On June 21, the first seminar in the history of this organization dedicated to the problems of anti-Semitism in the world begins at the UN headquarters, Jewish.ru reports. Repeatedly, the leaders of Jewish organizations have stated that this problem is of concern to the entire international community, but is ignored by the leading international body. To highlight the UN's change of course on this issue and its importance, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan will open the one-day conference.

Exam. Photo from the site www.bryansk.fio.ru In early June, the Minister of Education and Science Andrei Fursenko promised that this year the rules for conducting a unified state exam (exam) would not change. But already after the examination by schoolchildren in mathematics, the Federal Service for Supervision of Education and Science has developed a special procedure for converting the points received at this exam.

Polish customs officers confiscated 90 of the rarest marsh turtles while trying to illegally import animals from the territory of Ukraine, RIA Novosti reports. According to the press secretary of the regional customs service, Malgorzata Eisenberger-Blacharska, the incident occurred at the Polish-Ukrainian border crossing in the town of Medyka. Turtles were transported in cruel conditions - the animals were pasted over with adhesive tape and hidden under the seats of a car.

Vladimir Putin met in the Kremlin with the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of PepsiCo. Donald Kendell and awarded him the Order of Friendship. According to RIA Novosti, the president recalled that since the first presentation of PepsiCo products. 45 years have passed in Russia.

Mark Dutra. Photo from the Air Force website The Belgian prosecutor demanded for Mark Dutra, accused of abduction and rape of minors, lifelong prison, the Air Force reports. Dutra was found guilty that in the mid-90s he headed the gang, which was abducted, kept in locker rooms and mocked six girls. Four of the stolen died.

A school teacher in the Japanese city of Fukuoka forced a student to write an explanatory note in blood. According to Reuters, the reason for this was that the 17-year-old student fell asleep in class. After that, the 40-year-old teacher took him to the office, gave him a pencil sharpener and demanded that he cut his finger and write an explanation of his behavior in blood. After she left, the student carried out the order.

As a result of a special operation in Batumi on Monday morning, 12 employees of the former personal guard of Aslan Abashidze were detained, RIA Novosti reports. Akaki Tsintsadze, head of the Adjarian department of the Georgian State Security Ministry, told journalists that several warning shots were fired in the air during a joint special operation between the Georgian Interior Ministry and the Georgian State Security Ministry, after which 12 people were detained.

On Monday, a meeting of the Moscow City Court on the case of the former leaders of Aeroflot will take place. According to Ekho Moskvy, it will consider the protest of the Prosecutor General's Office and the cassation appeal of lawyers against the verdict that was passed earlier. In their complaints, the defense asks to cancel this sentence and stop the proceedings.

Five people died and one was injured in an accident on the Moscow-Minsk highway. As RIA "Novosti" was informed in the information department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation, the accident occurred on Sunday near the settlement of Butyn (35 km southwest of the city of Odintsovo). VAZ-2109 and Mitsubishi-Galant cars collided. An investigation into the accident is underway, the Ministry of Emergency Situations noted.

NK Yukos will not sell assets that are strategically important for the company. "We are not going to sell the main assets," a source close to the company's shareholders told RIA Novosti, without specifying which assets are the main ones. At the same time, the agency's interlocutor said that the first asset to be sold is Sibneft. "It (Sibneft) cannot be called an important and our main asset," he noted.

Yukos Oil Company and the Russian Ministry of Taxes and Duties have not yet begun negotiations on the settlement of tax claims against the company, said Semyon Kukes, Chairman of the Board, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Yukos Oil Company, answering a question from RBC during a hotline.

The Moscow City Court confirmed the legality of limiting the terms for familiarizing Yukos employee Aleksey Pichugin with the materials of the criminal case. This was reported to RIA Novosti in court. Thus, the higher instance dismissed the cassation appeal of the lawyers against the decision of the Basmanny Court. On May 21, the Basmanny Court of Moscow limited the term for familiarization of Pichugin and his lawyers with the materials of his case until June 4, 2004.

In Dushanbe, the wife of the former first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Tajikistan, Tursun Uldzhabaev, Shamsia, was found murdered. This was reported to RIA Novosti by a source in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan. Tursun Uljabaev was the first secretary in 1955-1961. The 82-year-old woman was found strangled with her hands and feet tied in her apartment, the source said. The body of the deceased was discovered last Saturday evening by her daughter.

Vladimir Putin signed the law "On meetings, rallies, demonstrations, marches and pickets." This was reported on Monday by the press service of the President of Russia. The law was adopted by the State Duma on June 2, 2004 and approved by the Federation Council on June 9, 2004. According to the adopted law, pickets, rallies and other similar actions can be held at state authorities, local governments, and embassies.

Vladimir Putin signed the federal law "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation" concerning the granting of a deferment from conscription for military service to deputies and officials. This was reported by the press service of the President of Russia.