** what has been talked about so long ... ** It happened. What everyone who is not lazy talked about for so long - the resignation of Mikhail Kasyanov from the post of prime minister - became a reality.

** What to expect in the coming hours.

The outstanding Russian scientist, culturologist, literary critic and translator Sergei Sergeevich Averintsev died at the age of 67. He was born on December 10, 1937 in Moscow, a late child in a professorial family (both his father and mother were biologists). In 1961 he graduated from the classical department of the Faculty of Philology of Moscow State University.

Svetlana Dyndykina , Ekaterina Norkina Russian political scientists and the media continue to guess about the candidacy of the new prime minister. One of the versions dominant in recent days - the head of the government will be the State Duma speaker Boris Gryzlov. In addition to him, the names of Alexei Kudrin, Sergey Ivanov and even the Krasnoyarsk governor Alexander Khloponin are called.

In the American city of Scottsale (Arizona States), a bomb was exploded in the state institution, packed in a box the size of a portable computer. As a result of the explosion in the building of the public relations department, three people were injured. Two of them had to do urgent surgical operations. According to local authorities, the glass exploded in the office where the package exploded. The bomb was filled with shrapnel, reports Associated Press.

The Russian Foreign Ministry confirms the fact that two employees of the embassy and one employee of the Russian Trade Representative in Lithuania were invited to leave the country for activities that allegedly do not comply with their status, without the submission of any claims.

Boyd W. Armadillo. Novel / Transl. from English T. Azarkovich. – M.: Inostranka, 2003. – 447 p. This novel contains: a hanged industrialist, insomnia, an LSD story, self-harm, threats, arson, love and big money. It’s an amazing thing: “Battleship” by William Boyd formally has all the features of Euro-trash, but it is not Euro-trash (unlike, say, the book by the same author, “Brazzaville Beach,” which was published last year).

A passenger ferry is on fire off the coast of the Philippines' capital Manila. According to the latest data, one person was killed and three more were injured. Coast Guard officials said that 303 people have been rescued from the burning ship so far, and the evacuation of the rest continues. In total, there were 717 passengers and 153 crew members on board the ferry. As a Reuters correspondent reports, approximately a quarter of the ship is engulfed in fire.

Today a meeting of the administrative reform commission was held, RIA Novosti reports. The head of the commission and. O. Deputy Prime Minister Boris Aleshin said that until April 1, 2004 he would present a report to the President of Russia on the functions that the state should perform, since out of five thousand functions of state bodies analyzed by the commission, more than a thousand were redundant or duplicated.

On Friday, the chairman of the Georgian Parliament, Nino Burjanadze, expressed dissatisfaction with the principle of drawing up a single electoral list from the National Movement party, which is the leader of the country Mikhail Saakashvili. According to her, she was not given the opportunity to decide with whom she will have to work in the future of the Georgian parliament, RIA Novosti reports. This cannot be regarded otherwise than the fact of oppression against her, Burjanadze believes.

The Judicial authorities of Zurich extended today the term of detention of a man suspected of killing the dispatcher of the Swiss company Skygide, Interfax reports. Having extended the deadline, the court indirectly confirmed that the evidence against the detainee is enough to continue the investigation and the maintenance of his detention. Usually this procedure is carried out within two days from the moment the suspect is detained.

This was reported by Rosbalt, referring to the data of the Public Opinion Foundation. During the survey conducted by the Fund among 1,500 Russians on February 21, it turned out that 51% of the respondents did not see the election debate. Among those who decided to vote for Vladimir Putin, the share of ignoring television battles is 52%; Among respondents going to give their vote to other candidates - 39%.

Today, the Moscow City Court will announce the jury -based verdict in the case of the pogrom in the market in Yasenevo. The jury found only three of the five accused in the case of the pogrom in the market in Yasenevo: according to the verdict, having felt, Rusakov and sergeants are guilty only in participation in the riots. At the same time, the jury unanimously decided that the defendants deserve condescension, reports RBC.

Vitaly Leibin The most readable article on the “Polit.ru” of the last week is “one who did not shoot” Alexander Cherkasov. It is not surprising: an article on the 60th anniversary of the deportation of the Chechen and Ingush peoples, in fact, turned out to be far from exclusively historical, memorial or human rights. The strongest in it, in my opinion, is a moral position, unfolded until self -awareness and Russia in history.

In the village of Borzo, the Shata district of Chechnya, a soldier from the 42nd motorized rifle division shot his colleague, a source in the law enforcement agencies of Chechnya said on Friday. According to the source, this happened on the night of Thursday. A contract soldier, while serving at the post of security of the unit, opened fire on the passing colleague and mortally wounded him, Interfax reports.