On December 22 last year, three paintings were stolen from the National Museum of Sweden - a self-portrait by Rembrandt, as well as “Young Parisian Woman” and “Conversation with a Gardener” by the French impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir. The three kidnappers were armed and their faces were hidden behind masks; they burst into the museum literally five minutes before closing and, frightening the employees, took away the paintings.

In the Czech Republic, attempts failed to overcome the conflict that began on state television two weeks ago. Representatives of the Civil Democratic Party failed to agree with the staff of the television channel, who did not agree with the decision to appoint them the head of the Irji Khodach. Opponents of this personnel solution continue to issue their own programs, which are distributed through cable and satellite channels.

The first trading of the new year 2001 on the American stock market did not bring the expected relief. Instead of putting the bad memories behind them and getting down to business with renewed vigor, the NASDAQ index of high-tech companies collapsed to its lowest level in the last 22 months. This hasn't happened on Wall Street for almost two years. The index's losses during yesterday's trading amounted to 7.2%, the closing level was 2291.86 points.

The head of the investigation in the Aeroflot case, Alexander Filin, does not allow lawyer Anatoly Kucheryen a date with his client √ former vice president of Aeroflot airline Nikolai Glushkov, who was arrested on charges of large-sized fraud. It is reported by "Echo of Moscow" with reference to "Interfax".

Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II congratulated Russians on the beginning of the new year, the 21st century and the third millennium, Ekho Moskvy reports with reference to Interfax.

The stock indicator of the Russian Trading System (RTS) by 17:00 Moscow time fell to its lowest level since the end of December 1999. This was the result of a continuing decline in the market value of almost all liquid shares of Russian enterprises. The RTS index had fallen by this hour by 8.91% to 130.52 points. The previous minimum index value was recorded on December 17, 1999 (120.21 points). The MICEX stock index fell to 136.92 points (-5.17%).

The Minister of Labor and Social Development, Alexander Pochinok, believes that a single income tax rate of 13% must be maintained for at least 10 years. This bet needs to be held "until everyone gets used to paying taxes," he said in an interview with the Echo of Moscow radio station.

None of the Moscow airports accepts planes because of the fog that has descended to the capital, ITAR-TASS reports. From 8:00, almost all passenger aircraft that flew to Moscow make landings at the reserve airfields √ St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Voronezh and other cities. Some of the aircraft for Moscow did not fly out of the airports of departure. In total, about 60 flights could not land in Moscow, they did not fly out - about 20.

The Swedish Volvo Truck Corporation will begin assembling trucks in Russia in mid-2001. This was reported by Natalya Aleshina, PR Manager of the Russian representative office of Volvo Truck. The cars will be assembled in Zelenograd, near Moscow, at the VTS-Zelenograd enterprise, which the company created jointly with the Russian joint-stock financial corporation (JSFC) Sistema. Volvo Truck's share in the authorized capital of the joint venture is 66%, AFK Sistema - 34%.

The Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II called on both sides of the conflict in the Middle East "to stop bloodshed and begin a full -scale dialogue," Echo Moscow reports with reference to the Interfax agency. This year, the celebration of the Nativity of Christ is overshadowed by an exacerbation of the situation on the Holy Land.

A terrorist attack is prevented in Nizhny Tagil. According to NTV and Silka at Interfax, on the eve of Nizhny Tagil of the Sverdlovsk region a few meters from the Utkinsky mini-market, the janitor found a suspicious object in the snowdrift, which turned out to be a home-made explosive device. According to experts, the explosive device consisted of a mixture of hexogen, nitroglycerin, trinitrotoluene with a total weight of 800 grams, an electric detonator and a fire -wire cord packed in paper.

Fred Done has already begun to pay wins. Although five months are left before the end of the tournament, the bookmakers are sure that anyone can’t catch up with the “red devils”. After the 22nd round, the separation of the "Mankunians" from the "Arsenal" and "Sunderland" is 11 points. “The race for the title is finished,” said the representative of Fred Done. General payments at these rates will amount to 400 thousand pounds (600 thousand dollars).

“It is impossible to call on the world at the same time and not respect human life,” said Pope Paul Paul II on January 1, in a message on the first time of the world in the 21st century, celebrated traditionally by Catholics for the 34th time. The head of the Roman Catholic Church called on humanity in the incoming millennium to choose the path of dialogue.

The Moscow City Court appointed a consideration of the cassation protest of the Russian Prosecutor General of Russia to the decision of the Tver inter -municipal court of the capital, which recognized the criminal case against Vladimir Gusinsky illegal, Echo of Moscow reports with reference to Interfax.

Nine people died in a fire that occurred on New Year's Eve in the cafe of the Dutch city of Folendam, ITAR-TASS reports. In total, more than 180 people suffered from suffering and burns of varying degrees. 90 of them are in hospitals. Doctors regard the condition of 17 victims as critical. The Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam, where 24 people were delivered, was already visited by the Queen of the Netherlands Beatrix. The fire broke out in a cafe at 00:30 local time.