Slobodan Milosevic said he needed at least two years of freedom to prepare for his defense at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. "I need conditions to prepare for the trial," Milosevic said. However, according to judge Richard May, his release is out of the question, since the process cannot be interrupted for two years. Earlier, Milosevic refused to recognize the legitimacy of the UN court and said that he would defend himself.

The document on the creation of a single economic space of Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Ukraine will be signed at the CIS summit in Yalta, Vladimir Putin believes. "I have reason to believe that the document will be signed," the Russian president said at a meeting with Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, which is taking place at the head of state's Novo-Ogaryovo residence near Moscow.

On September 4, the military prosecutor's office will bring charges against the flight director who was in charge of the crews of the helicopters that died near Ussuriysk. According to the correspondent of Graney.Ru, this was announced in Moscow by the Deputy Prosecutor General - Chief Military Prosecutor of Russia Alexander Savenkov.

Vyacheslav Fetisov, Chairman of the Russian State Sports Committee, said in a stand that the Russian Foreign Ministry could play a key role in the process of nominating Moscow for the right to host the 2012 Olympics.

Photo AFP The US Armed Forces were transferred to the Polish military, commander of the international contingent, control over the sector in the south of the central Iraq zone. It is reported by Reuters. In this sector, in particular, there is the city of En-Sadzhaf, which has recently become an arena of the conflict of Shiite groups. The solemn ceremony for the transfer of the command passed near the ruins of Ancient Babylon.

Saud al-Faisal. Photo by ar Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said that Russia and Saudi Arabia will create a working group on the fight against international terrorism. It is reported by RIA "Novosti".

Telescope William Gershel in La Palma (Canary Islands, Spain). Photo from the site www.nottingham.ac.uk Astrophysicists who build the theory of dark matter in the universe again had a big problem after it turned out that the three elliptical galaxies are most likely contained by a very small amount of dark matter, or completely without this mysterious substance.

Cool weather with intermittent rains will continue in the capital region until the end of the week, Aleksey Lyakhov, general director of the Hydrometeorological Bureau of Moscow and the Moscow Region, told Interfax on Wednesday. According to him, next night another cyclone will approach Moscow, which will bring precipitation. From one to three millimeters of precipitation may fall in the capital on Thursday night, another 3-5 mm on Thursday afternoon.

Analysts at Forrester Research on Tuesday predicted a sharp drop in CD sales on the grounds that audio and video files reaching audiences via the Internet are much more popular. Analysts estimate that 20% of Americans are using file-sharing systems, and half of them say they are buying fewer CDs. In total, Forrester interviewed six thousand people.

Sylvester Stallone's mother Jacqueline Stallone is exploring the possibility of filming a remake of Sergei Eisenstein's film Battleship Potemkin in Odessa. According to Interfax, this is Stallone's second trip to Odessa over the past year, whose grandmother Roza Leibovich is from this seaside city. Jacqueline Stallone noted that the purpose of her current visit to Odessa is to study the possibilities of filming a remake based on the famous film by Sergei Eisenstein.

Photo by ar On September 3, about 8.10 Moscow time, an explosion occurred in an electric train that came from Kislovodsk to mineral waters. According to RIA Novosti, citing the press service of the Governor of Stavropol, 6 people were killed, 39 were injured.

On Wednesday, special security units and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Abkhazia killed in the village of Kindgi, Ochamchira district, a Georgian prisoner Gervasi Dzhologua, who had escaped from a pre-trial detention center. According to PRIMA, Dzhologua was taken prisoner by the Abkhazians two years ago, during a raid by Ruslan Gelaev's detachment. On April 7, he escaped along with 9 prisoners sentenced to death from the Sukhumi detention center and hid in the Ochamchira district.

Yuri Kopylov. Photo from the site www.vladnews.ru On Wednesday in Vladivostok, a decision of the City Commission introduced emergency in connection with water supply. This was reported by RIA "Novosti" with reference to the press service of the city administration. For control and quick response, a headquarters in an emergency is created, which will work without days off. A hot telephone line was created for the city residents. Vladivostok is needed daily, 400 thousand cubic meters of water.

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the treatment facilities of Rostov-on-Don, RIA Novosti reports. The head of state, accompanied by director of the municipal unitary enterprise "Vodokanal" Boris Persidsky and the first vice-governor of the Rostov region Ivan Stanislavov, walked along the chain of treatment facilities, where a full cycle of water purification takes place. Stanislavov told the president about the technology and stages of purification.

Photo by ar The United States intends to offer the UN to create multinational forces to maintain order and security in Iraq. It is reported by Reuters with reference to senior sources. In return, Washington is ready to share a little political power in this country. Also, giving power operations to the UN troops, the Americans want to leave their command with these forces. All these proposals will be smoked in the draft new UN Security Council resolution.