476 2 minutes. ... You can get $5 million for a broken toilet Photo: AP An undomesticated toilet poses a serious health threat One New Yorker filed a lawsuit against the city after the toilet he sat on broke. The man claims that he suffered a serious spinal injury and demands $5 million in compensation. The statement of claim states that the victim has to undergo a special rehabilitation course and is forced to spend 20 minutes with a doctor every morning before work.

Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation Mikhail Fradkov 371 1 min. ... received on Saturday US Presidential Assistant for National Security Condoleezza Rice, who arrived in Moscow on a visit (see page 10); held a traditional meeting with members of the Russian Security Council on Saturday.

AvtoVAZ survived the crisis with profit 306 2 minutes. ... OJSC AvtoVAZ announced financial results for the first quarter. The car plant's net profit increased 262.5 times compared to the same period last year: from 8 million to 2.1 billion rubles. According to analysts, the result of 2.1 billion rubles is a normal figure for the auto giant, and they consider last year’s figure catastrophic.

675 11 min. ... Pension growth zone Last year, the financial indicators of the non-state pension funds (NPF) market as a whole doubled. However, at the same time, the funds' annual reports showed the heterogeneity of the pension market: its twenty leaders are strengthening their presence at the top, mid-level funds are suffering losses, and former outsiders are increasing their performance by thousands of percent.

On May 17, about 200 employees of luxury hotels organized a protest on the Croisette. As RIA Novosti learned, the protesters demanded an increase in wages, as well as compliance with labor laws. The demonstration was a continuation of the action started by employees of the Carlton, where the chairman of the film festival jury, director Quentin Tarantino, lives.

The prosecutor's office asks the chairman of the arbitration court of the Bashk Republic to respond 220 2 minutes. ... The prosecutor's office asks the chairman of the arbitration court of the Republic of Bashkortostan to respond disappearance As Kommersant learned, late on Friday evening an extraordinary event occurred in Ufa: the office of the Chairman of the Arbitration Court of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Fanil Safin, was sealed and placed under heavy security.

318 4 min. ... The oil situation, which the president of any oil-producing country can dream of, has become a source of many problems for Vladimir Putin, says Vlast columnist Dmitry Butrin. And at the end of the president’s first term, it gave rise to a conflict that shook the foundations of his power. Of course, high oil prices mean almost no problems with filling the budget.

Nursultan Nazarbayev will serve a fourth term 1K 8 min. ... power struggle Last Friday, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev announced for the first time that he intends to participate in the new presidential elections in 2006. Speaking on national television, he said that he sees his mission as strengthening the state and increasing the well-being of its citizens. Despite accusations of corruption and suppression of the opposition, Mr.

321 1 min. ... On Saturday, during a visit to Romania, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said that Georgia does not intend to apologize to Council of Europe Secretary General Walter Schwimmer. “Walter Schwimmer will receive a proper response in the elections for the Secretary General of the Council of Europe (elections will take place in June.—Kommersant). Georgia does not intend to apologize.

59 6 min. ... FRIENDSHIP FAILED THE HEAD OF WEB Chairman of the Board of Vnesheconombank Vladimir Chernukhin may leave his post in the near future. Information that Russian President Vladimir Putin could sign the corresponding order within a month appeared last week. The main reason is Chernukhin's closeness to former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov.

May 17 27 1 min. ... Ordinary shares of Gaisky GOK OJSC will be added to the RTS Board. The deadline for shareholders of Kirovenergo OJSC, recorded in the register as of February 12 and who do not agree with the reorganization of the company, to submit applications for the sale of company shares. Extraordinary meeting of shareholders of OJSC "Siberian-Ural Aluminum Company". May 18 The Board of Directors of OJSC MGTS will give a recommendation on dividends to the annual meeting of shareholders.

agenda 3K 5 minutes. ... Last Saturday, Vladimir Putin received Prime Minister of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych in Novo-Ogarevo. At the same time, before the eyes of Kommersant special correspondent ANDREY KOLESNIKOV, who spent almost the entire day in Novo-Ogarevo, dramatic events, without exaggeration, took place on the front porch of the presidential residence. On Saturday the Novo-Ogarevo dacha was crowded.

presentation 335 3 min. ... A dinner was held in the VIP room of the National Hotel in honor of the launch of the soft drink Tszyu, named after the famous boxer Konstantin Tszyu. The athlete himself came to Moscow for a short time for this occasion. Friends missed Konstantin so much that they took him to Moscow restaurants for a week - every evening a company of eminent guests led by Mr. Tszyu himself provided a month’s revenue for prestigious Moscow establishments.

112 10 min. ... Night shift drummers Photo: PAVEL SMERTIN, Kommersant The nightclub opens before sunset and closes after noon. But it's always dark there Life in the capital does not stop for a second: when the lights go out in the windows of the residential areas, the lights come on in numerous nightlife establishments. Night dwellers have their own laws and their own ways of earning and spending. Which ones exactly, Dengi correspondent Kirill Soleimazov tried to find out.

210 7 min. ... Oil alchemy Photo: AP Until 1973, oil was the symbol of wealth for individual American tycoons. In 1973, it became a national disaster in the United States, and after that - a symbol of the wealth of individual Arab sheikhs. OPEC price The state of the oil market in the 50s can safely be called ideal for importers of this raw material.