Russia west of Lithuania Yesterday, high-ranking European visitors - Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh and EU Commissioner for Foreign Affairs Chris Patten paid a lightning visit to the Kaliningrad region. “Greater” Europe has become interested in the enclave only now, but its immediate neighbor and EU candidate Lithuania has been concerned about the fate of Kaliningrad for a long time.

Yesterday the Supreme Court of Kabardino-Balkaria sentenced to life imprisonment one of the most brutal Chechen field commanders - 41-year-old resident of the village of Borzoi, Shatoisky district, Salautdin Temirbulatov, known under the nickname Tractor Driver. He was detained by federal special forces in March last year in the Chechen village of Duba-Yurt.

Last name: Oppenheimer The De Beers corporation, which controls about 65% of the diamond market (last year its sales amounted to $5.7 billion, and the entire market is valued at $8 billion), is once again becoming the private property of the Oppenheimers.

Bauman MSTU professor Anatoly Babkin, who was a witness in the case of US citizen Edmond Pope, was summoned yesterday to the FSB investigative department. Babkin's family lawyer Andrei Andrusenko said that next week Babkin will have to appear again for questioning, where he will most likely be officially informed that the investigation into the case is ongoing.

Oil workers are looking for a catch in reducing export duties Oil workers received a royal gift from the government - export duties on oil will be reduced from 48 euros per ton to 22. The decision was made at a hastily convened government commission yesterday on protective measures in foreign trade. The reduction in export duties goes against the general policy of the cabinet, which is hastily seeking additional funds to pay off foreign debts.

Ski racing. World Championship. Lahti. February 15--25. The World Ski Championships have started in Finland. Yesterday men and women competed at 15-kilometer distances. The first medal, silver, was brought to the Russian team by Olga Danilova. She was 7.7 seconds behind the winner, Norwegian Benta Skari-Martinsen. According to the head coach of the Russian team, Anatoly Akentyev, we are counting on at least three gold, silver and bronze awards.

The authorities are intensifying the fight for the sterility of elections In order for elections in Russia to become clean and fair, it is necessary to strengthen punitive measures against violators of election laws. The chairmen of the regional and republican election commissions came to this conclusion at yesterday’s meeting at the Central Election Commission, summing up the results of last year’s regional elections.

Figure skating. Grand Prix Final. Tokyo. February 16--18 . The finals of the Figure Skating Grand Prix series begin in Tokyo today. The world's leading figure skaters who showed the best results in previous Grand Prix tournaments will meet here. In total, athletes could take part in at least two of the six stages. Points were awarded for places from 1st to 5th. According to this system, the best six in each event were selected.

The controlled decline of Mir will end in mid-March The rate of descent of the Mir orbital station has more than doubled. If in January the complex dropped by an average of 500 meters per day, then in recent days, according to the ballistic bulletin of the Mission Control Center, the daily drop in the average orbital altitude is estimated at 1100 meters.

The right of customs authorities to fine exporters for violating customs rules may soon be limited. The Constitutional Court has begun examining the Customs Code, a number of provisions of which allow companies that are innocent of violations to be held accountable. Nine enterprises, which to one degree or another became victims of customs officers, applied to the Constitutional Court.

European emissaries visited Kaliningrad Just in time for yesterday's visit to Kaliningrad of a high-ranking EU delegation led by Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh (Sweden currently chairs the EU) and EU Commissioner for External Affairs Chris Patten, another leak appeared in the American newspaper The Washington Times. Citing sources in the American intelligence services, the newspaper reported that tactical nuclear weapons were transferred to Kaliningrad last summer.

Murderers of Alexander Solonik arrested in Spain The Russian special services announced the end of one of the most scandalous and mysterious crime epics - the story of the death of killer number 1 Alexander Solonik, nicknamed Sasha the Makedonsky. In the suburbs of Barcelona, ​​MUR operatives, with the support of the Spanish police and Interpol, managed to detain two gangsters of the Orekhov group that once thundered throughout the country, Sergei Butorin (Osya) and Marat Polyansky.

East Line can again work on the Russian-Chinese air transport route, but no longer wants to do this. Instead, the company is going to develop routes from China to third countries. China occupied an important place in the geography of East Line's flights until September 2000, when its Moscow office was searched by customs officers and the FSB. Then the Chinese market was temporarily closed to East Line.

The Bank of Russia has registered a prospectus for the second issue of shares of Rosselkhozbank in the amount of 430 million rubles, a representative of the bank told the Vremya Novostei newspaper. He noted that the securities issued as part of this issue will belong to the Russian Federal Property Fund, and the bank's authorized capital will reach 805 million rubles.

UN resolution sparks new outbreak of war in Afghanistan After a year of almost continuous military setbacks, the Afghan Northern Alliance has won a major victory over the Taliban. On the evening of February 13, Taliban forces surrendered the city of Bamiyan, the administrative center of the province of the same name.