New defendants have appeared in the case of money laundering in Israeli banks New figures have emerged in the Israeli scandal surrounding the investigation into money laundering through Bank Hapoalim. Israeli media reported yesterday that "one of the CIS heads of state may be involved in the case." However, the newspaper Vremya Novostey found out that we are talking only about the minister. It is not officially announced in which country he works. But our sources claim that this is Kazakhstan.

The Hague Tribunal dealt with the Albanians Yesterday, former Prime Minister of Kosovo and Metohija, 36-year-old Ramush Haradinaj (pictured), voluntarily arrived in The Hague and surrendered to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The day before, he received the accusations, delivered to him personally in writing in Pristina, and resigned, transferring powers to his deputy Adem Salihai.

The Federal Financial Markets Service has sent to the government a bill that provides for the emergence of a new financial instrument - exchange-traded bonds that do not require state registration. The adoption of such a law, the service believes, will ensure the need of Russian joint-stock companies to replenish working capital and expand the range of financial instruments. Two years ago, the Federal Securities Commission already submitted a similar bill to the government.

Maskhadov's death does not mean peace in Chechnya The liquidation of Aslan Maskhadov became the first resounding success of the Russian authorities in the North Caucasus after the re-election of Vladimir Putin for a second term. Before this, Beslan, Nalchik and the attack on Ingushetia happened within a year.

The review of Russian publishing achievements is held modestly The eighth national exhibition-fair “Books of Russia” (held as usual in pavilion No. 57 of the All-Russian Exhibition Center) was opened about five minutes late, but quickly. Immediately after a brief greeting from front-line poet Konstantin Vanshenkin, the head of the press agency, Mikhail Seslavinsky, approached the microphone and announced that the fair was starting to work, and the public could disperse to the publishing stands.

The first technology parks may appear as early as January 2006 At today's government meeting, the bill on special economic zones (SEZ) will finally be considered. A government source explained to reporters yesterday that most likely the authors of the law will be given two weeks to finalize it, and then the document will be approved by Fradkov’s office and forwarded to the State Duma. There is no doubt that the bill will be victorious. The President personally gave him the start.

An example of how relations with Abkhazia and South Ossetia can be built in a new way was found by Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili in Italy, where he had just visited. Georgians have found so many useful things for themselves in Italian South Tyrol that a joint visit of officials from Tbilisi and the unrecognized republics is planned for early April. Tbilisi believes that the Tyrolean example is most suitable for South Ossetia, since this conflict is easier to resolve.

Megafon shareholders became friends against Alfa Group Three Megafon shareholders have announced they are joining forces against Alfa Group, whose right to a stake in the mobile operator is being disputed in international arbitration courts. This is stated in a press release from one of the main owners of Megafon - TeliaSonera.

On the eve of the start of the Russian football championship, some clubs did not even know how many foreign players they had were not included in the limit. The application campaign ends today at midnight. However, it is already possible to draw conclusions about which teams will be affected by the introduction of a limit on non-foreign players. "Locomotive" Lokomotiv Moscow has only one main squad player who will be subject to the restriction on foreigners.

“Heart Hackers” on Moscow screens The fact that Albert Markowski (Jason Schwartzman) actually has very serious problems can be seen even before the opening credits of Heartbreakers appear on the screen.

The Return Festival has ended When violinist Roman Mints and oboist Dmitry Bulgakov came up with the idea of ​​the “Return” chamber music festival, they and their colleagues were barely in their twenties. Then the project was considered a youth project - a parade of unknown talents that should be paid attention to. "The Return", however, has acquired a defiant self-sufficiency (without refusing the necessary help). The festival is growing like a living organism.

Alexey Kudrin admitted the possibility of excess price growth in 2005 The Ministry of Finance has officially agreed with what non-governmental analysts have been repeating for weeks - with the possibility of exceeding the official forecast for annual inflation, fixed in the 2005 budget at 8.5%. The ministry's report on the main directions of tax policy assumes that annual inflation could reach 10%. However, this indicator also causes skepticism among most experts.

Forecast for the coming days In the center of Russia, the cyclone losing strength will still control the weather conditions, but the snow is light and the wind is not weak to moderate everywhere. The weather is cool, the average daily temperature is three degrees below the climate norm, after night -7...-12оС during the day -3...-8оС. On Friday night it will freeze to -9...-11°C.

"Golden Mask" presented the festival poster This year, the “Golden Mask” will begin on March 24 (at the Youth Theater Nelly Uvarova will perform a solo performance “Rules of Conduct in Modern Society”, at “Helikon” they will sing “Dialogues of the Carmelites”) and will end on April 11 (the awards ceremony will take place at the Mossovet).

Yesterday evening, the leader of the Lebanese opposition, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, 56-year-old Walid Jumblatt (pictured) flew to Moscow. As his Moscow representative, Mr. Halim Abu Fakhruddin, told Vremya Novostei, negotiations between Mr. Jumblatt and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are scheduled for Friday. Before this, the Lebanese politician will hold meetings with lower-ranking foreign ministry officials, as well as with Russian parliamentarians.