President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma ordered the government to resolve the issue of increasing monetary rewards for Ukrainian peacekeepers in Iraq by April 1, Gazeta.ru reports citing Interfax. The government is also obliged to expedite the implementation of the instructions of the President of the country on assigning the status of participants in hostilities to the Ukrainian military.

The plenipotentiary representative of the President of Russia in the Volga Federal District, Sergei Kiriyenko, said that "in order to prepare and hold the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the birth of St.

Salome Zurabashvili-Kashia, who was the French ambassador to Georgia in 1993-1994, has been appointed the new Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, RIA Novosti reports. The decree was signed on Saturday by Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. By another decree, Salome Zurabashvili-Kashia was granted dual citizenship.

On Saturday, St. Petersburg celebrates the 150th anniversary of the publication of Turgenev's story "Mumu", ITAR-TASS reports. A memorial plaque will be installed at the entrance to the literary cafe, which is named after the heroine of Turgenev's story. Besides, certificates of honor "For the human relation to a dog" will be handed over.

Gennady Seleznev. Photo from the site www.ng.ru The leader of the Russian Renaissance party, State Duma deputy Gennady Seleznev proposed renaming the Congress of the Patriots of Russia, who was taking place on Saturday in the capital, to Free Russia.

Explosions were again heard in Baghdad on Friday, Sky News reports. At least two explosions are reported. According to witnesses, sounds characteristic of projectiles being fired were heard. According to a representative of the US military, there is no information about the damage caused by the explosions, and about possible victims.

On Saturday, an unknown gas was sprayed at the Shabolovskaya metro station in Moscow, Ekho Moskvy reports. According to eyewitnesses, in its smell and effect, the gas is similar to tear gas. The station is temporarily open for exit only. At about 4:30 pm, two people broke a Cheryomukha gas canister and threw it at people who were driving down the opposite escalator. Several people were poisoned. They received help on the spot. There are no hospitalized.

Early on Saturday morning, the corpse of a native of Ukraine was found on the Moscow-Kyiv highway, Gazeta.Ru reports. According to the Department of Civil Defense for the Kursk region, the body was found near the village of Selino, Dmitrievsky district, Kursk region, on the side of the road. He was found by one of the drivers and immediately reported to the police.

Estonia and Russia emblems. Images from the site Goraldika.ru. Estonia sent two Russian diplomats quoted by the Eesti Paevaleht Interfax. The Estonian Foreign Ministry last Wednesday ordered the diplomats to leave the country within 48 hours. According to the newspaper, one diplomat left Estonia on Thursday, the other on Friday. This was reported by Gazeta.ru.

Gerhard Schroeder. Photo by ar German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder demanded that the UN Security Council of the UN Security Council in the near future again consider the issue of providing Germany with a sixth permanent place in this body. According to Rosbalt, citing the DPA news agency, Schroeder said this, speaking at the grand opening of the new Berlin Academy of Security Policy.

The search for a French traveler who tried to reach the North Pole alone on skis has stopped in the Arctic, AFP reports. Dominique Arden launched on March 5 from the coast of Siberia (the exact place is not indicated), and since March 6, communication with her was interrupted.

On Friday, the Estonian security police announced the arrest of the director of the Rakvere granary, Vladimir Semyonov, who is suspected of stealing a third of the country's state grain reserve. According to RIA "Novosti" with reference to the words of the press secretary of the security police Henno Kuuman, Semyonov himself came to the police together with his lawyer. He did not leave for Russia, as reported by the Estonian media, but was in Estonia.

On Saturday, it became known that a 12-year-old child died of influenza in Vietnam. According to the BBC, the boy died of the H5N1 strain, a type of bird flu that is fatal to humans. Now representatives of the Vietnamese health service are investigating how the infection occurred and whether the rest of the family members of the deceased are sick. After the death of a twelve-year-old boy, the number of victims of bird flu around the world in the past year has reached 24 people.

Russian President Vladimir Putin regards the events in Kosovo as ethnic cleansing against Serbs, RIA Novosti reports. "Russia cannot look indifferently at what is happening there. According to our Western colleagues, this is nothing but ethnic cleansing. There must be an appropriate tough reaction. In this case, in defense of the Serbs," the head of the Russian state said at the traditional meeting on Saturday.

Anti -war demonstration in Calcutta. Photo by ar Thousands of demonstrators take part in protest marches around the world, BBC reports. Demonstrations are held in the UK, Italy and Spain - the governments of these countries supported the war. The most large -scale rallies are organized in the USA. Several tens of thousands of people entered the streets of London. They passed from the Hyde Park and hold a rally on Trafalgar Square.