The Olympic Games will open soon in Beijing. All the world's leading athletes are preparing for the main competition of the four years, but they do it in different ways. So, tennis players these days are warming up at tournaments of different categories in Toronto (men), Los Angeles and Portorož (women). Some people view these competitions as preparation for the Olympic Games, others simply try not to lose shape...

July 25, 2008, 11:59 Because of Zatulin, the Ukrainian ambassador was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry The Ambassador of Ukraine to Russia Konstantin Grishchenko has been summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry entering Ukraine , a source in the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

July 25, 2008, 12:23 Oil prices are rising due to possible problems with supplies from Iran and Nigeria Oil prices are rising for the second day in a row in New York due to a possible disruption in supplies from Iran and Nigeria, reports Bloomberg . The commander-in-chief of the Israeli army said yesterday that military force could be used against Iran if diplomacy fails to stop Iran's nuclear program.

25 July 2008, 16:12 Mayor of Sochi: Olympic construction will not interfere with vacationers The construction of sports facilities for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi will not create problems for vacationers, the mayor of the city, Vladimir Afanasenkov, assured on Friday at a press conference about the prospects for the development of Sochi as a future Olympic capital.

25 July 2008, 06:07 Andreev leaves the tournament in Toronto On Friday night, Russian tennis player Igor Andreev in the third round at the ATP tournament in Toronto (prize fund 2.615 million) lost to Spaniard Rafael Nadal with a score of 2:6, 6:7 (1:7). Details of the matches, as well as the position of tennis players in the ATP and WTA rankings, can be viewed on the tennis page.

July 25, 2008, 01:21 Roy Jones regrets canceling fight with Joe Calzaghe American Roy Jones, whose fight against Welshman Joe Calzaghe was postponed due to an injury to his opponent, said that he regrets the disruption of the fight, but wishes Calzaghe a speedy recovery. The new date for the fight, originally scheduled for September 20, could be November 8. The fight will probably take place in New York's Madison Square Garden, SE reports.

25 July 2008, 05:28 “Tom” can sign Lebedenko On Thursday, Croatian “Rijeka” striker Radomir Djalovic and his agents, having spent only a day in Siberia, flew home. According to the agents, Dzhalovich was not satisfied with the terms of the personal contract offered by Tom. There is a high probability that in this situation “Tom” will return to considering the candidacy of “Saturn” striker Igor Lebedenko , SE reports.

July 25, 2008, 20:31 Pacquiao was offered $10 million to fight Oscar De La Hoya According to the Philippine edition of Manila Bulletin, the promotion company Golden Boy Promotions made an offer to one of the best boxers in the world, regardless of weight category, Filipino Manny Pacquiao, in the amount of $10 million for a fight against former world champion in six weight categories Oscar De La Hoya.

05:42 (July 25) Brown's party lost the Glasgow East election The UK's ruling Labor Party lost the parliamentary elections in the Glasgow East constituency, thus significantly weakening the position of the party and Prime Minister Gordon Brown. In the East Glasgow constituency in 2005, Labor won by 13,500 votes. // Reuters The whole chronicle of the day...

Mechel , which was criticized by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Thursday , promises to henceforth not allow a gap in the levels of world and domestic prices for coking coal and is ready for a dialogue on pricing with government agencies, the company said in a statement. “Mechel agrees with the position of the Russian government that prices for coking coal on the domestic market should not be higher than world prices and does not intend to allow such situations,” the statement says.

July 25, 2008, 11:38 pm Diamonds worth 2.5 million euros stolen from foreigners in Tallinn Diamonds worth 2.5 million euros were stolen from foreigners in Tallinn by unknown persons, Estonian Television reported on Friday. According to eyewitnesses, three men ran up to a Toyota Land Cruiser SUV parked at the intersection of Veerenni and Järvevana streets and started a fight with those sitting in the car.

25 July 2008, 06:58 Artur Irbe returned to Dynamo Riga The famous goalkeeper 41-year-old Artur Irbe returned to Dynamo Riga. True, no longer as an active player, but as a coach of the team’s goalkeepers, Sovetsky Sport reports. “Irbe has been a symbol of Latvian hockey for many years and with his experience he will help Dynamo develop even faster,” said club president Viestur Koziols.

25 July 2008, 08:28 FT: BP will demand compensation from TNK-BP for all losses The British company BP will demand compensation for all losses that the company incurred in the struggle for control over TNK-BP, which forced the head of TNK-BP Robert Dudley to leave the country and decide on remote control. According to The Financial Times , BP is confident that the attacks on Dudley were “orchestrated” by the Russian shareholders of TNK-BP.

25 July 2008, 13:31 Telegraph: Mladic ordered to be shot if arrested Europe's most wanted war criminal, former Bosnian Serb commander Ratko Mladic ordered his bodyguards to kill him if captured by Serbian security forces. According to The Telegraph newspaper , this was reported by a source in the Serbian intelligence services. According to him. Mladic is ready to die rather than surrender to the Serbian authorities.

25 July 2008, 13:50 Young CIS scientists called for declaring 2009 the year of science Participants in the summer school of young scientists from the CIS countries, held in the Novosibirsk academic town, called for declaring next year the year of science and innovation. This was reported to Gazeta.Ru by the press secretary of the Interstate Fund for Humanitarian Cooperation of the CIS member countries, Alexander Kalugin.