Eduard Shevardnadze does not know how to recognize militants The President of Georgia yesterday shed light on some aspects of the strange clashes in Abkhazia. At a press conference, Eduard Shevardnadze admitted that those who took part in the Chechen conflict are also fighting against the Abkhazians. True, according to him, we can talk mainly about the Kists of the Pankisi Gorge, including those who healed wounds in this region. “Actionist or not is not written on the forehead,” he explained.

The capital's jewelry stores were given fake gold A unique enterprise of its kind, operating in the Moscow jewelry market, was recently discovered by employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The YN-Class company not only produced products from precious metals and stones, but also successfully replaced the State Assay Office of Russia. At least on products made of gold and silver, dealers preferred to put exclusively their own stamps.

In the Tula Regional Court today, after an almost six-month break, hearings in the case of ex-governor Nikolai Sevryugin should resume. The prosecutor's office opened a criminal case back in 1997. Then the former regional head was accused of receiving a bribe of 120 thousand dollars, his son Andrey was accused of complicity in taking a bribe, and the Tula representative of the capital's Rostrabank Valery Fedorchenko was accused of giving a bribe.

The secret services will take care of this The Department of Muslims of the Caucasus appealed to all believers to be vigilant and not to succumb to the sermons of mullahs who arrived from abroad.

The government continues to fulfill its promise to gradually reduce export duties. Today, at a meeting of the government commission on protective measures in foreign trade, the possibility of reducing export duties on timber and gold will be discussed. The issue of reducing the export duty on scrap and ferrous metal waste from 15 to 10% will also be considered.

Politicians who hold the most irreconcilable positions on Palestine - infrastructure minister Avigdor Lieberman from the Russian-speaking Israel Our Home party and tourism Rehavam Zeev from National Unity - have decided to leave Sharon's government. This is not yet the collapse of the coalition government, however, it may be the first sign. The ministers were dissatisfied with the measures that Sharon took under US pressure.

The consular section of the US Embassy in Moscow may begin issuing visas again within a few days, but the exact time and location of the resumption of work has not been announced. The work of the consular department was stopped last Friday. According to the press service, the corresponding instructions from Washington link this decision to the need to “ensure security.” Citizens who have previously submitted documents will receive visas within the agreed time frame. Alexey SLOBODIN

The germ warfare began with a psychic attack Americans no longer doubt that the anthrax outbreak in Florida is a new manifestation of the war declared by terrorists on the United States. Only, unlike the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, the unknown avengers do not want to sacrifice themselves - they use bacteriological weapons, from which more than ten people have already suffered.

Congressmen debate how to leave terrorists without money In the coming days, the final text of the anti-terrorism bill should arrive on the desk of US President George W. Bush. Once it is signed, law enforcement agencies will have greater powers to eavesdrop on suspects, share information about them, and punish terrorist harborers.

The Ministry of Energy and Russian oil companies will create a working group to resolve issues related to the construction of an oil pipeline from Russia to China. An agreement on this was reached at a meeting of oil companies held yesterday at the ministry. Previously, the government authorized Yukos and Transneft to negotiate an oil pipeline with the Chinese side.

The largest Russian oil company LUKOIL is considering the possibility of participating in the construction of the Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline, which will allow the supply of oil from the Caspian region through the territory of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey to world markets. “The BP company presented us with a new, more preferable version of the project, which we are now carefully considering,” LUKOIL Vice President Dzhevan Cheloyants said yesterday.

The Moscow government and the leadership of the International Motor Sports Federation (FIA) will sign an agreement on holding the Russian Grand Prix in 2003 in Moscow no later than November 30, Chairman of the Moscow Government Tourism Committee Grigory Antyufeev, who recently returned from the annual FIA General Assembly, told the Vremya Novostei newspaper. Max Mosley was elected President of the FIA, who, according to Mr.

On Monday night, the building of the Georgian Embassy in Moscow, located in Maly Rzhevsky Lane, was bombed with bottles of black paint. Diplomats called the police around 1 a.m., immediately after streaks appeared on the walls. The squads on duty nearby joined the search for the attackers within a few minutes and soon overtook the two young men who launched the attack.

Hockey. Russian Championship.

A major fire occurred yesterday morning in the very center of Moscow. At about 5.00, an apartment in a 5-story residential building on Staropimenovsky Lane caught fire. The fire spread very quickly across the wooden floors and inter-wall voids of the 19th-century building. In the very first minutes, the ceilings between the third and fourth floors collapsed, and the flames spread to the fifth floor.