02 December 2004, 20:37 Politics The Beslan Commission will now read Elena Rudneva The text of the report with the results of the parliamentary investigation into the circumstances of the terrorist seizure of a school in Beslan will not be ready until April next year. Before sitting down to draft it, the commission members want to thoroughly study the experience of writing similar documents by the US Congress, as well as the Spanish Parliament.

02 December 2004, 13:53 Politics War with Annan Vasily Sergeev The United States has launched a campaign to remove UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. He is called upon to answer for the fraud surrounding the Oil for Food program. But the UN patriarch is not going to go anywhere. Thousands of subordinates and the Russian Foreign Ministry have already come to his defense. Washington began a large-scale campaign to discredit the UN .

02 December 2004, 15:18 From the editor Protection Diplomacy "Gazeta.Ru" If you have allies, but you don’t know what to do with them, contact the Russian authorities. They will help you quickly and reliably get rid of even the most loyal friend. True, it won’t work out cheaply and without hassle - they don’t know how. Since December 2, railway communication between Sochi and Sukhumi has been stopped.

On Tuesday, Gazprom's investment program was supposed to undergo a “second reading” at the board of directors before its final approval by the government. But on the same day, Gazpromneft General Director Sergei Bogdanchikov announced that his company would participate in the auction for Yuganskneftegaz, scheduled for December 19.

02 December 2004, 14:43 Opinions Bureaucratic anointed Matvey Naikov The new generation of officials has completely freed itself from responsibility for the results of their activities. Still, experience is an important thing. It seemed that the organization called the UN , which was completely outdated and poorly suited to the challenges of modern times , would slowly feel the need for an honorable old age and retire. However, it turns out that not all resources have yet been used.

02 December 2004, 19:26 Business Yukos is being prevented from dying Irina Kryuchkova The authorities can be considered to have disrupted the meeting of YUKOS shareholders on December 20. The registrar, M-Reestr, refused to participate in the meeting. Yukos will not have time to change the registrar before the meeting, lawyers believe, therefore, there will be no counting commission at the meeting.

02 December 2004, 20:45 Society Werewolves don't give up without a fight Irina Petrakova , Elya Vermisheva In Moscow, on Kutuzovsky Prospekt, a traffic police inspector shot at a policeman who was trying to detain him for taking a bribe. The prosecutor's office has already begun an investigation.

02 December 2004, 10:27 Politics The presidents of Ukraine did not agree Ksenia Solyanskaya Yesterday's negotiations between Leonid Kuchma, Viktor Yushchenko and Viktor Yanukovych in the presence of international mediators actually failed. The only thing we managed to firmly agree on was the next meeting with the same composition.

02 December 2004, 12:58 Culture Neither girls no peaches Igor Chuvilin Photo: Nashchokin House The exhibition of Valentin Serov in the Nashchokin House may require subsequent rehabilitation of the artist - go to the Tretyakov Gallery to see “Girl with Peaches”. They decided to celebrate the 140th anniversary of the birth of Valentin Serov in the gallery “Nashchokin’s House”. The date is not an anniversary, but, nevertheless, with a zero at the end.

02 December 2004, 13:10 Business Oil falls, indices rise Petr Kanaev The price of oil at auction in New York fell by more than $3 in one trading session. This was the largest one-day decline in oil prices since September 2001. America has significantly increased its oil reserves - despite the high cost of raw materials. The price of oil at auction in New York fell by more than $3 in one trading session. The significant increase in US oil reserves came as a surprise to oil market traders.

The RTS Stock Exchange has decided to change the brand of its index, the main indicator of the Russian stock market. Starting from the first half of 2005, the RTS index will be distributed as S&P/RTS. The RTS stock exchange and the international rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) signed a corresponding cooperation agreement. The document involves the joint development of calculations, licensing and distribution of Russian stock indices throughout the world.

“The Fountain” by Marcel Duchamp is recognized as the most significant work of art of the 20th century, which most strongly influenced the entire development of art of the past century. According to British art critics and artists presenting the famous Turner Prize, Picasso and Matisse, along with Dali, are resting, ousted from the pedestal.

02 December 2004, 19:50 Society Psychic attack Elya Vermisheva 5% of Russian citizens suffer from mental disorders, and Russia has taken 2nd place in the world in the number of suicides. This was discussed at the 1st National Congress on Social Psychiatry in Moscow. To protect society, doctors want to expand their powers. Human rights activists believe that this is no less dangerous.

02 December 2004, 17:13 Society Berd maniac attacked denim brunettes Denis Bulanichev (Novosibirsk) In Novosibirsk, the “Berd maniac” received a life sentence. Over six years, he raped 8 women and killed 5 of them. Most often, he attacked young brunettes in tight jeans. In total, the rapist has 27 different crimes. The Novosibirsk Regional Court completed the trial of the “Berd maniac” who committed 8 rapes and 5 murders of young women.

02 December 2004, 13:26 Society The final verdict for Anna Lindh's killer Irina Petrakova The murderer of the head of the Swedish Foreign Ministry, Anna Lindh, was found guilty and finally sentenced to life imprisonment. The country's Supreme Court decided that Mikhailo Mikhailovich was completely sane. The Supreme Court of Sweden has put an end to the murder of the country's Foreign Minister Anna Lindh.