The hero of the “Olympic scam” is fighting for a place in Italy The Venice Court of Appeal on Tuesday decided to hand over Russian citizen and entrepreneur Alimzhan Tokhtakhunov, nicknamed Taiwanchik, to the US authorities. He was arrested in Italy last summer at the request of the FBI, which suspected Taiwanchik of fraud in the distribution of gold medals at the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City. The court's verdict did not suit Mr. Tokhtakhunov's lawyers, and they intend to file a protest.

Chechen authorities agreed to trailers instead of Gudermes It took the government and administration of the Chechen Republic almost two weeks to set up new workplaces in Grozny. Yesterday, workers completed the construction of a temporary town in which Chechen officials who were left homeless after the explosion of two car bombs near a government complex in the capital of the republic on December 27 will spend the rest of the winter. Their new residence is 34 heated panel trailers.

Colonel Budanov will be released from the psychiatric hospital One of these days, Colonel Yuri Budanov will be released from custody. This will happen after the former commander of the 160th tank regiment is taken from the Rostov pre-trial detention center for treatment in a specialized psychiatric hospital.

The military will help Russians survive the cold Stable from an economic point of view, this winter turned out to be the coldest in the last 20 years. The bitter cold, which, unlike such obvious natural disasters as hurricanes or floods, does not strike the eye, nevertheless brought new troubles to Russia. Worn-out equipment in old boiler houses can no longer withstand frost, dilapidated pipes of heating mains burst, freezing out apartments and entire neighborhoods.

Russia is reducing its debt The Ministry of Finance published a report on the results of last year. What economists have been saying for the past few months has been officially confirmed: the national debt no longer hangs over the country like a sword of Damocles. From the report of the Ministry of Finance it follows that public debt decreased by 9% of GDP and now amounts to about 40% of GDP. This is significantly less than similar indicators in many developed countries.

The most serious New Year's emergency in Sochi was a fire that raged at the dacha of the Russian Ministry of Defense on the night of January 2. As a result, the structure, known at the resort as “Marshal Grechko’s Dacha,” was completely destroyed. This dacha was located in a forest on a mountain slope in the village of Krasnaya Polyana.

Channel One became the leader of the holiday broadcast Russian TV channels celebrated the onset of the New Year each in their own way, but in general they all followed the usual path: showing a festive concert with the participation of stars from Alla Pugacheva and Philip Kirkorov to leading Russian politicians, after which viewers could enjoy other entertainment programs and feature films.

Congress will approve a new US tax program US President George W. Bush took a break from international problems and on Tuesday at the Chicago Economic Club presented another program of tax reforms designed to stimulate the national economy.

LUKOIL offender dismissed in Iraq Iraqi President Saddam Hussein dismissed Oil Minister Amer Muhammad Rashid from his post. On Tuesday he was transferred to the presidential personnel reserve. Amer Rashid, a dashing general and air defense specialist, has been Iraq's oil minister since 1995. Samir Abdel Aziz An-Najm, one of the regional leaders of the Baath Party, who previously served in the diplomatic service in Egypt and Russia, was appointed acting oil minister.

The Ministry of Industry and Science wants to once again support the domestic manufacturer The domestic auto industry did not celebrate the New Year in the most joyful mood. Recent months have been marked by repeated shutdowns of leading enterprises in the industry - the Russian market is overstocked with products of local auto production. According to the latest data, AvtoVAZ reduced car production by 8.4% in 2002 (from 767 thousand cars manufactured in 2001 to 703 thousand).

Investigators from the Directorate of the Prosecutor General's Office in the North Caucasus are ready to bring a new charge against the head of the Moscow Region State Traffic Safety Inspectorate, Major General Boris Fadeev, one of the defendants in the criminal case regarding the shooting of a Sergiev Posad riot police convoy in March 2000 in the suburbs of Grozny.

Well-known Chechen field commander Rezvan Kutsuev voluntarily surrendered to federal forces in Chechnya on Tuesday. As stated by Ilya Shabalkin, a representative of the regional operational headquarters for managing the counter-terrorism operation, Kutsuev’s voluntary surrender was formalized in the Nozhai-Yurtovsky district. Together with the commander, several militants from his detachment also surrendered, wishing to return to their families.

Nikolai Budarin will not be able to go into outer space The partnership between Russia and the United States in the International Space Station project is again being tested for strength. The reason for a new showdown and the exchange of loud statements was the desire of NASA management to adjust the composition of the expedition, which will go into outer space on January 15 for a six-hour watch.

Nadezhda Fratti must live in Volzhsky The most high-profile case related to the adoption of Russian orphans by foreigners has finally ended in Volgograd. On New Year's Eve, the Volgograd regional court, chaired by federal judge Sergei Boyarov, convicted all the main defendants in the so-called Fratti case - a former Volzhanka, and now an Italian citizen, who acted as an intermediary in the adoption of children from Russia.

Famous human rights activists were not allowed to visit Kadyrov An unfortunate episode occurred at the capital's Sheremetyevo airport on the day of Orthodox Christmas. Its contents are being actively discussed in Germany.