Belarusian special services detained a US citizen. This was announced by the press secretary of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry Pavel Latushko, Interfax reports. According to him, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry sent a notification of the detention of a US citizen to the US diplomatic mission in Minsk. The United States Embassy confirmed this fact, but declined to comment. The KGB of Belarus will soon provide the media with information about the arrest. RELATED LINKS

The enterprise for the production of platinum group metals was located in the hangar of one of the closed joint-stock companies, RIA Novosti reports. According to Valery Surovtsev, an employee of the Krasnoyarsk regional department for combating organized crime, the mini-plant was well kept under wraps. It “worked smokeless, silent and odorless,” although the technological process actively used nitric acid and other chemicals.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad did not make anti-Semitic remarks at a recent meeting with Pope John Paul II. The Syrian head of state stated this on Thursday in an interview with the French TV channel France 2, reports France Presse. “In my speech before the Pope, I spoke not about racism, but about the values ​​of religions.

Artem Derepasko made it to the main draw from the qualifying competitions. In men's singles, he joined fourth seed Marat Safin, Evgeny Kafelnikov (7), Mikhail Yuzhny and Andrei Stolyarov. Except for Derepasko, who will play with Briton Tim Henman in the first round. Austrian Julian Naul, who will meet with Safin, and Korean Yun Il Yoon, who will face Kafelnikov, also made it into the main draw.

Today can be called a “coaching day” without exaggeration. On Friday, three teams found new coaches. First it became known that Hector Cuper would now coach Inter from Milan. Then the Mexicans decided who would lead the national team out of the crisis. And now the Georgians have solved a similar problem. Alexander Chivadze, ex-captain of the Soviet Union national team, agreed to become the new head coach of the team. Chivadze (b.

The general contractor for the organization of technical work for raising the nuclear submarine Kursk, the Dutch company Mammoet, has begun negotiations with DSDN (UK) about the participation of its deep-sea divers in the operation to evacuate the Russian submarine. However, Mammoet PR manager Larissa van Someren has not yet announced a possible date for signing a contract with the British.

Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy Vladimir Kuroyedov said today that reports about a new nuclear submarine going to sea are not true.

Today, Berlin's largest newspaper Berliner Zeitung criticized the top German leadership for their attitude to today's memorable date, NTV reports. In an article entitled “Second-Class Memory of Schröder,” the newspaper, in particular, quotes words from the speech of the German Chancellor on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the attack of Nazi Germany on the Soviet Union.

One of the main tasks of modern world politics is to unite to fight the threats that already really exist. This was stated by President Vladimir Putin in his Address to Russian citizens on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the start of the Great Patriotic War. As the head of state emphasized, “big wars do not arise on their own. They flare up from local ones.” That is why, Vladimir Putin said, it is important to join forces to combat the threats that currently exist.

According to the statements of the German scientist Dr. Wilhelm Scheinzer, he found a direct connection between positive test results for the presence of the prohibited drug nandrolorne in the blood and the use of dietary products. Perhaps this discovery will partly explain the sharp increase in the number of doping scandals that has taken place recently. Scheinzer works at the Institute of Biochemistry of the German Sports University in Cologne.

The Moscow International Film Festival has begun screening a program of competitive films. The jury, headed by the outstanding German director Margarethe von Trotta, will watch them together with the audience in the Pushkinsky cinema and concert hall, where this film forum opened for the 23rd time yesterday. The competition opens with the film from India “Prudence” directed by Jayaraj. This is the story of two friends who grew up in the same village but are separated by politics.

Terrorists from the Abu Sayyaf group, who are holding more than two dozen people hostage on the island of Basilan, today promised to release three of their captives. They are all Filipinos. According to the mediator in the negotiations with the militants, Abu Sayyaf representative Abu Sabaya told him about this. The names of the hostages have not been released.

The Russian government excludes the possibility of arresting French Mirages in Lipetsk as a retaliatory step for similar actions against Russian aircraft presented at the international air show in Le Bourget. Informed sources in the Russian cabinet of ministers reported this to RIA Novosti . “We are civilized people and we will not take such actions,” the agency’s interlocutor emphasized.

Since the morning of June 22, all units of law enforcement agencies in the region have been transferred to an enhanced version of duty, Interfax reports. This is due to preparations for the visit of John Paul II, who arrives in Ukraine on June 23. The strengthened version involves an increase in the number of operational search groups and employees in them, as well as increased patrolling at night. On June 24, about 3 thousand policemen from ten regions of Ukraine will arrive in Lviv.

On Wednesday, June 27, deliveries of construction materials and necessary goods to the flood-affected areas of Yakutia should begin. This decision was made today at a meeting of the Interdepartmental Commission for the Prevention and Elimination of Emergency Situations, which was chaired by the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations Sergei Shoigu.