the NTV+Sports TV channel Lokomotiv won on its field as part of the 1/8 finals of the Champions League at the representative of the French championship "Monaco" with a score of 2: 1. The game began at 20.30 Moscow time at the stadium in Cherkizovo. The first ball in the 31st minute was scored by Marat Izmailov. He was assisted by Sergey Gurenko and Dmitry Khokhlov. The ending of the half was in the attacks of the French. In the second half, Mikhail Ashvetia was replaced by James Prudor.

The Tverskoy Regional Court has issued a verdict in the case of a mother who took her children (four-year-old Polina and three-year-old Natasha) into the forest and abandoned them there, reports IA REGNUM with reference to Karavan+Ya. The children froze to death in the forest. The neighbor's girl Regina, who also ended up in the forest, managed to get out, and is still in a state of deep mental shock. The tragedy occurred in the village of Garusovo, Maksatikha district, Tver region.

Russian underground writers will hold an open championship in swearing and graphomania on March 2, Interfax reports. "The championship in swearing and abusive expressions will be attended by domestic writers who use profanity in their poetic and prose works, both eminent and currently unknown. An honorary jury will judge the skill of using marginal expressions," one from the organizers of the festival Oleg Ulyanov-Levin.

In the Amur Region, facts of transferring funds from the budget of the Skovorodinsky District of the World Church of Scientology have been revealed. According to Interfax, these are the results of an audit conducted by the Department for Combating Organized Crime of the Department of Internal Affairs of the region and the Commission of the Control and Audit Department of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation. According to and.about.

China plans to launch a second manned spacecraft, Shenzhou-6, in 2005, Interfax reports. According to the preliminary plan, the flight of the spacecraft with two astronauts will last 5-7 days, Wang Yongzhi, general designer of the Chinese State Manned Space Program, said in an interview with Chinese Central Television. The launch of Shenzhou-6 will be carried out using the Long March-2F launch vehicle.

In the UK, the "Villain of the Year" and "Hero of the Year" were announced - the winners of the annual award, organized by the Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA). Villain of the Year was Verisign Corporation, the largest domain name registrar, which launched the SiteFinder project in 2003: users who mistyped a website address were automatically redirected to a SiteFinder page, which offered them the tools to find the right URL or the option to buy the wrong domain.

Israel's Ministry of Transportation on Monday received the first 5 buses equipped with anti-terrorist protection systems, Ha'aretz reports. They will start operating on some routes in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The main purpose of the new security system they are equipped with is to prevent a suicide bomber from getting on the bus and reduce the number of victims in the event of an explosion.

The Arabic TV channel Al-Arabiya aired an audio recording of Ayman al-Zawahri, Osama bin Laden's closest aide, RIA Novosti reports. Al-Qaeda's "man number two" denounces France's ban on religious symbols, including hijabs, in schools. According to the terrorist, this decision is contrary to the ideals of freedom, democracy and the protection of human rights, which are proud of the countries of the West.

In St. Petersburg, a robbery was committed on a bath and health complex. As Rosbalt was informed at the Central Internal Affairs Directorate of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, at about 5.30 on February 23, four unknown persons armed with a hunting rifle broke into the bathhouse # 3 on Lomonosov Street. Threatening with weapons, the attackers took away 2.5 thousand rubles and jewelry from the attendant, took away the music center, after which they fled the scene.

After President Putin announced the resignation of the Russian government headed by Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, the Russian stock market collapsed. The most liquid shares fell by 3-5%, according to NEWSRU.com. By 4:30 pm, the RTS stock exchange index lost 0.68%, shares of RAO UES and Yukos fell more than others - by 4.08% and 2.41%, respectively. The dollar, on the contrary, strengthens its positions.

The number of Indonesians who died from dengue fever has reached 229 people, RIA Novosti reports with reference to the local Kompas newspaper. A dangerous disease is spreading rapidly, covering 20 out of 32 Indonesian provinces. According to the Indonesian Ministry of Health, only in 12 of them the number of cases reached 12,294 people. The situation is especially serious in the metropolis with 12 million inhabitants - Jakarta.

In the Arkhangelsk region, a Niva and a PAZ bus collided, reports REGNUM news agency . As a result, a man and a woman died, their son is in intensive care. The PAZ bus was moving towards the village of Malyye Korely, and the Niva car was moving in the opposite direction. Suddenly, the car swerved into the oncoming lane, where the collision occurred.

Tobacco smoking kills about 700 Russians every day, Mikko Vienonen, Special Representative of the Director General of the WHO (World Health Organization) in Russia, said at a press conference in Moscow. This was reported by Ekho Moskvy" with reference to Interfax. "The prevalence of tobacco smoking in Russia is twice as high as the world average. Thus, the prevalence of smoking among young people aged 15 to 18 is about 30 percent with a slight upward trend," Vienonen said.