Any political initiative that exists to correct the Russian economy seems to lie with the alarmingly silent Boris Yeltsin, still sequestered in his country residence outside Moscow officially on holiday during one of the greatest crises of his presidency. The president is due to fly to the Arctic to attend a naval exercise by 15 ships of the Northern Fleet, during which every weapon in the naval arsenal, will be fired for his delight.

The financial crisis distracted attention from Yeltsin's odd behaviour on a trip to Novgorod, when journalists following him said he appeared emotionally unstable and not fully aware of what was going on around him. Yelena Dikun of Obshchaya Gazeta described how at various points during his city tour Yeltsin smiled like a child, not understanding what was being said to him; fell into what seemed to be a trance; suddenly flew into a rage; covered his face with a handkerchief and seemed to have difficulty breathing; and was rushed away from journalists.In his final meeting with the people of Novgorod, wrote Dikun, Yeltsin needed to be supported by his bodyguards and his wife, Naina, before getting into his armoured limousine and immediately lying down.

Another Di

Former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell -- once known as `Ginger Spice' -- is to sell her old stage outfits in a `Princess Diana style' auction for charity, it was reported. The Sun newspaper said Halliwell, 26, who quit the group in May, hoped to raise around œ 1 million for charity. Diana, Princess of Wales, raised $6.3 million for her favourite charities when she sold 79 of her gowns at Christie's auctioneers shortly before her death on August 31 last year.

Land at last

US Balloonist Steve Fossett arrived back on dry land happy to be alive after his failed attempt to circle the globe but refused to rule out another bid at aviation history. The millionaire Chicago stockbroker arrived in the Australian Port city of Townsville, three days after his balloon ran into a fierce storm andplummetted to Earth. He said the way now appeared to be clear for British tycoon Richard Branson and others to attempt to become the first to go around the world in a balloon. ``It leaves an open field for the competitors, Branson is one,'' he said at a press conference aboard the New Zealand navy tanker that helped rescue him from the shark-infested Coral Sea. The 54-year-old called the disaster ``a sobering experience. The closest I've ever come to being killed'', but, like a true adventurer, he is refusing to give up.

Czech memories

Thirty years on, the Soviet officer who arrested Alexander Dubcek after the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact troops recalls confronting the reform communist leader with the words: ``We have come to your assistance to protect you from counter-revolution.'' Speaking for the first time of his part in the invasion at dawn on August 21, 1968, Sarip Minigulov admitted that the Soviet-led invasion had been a mistake. Minigulov, a former Soviet paratroop colonel nowaged 72, said in an interview with the Czech news agency CTK: ``We had no right to interfere in your country.'' After leading his troops in a parachute landing at Prague airport, Minigulov recalled, he had had the task of personally arresting Dubcek, then Czech communist party leader. Soviet and other Warsaw Pact forces intervened in Czechoslovakia to crush the so-called Prague Spring in which Dubcek had attempted to reform Czechoslovak communism along more democratic lines. ``I was only a soldier who had to obey orders,'' said the former officer, now in retirement. He said his impression of Dubcek had been of ``a man of mediocre will''.

Princess business

The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund, set up four days after the People's Princess died in a Paris car crash last August to manage the flow of cash donations, has received about $133 million but the Diana business in total has generated $320 million since her death, according to some estimates. A staggering aray of memorabilia from guidedtours of the crash scene to musicalplates bearing her image and chiming to the strains of Candle in the Wind continue to find buyers. Worldwide sales of official recordings of the musical tribute written by the popstar friend of Diana, Elton John, generated $48 million for the fund.

The fund has also reaped royalties of about $20 million from the sale of seven official Diana souvenirs. ``We expect to authorise a lot more products,'' said Vanessa Corringham, a spokeswoman for the trust. A wide range of authorised products, including Diana margarine and Diana scratchcards, have whipped up a storm of protest from the media and calls from her brother, Lord Spencer, for the fund to distribute its cash and shut up shop.

But business is booming outside the official Diana estate. One Parisian hotel is charging $25 for a tour tracing Diana's last, fateful journey in a black Mercedes car, similar to the vehicle in which the princess was killed with her lover Dodi Fayed and their driver Henri Paul.