Pope John Paul II on Thursday appointed Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran as his special representative to travel to Moscow to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the reorganization of the Latin Rite Catholic Church in Russia , which will take place May 25-27, RIA Novosti reports. Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran holds the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Vatican .

The meeting between Vladimir Putin and George Bush is planned for mid-June in Slovenia. As reported by ABC television, a senior White House representative in Washington, who wished to remain anonymous, told reporters. The meeting between the presidents of Russia and the United States will take place at the end of George W. Bush's trip to Europe, scheduled for June 12-16, during which the American president will visit Spain, Belgium, Poland and Sweden.

Due to the Moscow Luzhniki Marathon and the stage of the Moscow-Luzhniki Marathon Super Cup, vehicular traffic will be closed tomorrow morning. According to Interfax, traffic will be stopped at 9:30, and restored as the participants of the competition pass.

As the Netoscope agency reports , citing a source close to the presidential administration, the Kremlin is considering the candidacy of one of the largest computer businessmen in Russia, President of IBS Anatoly Karachinsky, for the post of Minister of Communications and Information.

A Turkish military transport plane crashed near Ankara. According to local television company NTV, cited by Reuters, the plane crashed near a military base. There were 4 people on board, among whom were Spanish technicians. They all died. The leadership of the country's Air Force has not yet confirmed this information. This is the second military aircraft accident in Turkey this week. Three days ago, a similar plane crash killed 34 people.

The administrative court in Lyon on Thursday evening overturned the football federation's decision to deduct points from the club in connection with the passport scandal. Let us remind you that Saint-Etienne was deprived of seven points for the participation of footballers with fake passports of EU member states - Brazilians Alex and Aloysio and Ukrainian Maxim Levitsky - in its squad in championship matches.

On Friday around noon, famous businessman Akop Yuzbashev was killed in the Moscow region. At approximately 12:30, near the village of Lesnoy, Pushkinsky district, Akop Yuzbashev, accompanied by a bodyguard, was driving his Mercedes-600 towards Moscow. Suddenly, the path of the foreign car was blocked by a green VAZ-2103 car. At the same time, an unknown person opened fire from a firearm from the bushes near the road. Akop Yuzbashev died on the spot from his injuries.

The amount of 10 thousand dollars is the maximum possible fine that can be imposed under ATP rules. Accordingly, the offense must be quite significant. What did the Chilean do to be subject to such sanctions? It all started at a players' party in Rome at the end of last week's Italian Open Masters tournament. Having drunk too much, he began to openly hooliganism, quite violently and without the slightest hint of humor or harmlessness.

Employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations recorded a sharp decline in water in the city of Lensk, ITAR-TASS reports. By 14:00 Moscow time, the water level had dropped by more than one and a half meters and reached 18 meters 52 centimeters. According to the task force, every 10 minutes the water drops by 10-15 centimeters. Experts attribute this to the fact that they managed to break part of a large ice jam a hundred kilometers downstream of the Lena River.

A homemade device exploded in a popular city park in Medellin, Colombia. This upscale part of the city is home to many restaurants and nightclubs. As a result, at least six people were killed and another 50 were injured. According to Reuters, the bomb was planted in a car. According to preliminary estimates by experts, the weight of the dynamite was about 20 kg.

A powerful explosion occurred in a large shopping center in the city of Netanya, 30 km north of Tel Aviv. According to preliminary data, five people were killed and about 30 were injured, Reuters reports, citing Israeli radio. However, there is no official information on the number of victims yet. According to witnesses, the explosion in a crowded shopping center was very powerful.

The Yak-40 plane carrying Iranian officials that went missing in Iran the day before belonged to the Armenian Airlines company. According to AiF-Novosti, the plane was rented by the Iranian side and was flown by an Armenian crew. The agency also provides information about the technical condition of the aircraft, according to which it underwent a full technical inspection in Yerevan about 2 months ago.

The Taganrog Automobile Plant, part of the Doninvest financial and industrial group, has begun assembling the first Hyundai Accent cars from components from the South Korean company Hyundai. According to a representative of the group, the company plans to assemble a trial batch of several dozen vehicles by the end of May.

The Georgian government has allocated almost 1.5 million dollars (3 million lari) from the budget to stimulate the production and export of tea. According to Georgian Finance Minister Zurab Nogaideli, these funds were distributed during a tender, the results of which were summed up by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the republic this week. Budget funds were divided into 60 lots of 50 thousand lari each.

The signing of a contract for lifting the Kursk nuclear submarine from the bottom of the Barents Sea, scheduled for May 18 in Moscow, may not take place - this opinion was expressed live by Rear Admiral Yuri Senatsky, a former USSR Navy specialist in rescue and ship-lifting operations.