Nuclear inspector comes to Moscow Today, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Muhammad AlBaradei, is arriving in Moscow - a man whose personal position will largely determine the attitude of the world community towards countries such as North Korea and Iraq. The IAEA is a UN body established in 1957 that sets nuclear safety standards around the world. Its members are 134 states, and the annual budget is over $200 million.

Belarusian directors will be taught to pay workers Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko recently ordered the dismissal of those directors of enterprises who do not pay employees salaries on time. Moreover, the dismissal of directors will be accompanied by deprivation of the right to hold leadership positions in the future.

North Korea's main weapon found American emissary James Kelly, who arrived in Asia to discuss the Korean crisis, faces silent pressure from the leaders of the countries in the region. In Seoul and Beijing, in Singapore, Indonesia and Japan, leaders want to avoid a head-on confrontation between the United States and North Korea. Malaysian leader Mahathir said: “Pyongyang will not surrender, even if its food supplies are blocked.

Georgia refuses Russian peacekeepers Eduard Shevardnadze said yesterday that he “for now refrains” from making a decision on extending the mandate of Russian peacekeepers in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict zone, which expired on December 31, 2002.

The Czech Republic agreed to fight with Iraq The Czech government yesterday evening responded positively to the US proposal to take part in a possible military operation against the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Now on Thursday this issue will be considered by the Czech Parliament. Since March last year, more than 250 Czech chemical defense specialists have been stationed in Kuwait.