During an operation in north London, British police discovered the deadly poison ricin, for which no antidote has yet been created. Six arrested people, presumably immigrants from Algeria, are being interrogated. In the apartment of one of them, castor tree fruits, from which ricin is extracted, and a homemade press were found. It is not yet clear whether all the poison produced ended up in the hands of the police. In 1978, Bulgarian intelligence used ricin to kill dissident Georgi Markov.

Flying Rolandas became President of Lithuania Tomorrow the results of the presidential elections, which ended four days ago, will be officially announced in Lithuania. However, there is no longer any doubt that the second round was crowned with a sensational victory for 46-year-old Rolandas Paksas. Sensational - because even those who voted for him had little hope of victory: too powerful, organized force opposed Paksas, consolidating around a competitor - current President Valdas Adamkus.

US and UK ready for war with Iraq Three people were killed and 13 were injured the night before yesterday as a result of US-British air raids in southern Iraq. An Iraqi military spokesman said American and British planes that took off from bases in Kuwait were "dispelled by heroic Iraqi air defense forces." The raids were repeated last night.

Terrorist attacks and money undermine Sharon's position The election race has officially begun in Israel. It will stop one day before the parliamentary elections on January 28, according to the results of which a new government will be formed. The start of the campaign was marked by a sensation that threatened the ruling right-wing Likud (Unity) party with defeat in the parliamentary elections.

Venezuelan strikers failed to turn off the valve The Venezuelan government has announced reforms to the state-owned oil company PDVSA. One of the largest in the world, it is characterized by bloated staff and low efficiency. Chavez calls the company a “state within a state.” It is planned to divide it into two parts - Eastern and Western, to separate the gas company, and also to sell the American division.

French depositors checked the state bank A new financial scandal is raging in France. He is associated with the former management of the Credit Lyonnais bank, one of the largest in France and famous throughout the world. In particular, with Jean-Claude Trichet, who today is no less than the manager of the Bank of France (analogous to the Russian Central Bank in the Fifth Republic).

North Korea refused to talk to the US Pyongyang yesterday accused the United States of escalating the threat of nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula and provoking confrontation between the two Korean states. The statement from the official North Korean news agency KCNA was, in fact, a negative response to the White House's willingness to engage in dialogue with the DPRK expressed on Tuesday.