On Thursday evening, almost in the very center of Odessa, in front of numerous passers-by and cafe visitors, an unknown killer shot a businessman, Magnolia-TV reports. The killer was not caught. This happened at about ten o'clock in the evening on the summer terrace of the Furshet cafe, located on Torgovaya Street. The killer, who arrived in a Zhiguli, went into a cafe and ordered cognac. When leaving the establishment, he shot the businessman four times in the head and fled.

Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said on Saturday that violations of technical standards were committed during the towing of the K-159 submarine, RIA Novosti reports. "Along with the objective reasons (rough seas, weather conditions), there are undoubtedly subjective factors - there is already evidence of a violation of the technical standards for towing a submarine," the minister said.

On Saturday, in the Vedensky district of Chechnya, a convoy of military personnel of the federal forces was blown up by a landmine, Gazeta.Ru reports with reference to Interfax. As a result, six people were injured.

On Sunday, the second round of presidential elections in the republic began in Karachay-Cherkessia, RIA Novosti reports. At 8.00 the doors of all 243 polling stations opened. Two candidates are vying for the presidency of Karachay-Cherkessia: Mustafa Batdyev, chairman of the republican National Bank, and Vladimir Semyonov, incumbent president of the republic.

Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov signed a decree on the reconstruction of the House of Books on Novy Arbat, Interfax reports. Reconstruction will be carried out in 2003-2005. According to the agency's source in the city administration, the decision was made in order to develop and expand the infrastructure of the capital's book market, create a modern book trade enterprise that meets international standards.

David Kelly. Grani.ru collage On Sunday, The Observer published a report by David Kelly, written by him a few weeks before the start of the war in Iraq. According to the publication, the report reveals the true views of government experts on the need for a military operation.

On Saturday, in the deepest secrecy on one of the Scottish islands, the wedding of the daughter of Paul McCartney, the famous fashion designer Stella McCartney, took place. According to the BBC, Stella's chosen one is the publisher Alisdair Willis. The wedding took place at a luxurious estate owned by former Formula 1 driver Johnny Dumfries, 7th Marquess of Bute. On Saturday morning, the first batch of distinguished guests arrived by ferry from Vemis Bay.

Russian scientists have created a unique system for saving the inhabitants of skyscrapers, Interfax reports. "The issue of equipping skyscrapers with a rescue system became especially acute after the events of September 11.

The son of deputy Sergei Yushenkov, who was killed in April 2003, Alexei will run in a single-mandate constituency in the Kaliningrad region. He spoke about this in an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda-Kaliningrad. Alexei Yushenkov said he wants to continue his father's work. "Back in 1991, my father wrote a playful bill "On hereditary deputyship." So I want his dream to come true and I'm good at it."

In the Neftekumsky district of the Stavropol Territory, an armed attack was committed on the Kayasulinskoye settlement police station, RIA Novosti reports. According to the Main Department of Internal Affairs of the Stavropol Territory, unknown persons drove up to the police station in a car and fired at the building with a grenade launcher and automatic weapons. They fired back at them. The criminals fled. One member of the department was slightly wounded in the shootout.

On Saturday in Copenhagen, about 5 thousand people took part in a demonstration in defense of Christiania - the "island of freedom" in the capital of Denmark. According to the leading Danish media, cited by Rosbalt, the demonstrators who arrived from different parts of Denmark, as well as the inhabitants of Christiania itself, demanded the abolition of the country's government plans to transform the "island of freedom" into an ordinary microdistrict of the city.

Vladimir Putin congratulated Armenian President Robert Kocharian on his birthday, RIA Novosti reports with reference to the press service of the Russian president. "Russia notes with satisfaction the successes of friendly Armenia on the path of progress and democracy. With your energetic participation, Russian-Armenian relations also receive constructive and fruitful content, which in a short time has risen to the level of allied cooperation and partnership," Putin's telegram reads.

Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze said on Saturday that his country is not changing its political orientation, the main priorities of which are the preservation of sovereignty, the restoration of territorial integrity and maximum rapprochement with the West. According to Interfax, to which Gazeta.Ru refers, Shevardnadze noted that Georgia is forming "special relations" with the US, including in the military sphere.

A court in the northern Brazilian city of Belem has sentenced two men to 92 years in prison for their involvement in the ritual murders and cutting off the genitals of little boys. The murders were committed between 1989 and 1993 in the city of Altamira, located on the banks of the Amazon. On Tuesday, the trial of three more accomplices of the atrocity will take place - two doctors and a woman who heads the section of Satanists, reports the BBC.

On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi discussed the Middle East and the development of energy dialogue.