Hamas leaders claim that municipal elections held in the Palestinian Authority in May were not entirely fair. They were allegedly robbed of victory in several districts. The administration of the autonomy, headed by Mahmoud Abbas, does not agree with this formulation of the issue. In short, it is obvious that we are talking about a purely intra-Palestinian conflict. It is not very clear why, in this situation, Hamas decided to resume terrorist activities against Israel.

To date, public opinion polls indicate that more than half of French residents are not satisfied with the draft pan-European Constitution. Almost 53 percent are against it. Previously, EU officials said that the refusal of any country to adopt the Constitution means its failure. Now, according to some publications, the rules have been changed and the referendum can be repeated.

An official document released yesterday by the Ukrainian authorities states: “Ukraine is concerned about the increased activity of those political forces in Russia that do not want to adequately perceive the large-scale democratization of our public life.” It seems to our deputies that they quite adequately perceive everything that is happening in the neighboring republic. According to Russian parliamentarians, cases of persecution on political grounds are becoming common practice there.

Two young men entered the store, introduced themselves as employees of the technical department of a local financial institution, turned off the ATM, and then, loading it onto a cart, disappeared through the door. That, in fact, is the whole story. No vulgarity in the form of shooting and shouting like: “Everyone get down! Hands on your head! This is a robbery!” However, it was just a robbery. The ATM contained more than four million rubles.

The meeting took place without incident. Unlike the picket near the Meshchansky Court, where they are trying to pass a sentence on Mikhail Khodorkovsky, no one was arrested or beaten near the television center. Apparently, the authorities are more relaxed about the problem of freedom of speech than about the MBKh problem. The presence in the column of protesters of such different political figures as Yavlinsky, Khakamada, Melnikov and Limonov gave the event a unique flavor.