A strong earthquake hit the Indian Ocean off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Earthquakes measuring 8.2 on the Richter scale were recorded Monday evening northwest of Jakarta, the US Geological Survey said. The quake's epicenter was close to where the devastating tsunami struck in December, a spokesman for the service said. According to CNN, there is a threat of a tsunami. An evacuation warning has been issued. "Of course there should be an evacuation.

President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko is ready to meet during his visit to the United States with the former bodyguard of ex-president Kuchma Nikolai Melnichenko. Yushchenko stated this on Tuesday at a press conference in Kyiv, the Novosti-Ukraine agency reports. "I am ready to meet with Melnichenko if the need arises," he stressed. According to the head of state, "the matter must be brought to its logical end.

Askar Akayev. Photo from Newsru.com Ex-president of Kyrgyzstan, Askar Akayev, agrees to negotiate with the new government of the republic. However, as a legitimate government, he recognizes only the parliament of the new convocation, and as a partner in negotiations he sees his speaker. He stated this on Tuesday in an interview with Echo of Moscow. However, he stated that he was not going to resign.

In Belarus, a suspect in the terrorist attacks on Dubrovka and Budyonnovsk was detained. According to RIA Novosti, this was reported on Monday by the Belarusian state television.

Education and Science Minister Andrey Fursenko is in favor of abolishing university admission privileges for silver and gold medalists, RIA Novosti reports. "I believe that the system of privileges for medalists is not the best system. Gold and silver medals are far from always an objective assessment of the quality of schoolchildren's education," Fursenko said, speaking at the Pyatigorsk State Linguistic University.

Oil company "Yukos" withdrew from the court in Texas a lawsuit against five Western banks, which appeared earlier in the dismissed bankruptcy case of the company, reports RIA "Novosti". In a six-page "electronic" notice filed on Monday in federal bankruptcy court for the Southern District of Texas in Houston, Yukos notified the court of its decision to strike ABN AMRO Bank NV, BNP Paribas, Calyon, JP Morgan Chase Bank, NA and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein.

The Prosecutor General's Office sent a motion to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to bring the Minister of Internal Affairs of Bashkiria, Rafail Divaev, to responsibility "for mass violations of the law and violation of the constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens in Blagoveshchensk." Sergey Gerasimov, Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation in the Volga Federal District, announced this on Tuesday, RIA Novosti reports.

Boris Berezovsky. Photo by ar All materials collected by the former officer of the Ukrainian special services Nikolai Melnichenko will become the public. This was announced in an interview with Granam.ru by Boris Berezovsky. “My position is extremely simple,” said the entrepreneur. “We continue to investigate the crimes of the Kuchma regime. And everything we know will become the public - in Ukraine, in Russia, in the West. All the materials collected by Melnichenko are with us.

Askar Akayev. Photo from the official website of the President of Kyrgyzstan The President of Kyrgyzstan, Askar Akayev, who left the republic last Thursday after the mass speeches of the opposition supporters in Bishkek, now lives in one of the sanatoriums of the Moscow Region. As Gazeta.ru reports with reference to Interfax, this became known on Monday from the "informed source". There is no confirmation of this information from official Russian structures.

Adviser to the head of RAO "UES of Russia" Valery Pasat, arrested in Moldova, ends his hunger strike, RIA Novosti reports. This was announced by Pasat's lawyer Georgiy Amihalakioae. According to him, Pasata persuaded his mother to give up the hunger strike during a meeting on Monday evening. Valery Pasat was detained at the Chisinau airport on March 11, and on March 12 he went on a hunger strike.

Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev in the dock of the defendants of the Meshchansky court of Moscow. Image from the website of the press center Mikhail Khodor The state prosecution asks the court to sentenced the ex-head of Yukos Mikhail Khodorkovsky and the head of the Menatep group Plato Lebedev to ten years in prison of everyone, RIA Novosti reports.

Police Baku. Photo from the site www.lenta.ru The opposition of Azerbaijan intends to start joint protest in the country in the coming days. According to Echo of Moscow, the leaders of several opposition parties, in particular, the "Popular Front of Azerbaijan", "Musavat" and the Democratia, reached an agreement on the beginning of joint actions. The specific terms of the protest shall be agreed the other day. It is planned that the first joint shares will be held in early April.

Entrepreneur Arkady Gaydamak instructed his lawyers to prepare a $100 million lawsuit against Kommersant Publishing House. According to Finmarket, this is stated in the press release of Gaydamak's representative. It notes that the lawsuit will be filed in connection with the publication in the newspaper of the article "The Hapoalim case reached Luxembourg", which, according to Gaydamak's representative, is not true.

National Bolsheviks in the 'captured' building of the Ministry of Health. NTV frame from Newsru.com The Moscow City Court reduced for two and a half years the terms of punishment by the NBP activists, who previously received 5 years in prison for the capture of the building of the Ministry of Health, RIA Novosti reports.

Dmitry Kozak. Frame of Channel One Since 2006, a significant part of the powers of the federal center will be transferred to the liability zone of governors. According to Gzt.ru, this was announced by the presidential envoy in the Southern District Dmitry Kozak following a meeting of the Council of Heads of County City Councils. Kozak proposes to provide governors with broad powers, namely, to transfer 48 out of 58 functions to them, which perform federal structures in the field.