On Wednesday, in the Gali region near the village of Otobaya, a group of armed Abkhaz militants took two local residents of Georgian nationality hostage and took away their car. Interfax was informed about this by the Zugdidi district police. According to the relatives of one of the captured hostages, Lasha Kolbai, the kidnappers are demanding a ransom of 30 thousand dollars.

In the capital of Nepal, police detained about 500 people during the curfew. Despite extreme measures, active protests continued in Kathmandu these days, which broke out after the mysterious death of almost the entire royal family at the end of last week. From noon to midnight, when residents of Kathmandu were prohibited from taking to the streets, police repeatedly clashed with the population and opened fire. Thus, at least 20 people were injured last night, ITAR-TASS reports.

Guatemala's Catholic Church has accused former President Alvaro Arza of complicity in the 1998 murder of prominent human rights activist Bishop Juan Gherardi, the BBC reports. A lawyer representing the Church in the trial of five accused in the bishop's murder said the army knew the crime was being prepared. Alvaro Arzu, who was the supreme commander at that time, could not help but be aware of what was happening.

In the Samara region, police officers seized 2 kilograms 678 grams of heroin from the owner of a Zhiguli car. As RIA Novosti was informed by the Information Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, police detained a 46-year-old driver on a highway in the Volzhsky region. During a check of his car, investigators discovered a large quantity of drugs.

Macedonian Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski today called on the country's legislature to impose martial law to help the army destroy Albanian militants operating on the border with Kosovo after five Macedonian soldiers were killed by Albanians last night. According to the Prime Minister's press secretary, Antonio Miloshovsky, Georgievsky believes that a powerful military operation is the only way to achieve peace in the country, Reuters reports.

Good evening! Savik Shuster : - Well, I’m an expert in this matter, so I’ll ask the simplest questions. The simpler it is, the clearer it is for people. Tell me, did you expect such a development of events? Vitaly Tretyakov : - Yes, of course. This is what it was all about. That is, it could have turned out differently. Boris Berezovsky could have offered other options for solving this problem, our misunderstanding. Savik Shuster : - Was there a crisis?

Today in the Duma there is a final reading of the bill on the import of spent nuclear fuel into Russia. The idea of ​​making money by placing hazardous production waste in Russia has a high chance of being realized. In any case, for the West, such Russian plans to develop its territories have long been no secret. Members of the Yabloko and SPS factions voted against this bill in the second reading.

An alarming situation has developed in some Crimean resorts. Dams are being hastily built there, trying to protect residential buildings. Due to strong winds and a force 5 storm, the sea flooded part of the beach and houses on two coastal streets - Simferopolskaya and Limannaya. According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the water level rose by 70 cm.

The Belgian Foreign Ministry issued an official statement canceling the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to Belgium and the European Union. As reported by RIA Novosti , the cancellation of the visit is due to the events in Israel at the end of last week.

The leaders of RAO UES of Russia and the Kemerovo region again did not find mutual understanding on the issue of increasing electricity tariffs.

The European Court of Human Rights today began considering a claim against Russia and Moldova. The countries are accused of violating several articles of the European Convention on Human Rights. The lawsuit was filed by former Moldovan deputy and now Romanian senator Ilie Ilascu. He was sentenced to death for terrorism in 1993 in Transnistria.

The State Duma today adopted in the third and final reading a law allowing the import of spent nuclear fuel into the Russian Federation for reprocessing and temporary storage. 243 deputies voted for the law “On introducing amendments to Article 50 of the Law of the RSFSR “On the Protection of the Natural Environment”, √ 125 were against, and seven abstained.

A monument to General Lev Rokhlin will be unveiled on Wednesday at the Troyekurovskoye Cemetery in Moscow. The author of the monument is the famous sculptor Vyacheslav Klykov, RIA Novosti reports.

About 40 people are believed to have died in a car accident in the Guwahati region of the Indian state of Assam. According to reports from the scene of the accident, a bus overcrowded with passengers fell off the road into an abyss and crashed into a river with a strong current. 5 passengers were found alive. It is believed that there were about fifty people in the car. So far, rescuers have found only 10 bodies. The search continues.

This night in the British city of Leeds, two policemen were injured, 25 cars and a store were burned, about 10 people were arrested during the riots, RIA Novosti reports. About 300 young people of Asian origin staged a pogrom in the city center and clashed with riot police. The riots arose on ethnic grounds, the impetus for them was the arrest two days ago of one immigrant from Asia.