Alexander Veshnyakov promised journalists a difficult life The head of the Central Election Commission, Alexander Veshnyakov, at the “Media on the Eve of the Elections” conference that opened yesterday, explained to the journalistic community the essence of the presidential amendments to a number of laws regulating the work of the media during the election campaign. According to journalists themselves, these amendments make it very difficult for the media to cover the elections.

An unidentified shipwrecked schooner was discovered off the coast of one of the islands of the Lesser Kuril Ridge by Russian border guards. The overturned ship was found under the rocky coast of Cape Yuzhny by a border patrol patrolling the island. According to the main version, this could be the fishing schooner RSKH-2316, which belonged to Ostrov Zeleny LLC from the Yuzhno-Kurilsky region. It turns out that nothing has been known about her fate for more than a week.

The Israeli Embassy confirmed to the Vremya Novostey newspaper that the visit of the Israeli Minister for Relations with the Jewish Diaspora and Jerusalem Affairs Natan Sharansky to Moscow came as a surprise even to Israeli diplomats. The Russian Foreign Ministry also knew nothing about Mr. Sharansky’s arrival. Nevertheless, the visitor visited the Kremlin, where he was received by the head of its administration, Alexander Voloshin.

No one was killed during the Dagestani parliamentary elections On Sunday, 97 (out of 121) parliament deputies were elected to the People's Assembly of Dagestan. The remaining mandates will be played out in the second round. The overall voter turnout in the republic was, as usual in the North Caucasus, quite high - 65%.

The militants began preparing an explosion in the Government House back in September. Representatives of the Prosecutor General’s Office for the Southern District announced that the terrorist attack in the Government House of Chechnya, which took place in Grozny on December 27 last year and claimed the lives of 72 people, has actually been resolved.

Prosecutors have claims against Valentin Tsvetkov The investigation into the murder of Governor Valentin Tsvetkov threatens to develop into a large-scale audit of many federal departments and even entire regions of Russia.

Jewish communities around the world are alarmed by an unusual event that took place in the town of New Square, New York, whose population consists primarily of members of the Hasidic sect "Square". Not long ago, Luis Nivelo, an employee of the local fish store Fish Market, was about to gut a 9-pound carp when suddenly the fish spoke.

A third rebel autonomy has emerged in Georgia Following Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Eduard Shevardnadze may receive another rebel autonomy. The head of Adjara, Aslan Abashidze, speaking on television of the autonomous republic, said that the center was pursuing a “colonial policy” towards the regions.

Agreements between Putin and Shevardnadze are on the verge of breakdown The Abkhaz parliament plans to appeal to the Russian State Duma with a proposal to establish associated relations between Abkhazia and Russia. Abkhaz deputies will consider the draft appeal on Tuesday. They propose that Russia pursue a single defense, foreign and economic policy, and even have a single currency.

Former airport workers are seeking huge severance pay in court The Sheremetyevo administration decided to sue the associates of the previous general director of the airport, Sergei Belyaev, for the severance pay they were entitled to. The benefit prescribed by Mr. Belyaev is considered illegal by the current management of Sheremetyevo. The first lawsuit in this regard was supposed to be filed last night in the Dorogomilovsky Court of Moscow.

On Sunday, 23-year-old American Rachel Corey was killed under the tracks of an Israeli army bulldozer in the city of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip. Together with colleagues from the International Solidarity Movement, she tried to stop soldiers from demolishing a Palestinian house. The Israelis expressed condolences to Corey's family, while accusing the pacifists of illegally entering the war zone. Tel Aviv activated them on the eve of Purim.

Last weekend, two “Final Four” European club cup tournaments took place, in which two Russian teams took part. Ekaterinburg's Uralochka lost to the French Cannes, which defended its title, in the final of the Women's Champions League - 1:3. “Iskra” (Odintsovo) lost in the semi-finals to the Italian “Luba” (Macerata) in the men’s CEV Cup - 2:3. The Moscow Region volleyball players led 14:12 in the fifth game, but were unable to score the winning point.

UN inspectors leave Iraq Yesterday the world was gripped by pre-war hysteria. Washington abandoned the idea of ​​enlisting the support of the UN and, a couple of hours before the vote on the Iraqi issue, withdrew the draft resolution on Iraq from the Security Council, as it turned out that France would still veto it.

New reforms criticized in Germany Undoubtedly, the second most popular topic after Iraq, currently being discussed at all levels in Germany, is the effectiveness of the new reforms proposed by Chancellor Schröder last Friday. The country has been waiting for change for a long time. Indeed, recently one of the leading economies in Europe has ceased to be considered even as a potential source of growth.

The Golovinsky Court of the capital is completing the trial of one of the leaders of the Azerbaijani diaspora in Moscow, businessman Frank Elkaponi, accused of drug trafficking. Yesterday, a state prosecutor appeared before the court and asked to sentence the businessman to 14 years in prison. Frank Elkapony, the owner of several shopping centers in Moscow and the head of the “Azerbaijan - XXI Century” association, was arrested by officers of the capital’s UBNON in June 2001.