The UN Commission on Human Rights is on the brink of disaster, and the countries of the European Union and the United States can save it, Human Rights Watch believes. The leading world powers have ceased to systematically participate in the work of the Commission, and "the most odious violators of human rights" have got there, who seek, first of all, to protect themselves from criticism.

The Bulgarian government has sold an 80% stake in the Bulgartabak holding to the Tobacco Capital Partners consortium, which experts associate with Deutsche Bank, writes Kommersant . The buyer was determined as a result of a tender announced by the Bulgarian government.

As a result of a shootout in the center of Prague on Wednesday, one person was killed and one seriously injured. The shootout took place on Sarajevo street in the metropolitan area Vinohrady. According to Czech radio, cited by RIA Novosti, a 60-year-old man was killed on the spot. A 33-year-old man was seriously wounded and taken to a clinic in Vinohrady. According to preliminary data from the Czech police, 4 people were involved in the bloody incident.

The US State Department has allowed the families of diplomats and non-essential employees of embassies and consulates in Oman and the United Arab Emirates to leave these countries due to the threat of a war in Iraq. This was reported by CNN on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the Romanian authorities expelled 8 more Iraqi citizens from the country, RIA Novosti reports. The stay of these people on the territory of Romania is qualified as "undesirable", said the head of the Romanian Interior Ministry, Ioan Rus. He also confirmed that the Iraqis were expelled on the basis of data collected by the security services.

Illustration from the site www.pitenin.narod.ru The Russian government adopted a resolution approved by a new provision on military medical examination, RIA Novosti reports. This resolution was adopted in accordance with Article 6 of the Federal Law "On Defense". The new position will enter into force on July 1, 2003. On Thursday, March 13, a special issue of the Rossiy newspaper will be released with the text of the new position.

"British Schindler" - 93-year-old Nicholas Winton - dedicated by Elizabeth II in the Knights of the British Empire, according to Reuters. Relatively recently, it became known that more than 50 years ago, in 1939, Winton saved the lives of 669 Jewish children by taking them out of Czechoslovakia, which the Nazis were preparing to capture. Winton, then working as a broker, came to Prague to visit a friend and imbued with the fate of Jewish families.

The federal complex "Kremlyovsky", which is part of the Administration of the President, and the Spanish company Segura Consulting signed a contract to create a multifunctional commercial center on Red Square. Segura Consulting will be the project's investor, Viktor Khrekov, spokesman for the Administration's Office, told ITAR-TASS. According to him, we are talking about the restoration and re-equipment of the building of the so-called Middle Trading Rows, located at 5 Red Square.

On Tuesday evening, Mexican President Vincente Fox was taken to the hospital. There he will undergo spinal surgery on Wednesday morning. This was reported by the presidential administration to Reuters. The operation will last a maximum of three hours, the hospital said. While the president will be under anesthesia, his duties will be performed by Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez.

The investigation into the case of a fire in the building of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Court abandoned the version of deliberate arson. As RIA "Novosti" was informed in the press center of the fire service of the region, referring to the conclusions of the specialists of the investigative team, this version was rejected as untenable. Currently, experts are considering two versions - short circuit wiring and careless handling of fire.

Café Olenka in Taganrog no longer serves citizens of the United States and Great Britain, Newsru.com reports citing the Internet forum Delovoy Taganrog. At the entrance of the cafe, located at st. Instrumentalnaya, 23, the administration posted the following announcement: "Due to the aggressive policy of the US and the UK and the ongoing attempts to violate the UN charter, citizens of the US and UK are not served." This action caused an unexpectedly great public outcry.

Chechen prosecutor Vladimir Kravchenko said that the explosion of the Government House in Grozny was organized by "leaders of gangs," Interfax reports. The prosecutor drew this conclusion from the testimonies of the suspects in this case. "From their testimonies, a thread can be traced to the very top of the militants - to Basayev, Maskhadov and others," Kravchenko said.

During the investigation of the terrorist attacks in Bali, it turned out that the Jamaa Islamiyya group that organized them has been operating in Indonesia for longer than previously thought. According to the Washington Post, this was stated by representatives of the Indonesian police. It turned out that extremists were involved in the explosion at the residence of the Philippine ambassador in Jakarta in August 2000. Then Ambassador Leonid Kadai was wounded, two more people died.

Flights of American U-2 reconnaissance aircraft over Iraqi territory as part of UN inspections have been stopped after a threat from the Iraqi Air Force. According to CNN, two reconnaissance aircraft were flying over Iraqi territory when the country's air force took off their planes. Later in Baghdad, they explained their actions by saying that only one reconnaissance aircraft could fly over Iraqi territory at a time.

Zoran Dzhindzhich. Photo from the site www.arhiva.glas-javnosti.co.yu At the entrance to the building of the Government of Serbia and Montenegro, unknown people opened shooting. As a result, the Prime Minister of Serbia Zoran Dzhindzhich received two severe injuries - in the chest and in the stomach. In the hospital, he died, despite the efforts of the doctors, reports Ar. A large caliber bullets were shot at it from a long distance. The police detained two suspects.