All St. Petersburg police officers received English-Russian phrasebooks, NTV reports. This was done in connection with the fact that an influx of foreign guests is expected by the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the city. According to the authors of the phrasebook, it is aimed at police officers who are completely unfamiliar with the language.

Major General Andrei Novikov has become the new head of the main department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation for the Northwestern Federal District. According to Interfax, Interior Minister Boris Gryzlov on Saturday introduced the new chief to the staff of the department. "He is taking up his duties right now, we are in a hot time - it is necessary to maintain the momentum gained by both the Central Internal Affairs Directorate of St.

Tommy Frank. Photo from the site www.centcom.mil On Sunday, General Tommy Frank, the commander of the coalition troops in Iraq, announced the dissolution of the Baas party, which is the rules in the country over the past 35 years. The official statement of Franks was read out on the Iraqi national radio, reports Reuters.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Yury Fedotov and French Ambassador to Russia Claude Blanchmaison at a meeting in Moscow on Saturday called for the early lifting of the sanctions against Iraq, taking into account the decisions taken by the Security Council earlier, Interfax reports.

Colin Powell. Photo AFP On Sunday night, Israel lifted the ban on the entrance and departure from the Gaza sector and areas on the western coast of Jordan, reports Ha'Aretz. Israeli Minister of Defense Shaul Mofaz made this decision at two in the morning by local time so that in the morning the Palestinian workers could get into Israel.

Saliera, the only surviving gold sculpture by the famous Italian master Benvenuto Cellini, was stolen from the Vienna Museum of History and Art on Sunday, the cost of which is estimated at more than 50 million euros. This was reported by the Austrian Ministry of the Interior, as RIA Novosti reports.

The first case of SARS has been discovered in Finland. This was stated by the National Institute of Public Health, according to Reuters. Symptoms of this disease were found in a young man who returned from a trip to Toronto at the end of last month. After the diagnosis was confirmed, the patient was sent for treatment to the hospital in Turku. By now, representatives of the Institute of Public Health reported, the patient began to recover.

On Saturday, the Arabic-language newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi, published in London, published a letter attributed to Saddam Hussein, AP reports. The author of the letter calls on the Iraqis to start a "holy war" against American and British soldiers. However, the agency notes, the authenticity of the letter is questionable. The fact is that the handwriting in which the letter is written does not correspond to the existing samples of Saddam's handwriting.

Referendum in Lithuania. Photo AFP On Sunday, at seven in the morning Moscow time in Lithuania, the second day of the referendum began on the issue of the country's entry into the EU. A referendum can be considered consisted. This was reported to Interfax in the Main Election Commission (GIK). According to the GIK, at 15.00 Moscow time on Sunday, about 50% of citizens who have the right to vote took part in the referendum. Later, according to Freedom, this figure reached 60%.

Russian Emergencies Ministry divers, who arrived two days ago from Moscow in the Karmadon Gorge in North Ossetia, today made a trial descent through a 70-meter well into the tunnel, ITAR-TASS reports. It was in this tunnel that members of the film crew of film director Sergei Bodrov Jr. could hide during the descent of the Kolka glacier on September 20 last year, the search for which has been going on for 8 months.

On Sunday, presidential elections will be held in Montenegro, RIA Novosti reports. Three people are running for the presidency - Deputy Chairman of the Democratic Party of Socialists Filipp Vujanovic from the ruling coalition "European List for Democratic Montenegro", Chairman of the Liberal Union Miodrag Zivkovic and independent candidate Dragan Hajdukovic. This is the third attempt to elect the President of Montenegro.

A patient of the city infectious diseases hospital of Ussuriysk, who was hospitalized the day before with suspected atypical pneumonia, did not have this disease, the doctors of this hospital say. Earlier, local media reported that a Russian citizen was hospitalized in Ussuriysk with symptoms of SARS and that the patient spent 20 days in China, from where he returned on May 5 with a high fever.

A hippo named Almaz, who lives in the Yekaterinburg Zoo, will move to the reconstructed pool in early June. This was reported by Interfax with reference to the words of the head of the scientific and educational sector of the zoo Svetlana Polents. The first pool for Almaz was built in 1997. However, miscalculations were made during the construction, in particular, a too narrow and steep descent was made. One day a hippopotamus, descending to the water, slipped and hurt his leg.

There are no passes to travel around the city during the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Northern capital, there are no tickets for public events, Anna Markova, Vice Governor of St. Petersburg, said on Saturday. According to RIA Novosti, Markova said that cases of sales of such "tickets" and "passes" have become more frequent recently. Many of the buyers turned to law enforcement agencies and the city administration. Now the administration of St.

Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia, Chairman of the Coordinating Center for Kosovo and Metohija Nebojsa Covic said that the head of the UN mission in Kosovo Michael Steiner "has long been a factor in creating problems in the southern Serbian province, not solving them." This is reported by RIA "Novosti", referring to the local newspaper "Dan", which published an interview with the vice-premier.