The head of Russian diplomacy began a tour of South America Negotiations in Chile with the country's President Ricardo Lagos yesterday opened the main part of Igor Ivanov's visit to Latin American countries, during which the Russian Foreign Minister will also visit Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela. The head of Russian diplomacy began his ten-day trip to the countries of the region with a brief stop in Cuba. Mr.

The former Iraqi leader did not resist arrest Washington, bogged down in Iraq, yesterday received long-awaited compensation for months of exhausting guerrilla warfare and hundreds of dead coalition soldiers. America has finally caught the former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein hiding in the occupied country.

Yesterday the match for the Intercontinental Cup took place in Yokohama. As usual, the honorary trophy was challenged by the winner of the Champions League and the winner of the Libertadores Cup. This time Europe was represented by Milan, and Latin America by Argentine Boca Juniors. For the first time, the honor of judging the dispute between the two strongest clubs on their continents fell to a Russian referee, Valentin Ivanov.

Sochi airport will be completed by private investors The Russian government decided to terminate the contract concluded in 1988 by the All-Union Association “Soyuzvneshstroyimport” with the Slovenian company SCT-International, according to which the Slovenes built an air terminal complex (AVK) at the Sochi airport. The corresponding order was signed by Mikhail Kasyanov on December 6.

Figure skating is becoming increasingly difficult for casual fans Yesterday the Grand Prix of Figure Skating finals ended in Colorado Springs, America. The Russian representatives won four medals: gold, two silver and bronze.

The Rada agrees with the former Deputy Prime Minister: Ukraine does not need a gas transportation consortium The closer the date of the fateful meeting of the council of participants of the gas transport consortium (GTC), scheduled for early next week, the more warning signals Moscow receives from Kyiv.

Constitutional Assembly promises a new era for Afghanistan Yesterday, a historic event took place in Afghanistan that could lead the war-torn country to long-awaited peace. A loya jirga, or intertribal assembly, began work in Kabul. Its goal is to adopt a new constitution and confirm that general elections will be held in June 2004 as scheduled. The adoption of the Basic Law and the holding of elections are two key moments in international plans for the reconstruction of Afghanistan.

RAO UES of Russia and Gazprom have submitted an application to purchase the Moldavskaya State District Power Plant The government of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic announced an auction for the privatization of 100% of the shares of the Moldavian State District Power Plant. The starting price is $27 million, but Tiraspol has repeatedly stated that it intends to gain $100 million from the sale of the power plant.

Tourism will no longer be licensed, and the Central Bank will be asked to think about the breadth of its powers The government commission for administrative reform under the leadership of Deputy Prime Minister Boris Aleshin, as promised, has accelerated the pace of work. And not even twice, but three. For the meeting to be held on December 18, the commission analyzed over 2.9 thousand functions of federal executive authorities. 700 of them are considered redundant and duplicative.

Standard & Poor's and Moody's revised the ratings of four leading banks Two leading rating agencies, Moody's and Standard & Poor's, changed their ratings for four Russian banks at once - S&P downgraded the rating of the MENATEP St. Petersburg bank, whose management is accused of tax evasion, and the traditionally optimistic Moody's raised the ratings of Alfa Bank, a financial MDM Group and Zenit Bank.

Tbilisi seeks reconciliation with Moscow On Saturday, the head of the Kremlin administration, Dmitry Medvedev, met in Moscow with the head of the Georgian Ministry of State Security, Valery Khaburzania.

Transnational kidnapping On Friday night in Moscow, the president of the Russian-Ukrainian-Kazakh corporation Promtek Group, Alexander Dilbazi, was kidnapped. According to the Central Internal Affairs Directorate, at about 1 am, the businessman’s wife contacted the Troparevo-Nikulino police station and said that 20 minutes ago on Pokryshkina Street, when they were returning home, four men approached them. The strangers introduced themselves as criminal investigation officers, pushed Mr.

The Union of Financial Consultants has prepared documents for obtaining SRO status The association of financial consultants, underwriting banks and other organizations involved in the placement and circulation of securities sent documents to the FCSM to obtain the status of a self-regulatory organization (SRO).

Moscow tour of La Traviata directed by Franco Zeffirelli For three evenings in a row, gathering the most magnificent audience and tightly stopping Petrovka with cars hopelessly searching for parking, the Bolshoi Theater toured the play of the Arturo Toscanini Foundation, made by the owner of one of the most majestic and odious director names, a man who is usually called the “singer of luxury,” Franco Zeffirelli.

Mikhail Kasyanov will not talk to the Japanese about the “northern territories” Already today, at negotiations in Tokyo, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov will have to answer eternal questions in Russian-Japanese relations. We are, of course, talking about the “northern territories” and Russia’s possible signing of the Kyoto Protocol.