Vladimir Putin refused to come to the Istanbul NATO summit, Reuters reports. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will go to Turkey instead. A high-ranking representative of the alliance told reporters about this. However, negotiations are still underway with Moscow, and no official notification has yet been received about whether the Russian president will go to the summit or not.

In the United States, on Memorial Day, May 30, the last widow of a Civil War veteran died at the age of 98. Alberta Martin died at a nursing home in Enterprise, Alabama, the Associated Press reported. In 1927, Martin, a single widow with a child, met her husband, 81-year-old Confederate Army veteran William Jasper Martin. They married and ten months later their son William was born.

Leonid Parfenov, the author and host of the Namedni program, who was fired from NTV, said that he does not know what he will do next and will simply rest for now, Interfax reports . The journalist has already received job offers, but has not yet seriously discussed anything. The further fate of the “Country and World” program he invented is also unknown to him. “It’s out of my control right now,” he explained. Parfenov has not yet seen the order for his dismissal.

The State Duma adopted in the first reading the draft law "On the referendum of the Russian Federation", introduced by Russian President Vladimir Putin. With the required 300 votes, this document was supported by 344 deputies, including 305 deputies from the United Russia party. The adoption of the bill was opposed by the Communists and the Rodina faction, ITAR-TASS reports . The new bill significantly tightens the procedure for preparing a popular vote.

Parfenism Why the NTV channel fired Leonid Parfenov If anyone still doubted that there is no longer freedom of speech in Russia, then the latest events on the NTV channel have finally put the skeptics to shame.

The Central Bank refused to accept setting the minimum authorized capital for Russian banks at 5 million euros, RBC reports. First Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank Andrei Kozlov stated this at a press conference in St. Petersburg.

The majority of Americans, according to recent studies, are “satisfied with their lives.” They are satisfied with almost everything: the laws in the country, the president, the way the police work, and the way the army fights. According to The Washington Times, 56 percent of US residents believe their lives have improved significantly over the past five years, and 68 percent believe their lives will be even better in the next five years.

The United Russia party, which has a majority in the Russian State Duma, is preparing a nationalization bill, the radio station Ekho Moskvy reports . According to one of the party leaders, Oleg Morozov, this document does not provide for a complete revision of the results of privatization, but only the nationalization of some companies for reasons of economic feasibility. The law will allow the state to return ownership of enterprises and companies that operate inefficiently.

At least four people were killed and several others were injured as a result of an explosion that occurred on the outskirts of Baghdad, according to the Sky News website. According to some reports, a bomb exploded in a car parked on a street in the northern suburbs of the Iraqi capital. This is not the first such incident to occur in Baghdad this week. A series of seven explosions occurred in the Iraqi capital on Tuesday, killing 36 people.

A new attack on foreigners has been carried out in the capital of Saudi Arabia. Several Americans were shot at on Wednesday morning, Reuters reports. According to preliminary data, no one was injured. An official at the US Embassy in Riyadh said he did not know under what circumstances the attack occurred. Meanwhile, the Sky News website reports that machine gun fire was opened on a car driving away from a residential complex where American soldiers live.

The three-thousandth anniversary concert of Paul McCartney, which will take place on June 20 on Palace Square in St. Petersburg, will not be filmed by any Russian or foreign channel, Interfax reports . Despite the fact that the musician’s management received many similar requests from television people, their requests were not satisfied.

The head coach of the Russian national football team, Georgy Yartsev, named the team composition for the European Championship starting on June 12. The team has three goalkeepers, five defenders, 11 midfielders and four forwards. Georgy Yartsev called on fans and specialists not to bury the team ahead of time, RIA Novosti reports . “Anything can happen in football, especially since all the players are ready for the tournament,” said the head coach.

A scientist from the University of Aberdeen (Scotland), Robert Gordon, announced to the entire global student community that soon all sites containing student work will come under strict control, which will make it possible to identify fans of plagiarism. According to BBC News, copyright advocates have at their disposal a newly developed hardware and software complex, the Turnitin tool, that can simultaneously check the work of 800 million web pages containing more than 4.5 billion abstracts.

The striker of the Italian Milan and the Ukrainian national team Andrei Shevchenko left the national team preparing for a friendly match with the French for family reasons. The head coach of the Ukrainian national team, Oleg Blokhin, refused to give any comments on this matter, and the president of the Ukrainian Football Federation, Grigory Surkis, said that Shevchenko had flown to Milan, dynamo.kiev.ua reports.

Iraqi compromise How the president, prime minister and government of Iraq were appointed On June 1, 30 days before the planned transfer of power over Iraq to the hands of the Interim Iraqi Government and several days later than expected, the names of those who would join it became known. Until now, the process of forming the Iraqi cabinet has caused nothing but suspicion. Some observers argued that the president, vice president, and all ministers would be appointed by the Americans.