Western intelligence agencies are on Russia's trail In recent weeks, al-Qaeda has transported large quantities of gold from Pakistan to Sudan, according to the American newspaper The Washington Post. The gold was taken in food boxes to Iran or the Emirates. From there he was flown to the capital of Sudan, Khartoum. According to Western intelligence services, the transportation was carried out by Russian businessman Viktor But. His airline Cess operates about 50 aircraft in the Emirates.

Moscow introduces curfew for teenagers The capital's authorities are going to revive the curfew for children under 16 years of age. This initiative was made at the end of last week by Moscow City Duma deputy Evgeny Balashov at a meeting on the problems of child homelessness with the mayor. Yuri Luzhkov supported this proposal and immediately informed members of the government that he considered it fair to limit the freedom of movement of children and adolescents to eleven o'clock in the evening.

Customs and border officials like to work hand in hand A joint meeting of the boards of the Federal Border Service and the State Customs Committee was devoted to the general work of customs officers and border guards at the border. The discussion centered mainly around the functioning of checkpoints. In general, the meeting participants were satisfied with the partnership between the State Customs Committee and the Federal Border Guard Service.

Zubin Mehta will give a concert in the Great Hall of the Conservatory The meeting with the head of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, which will give a concert today as part of the festival dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the Triumph Prize, was least reminiscent of an official reception.

But “old friendship” is enough for Russia Today, President of Turkmenistan Saparmurat Niyazov arrives in Moscow on a one-day working visit. In Ashgabat, until the last moment, they hoped that at the meeting with Vladimir Putin it would be possible to reach an agreement on the main topic - an agreement on the purchase of Turkmen gas by Russia.

In the Krasnodar Territory, rescue services yesterday completed an operation to destroy the largest ice jam on the Kuban River in the area of ​​the Khankov farm. According to information from the local Department of Civil Defense and Emergency Situations, pyrotechnicians and miners managed to crumble an ice field 12 km long using explosions. As a result, the upper part of the Kuban became clear of ice, which slowed down the discharge of water into the Sea of ​​​​Azov.

Iraq is groping for a way out Yesterday's conversation between Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan did not clarify the main question: whether Baghdad, which invited Hans Blix (the head of the UN Disarmament Inspection Commission) for negotiations on the return of inspectors, is ready to accept them themselves.

The Prosecutor General's Office brought charges against the leaders of SIBUR The Prosecutor General's Office finally brought official charges against two leaders of the Siberian-Ural Petroleum and Gas Chemical Company (SIBUR) - President Yakov Goldovsky and Vice-President Evgeniy Koshchits - late on Friday evening. They are charged with Art. 201-2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - abuse of power resulting in grave consequences.

Supporters call for his protection The situation in the Middle East is approaching a climax. The leading Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot reported yesterday that the leader of the Palestinian National Authority, Yasser Arafat, could allegedly announce his resignation in the coming days. According to sources of the Israeli newspaper, the corresponding televised address has allegedly already been recorded, and the head of the autonomy is only waiting for the right moment.

Representatives of the Russian Foreign Ministry said yesterday that the Thai authorities have not yet contacted them in connection with the detention last week of three criminals, presumably Russian citizens, who robbed a bank in the resort town of Pattaya. On August 30, four masked men burst into the bank and fired pistols at the ceiling. One of the clients - a local policeman - tried to resist, but was immediately shot.

The Dagestan prosecutor's office opened a criminal case into the escape of a particularly dangerous criminal, Akhmed Magomedov, accused of a series of major terrorist attacks, from the building of the republic's prosecutor's office in Makhachkala. The search for the missing saboteur, which continued all night and yesterday, has not yet brought any results.

Vnesheconombank (VEB) and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China signed a cooperation agreement yesterday. At the ceremony dedicated to this event, the first deputy chairman of the bank, Nikolai Kosov, announced some details of the transfer of the commercial part of VEB to Vneshtorgbank (VTB) and spoke about the deal for VEB to acquire a controlling stake in Roseximbank.

Company manager confirms rumors First Vice President of the diamond mining company ALROSA German Kuznetsov yesterday outlined some plans, which, however, have been circulating on the market for a long time in the form of rumors. Firstly, the company’s foreign trade activities will intensify outside of official relations with De Beers, the leader of the world diamond market and the main buyer of Yakut diamonds.

In Komsomolsk they hope to complete the construction of a submarine cruiser The Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, Fleet Admiral Vladimir Kuroyedov, who is making a scheduled trip to the Far East, visited the Aviation Production Association named after. Gagarin (KnAAPO) (Komsomolsk-on-Amur), where he became familiar with the development and production of civil and combat aircraft, in particular deck-based aircraft. The Amur Shipyard received special attention from the Commander-in-Chief.

By Sunday, the intelligence services of the Ulyanovsk region managed to detain eight of the 14 dangerous criminals who escaped from the local colony on the night of January 18. A special commission from Moscow has already arrived in Ulyanovsk; in addition, Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov has taken personal control of the investigation into the escape story.