The bourgeois inter -municipal court of the capital on Wednesday will announce a sentence in the criminal case of the former head of the Krasnoyarsk aluminum plant (KrAZ) Anatoly Bykov, RIA Novosti reports. He is accused of the prosecutor's office of the North-Western District of Moscow in organizing the custom-made murder of entrepreneur Vilor Struganov, better known in certain circles under the nickname Pasha Tsvetzizka. The investigation also incriminates Bykov illegal storage of weapons.

The monument to the current Pope, the opening of which is scheduled in Lviv on June 25, still did not pass the customs procedure, was announced at a press conference in Lviv. It is reported by "Interfax-Ukraine." The sculpture depicting John Paul II was sent from Munich, where it was made, to the regional administration as a regular load, and therefore, for it, in accordance with Ukrainian laws, it is necessary to pay a fee that constitutes a certain percentage of its total cost.

The video soldier, secretly withdrawn by prisoners in the prison of the South African Republic, which captures the facts of the sale of drugs, weapons and young prisoners for sexual pleasures of local authorities, was shown on public television on Tuesday evening, reports Reuters .

US President George Bush on Tuesday again met with the leaders of Congress in connection with the creation of the Ministry of Internal Security. On the same day, the White House transferred the draft appropriate bill to Congress, reports NTV-International .

The Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Mikhail Kasyanov instructed the Minister of Transport Sergei Frank to prepare Russian icebreakers so that they could come to the aid of the Russian Antarctic expedition, which is located on Magdalena Oldendorf blocked by ice. Kasyanov gave such an instruction on Wednesday at a meeting of the Maritime Collegium after a communication session with the head of the Russian Antarctic expedition Vyacheslav Martianov, Interfax reports.

A group of pimps, operating in the north of the country, was arrested in the Czech Republic, RIA Novosti reports. According to the police press center, as a result of a special operation, five people were arrested by employees of the Department for Combating Organized Crime, including two women. The forensics believe that hundreds of prostitutes passed through the hands of criminals, and their profit is estimated at several million Czech crowns.

The Moscow City Duma at a meeting on Wednesday, when discussing in the third reading of the administrative liability bill for violation of silence at night, adopted an amendment, according to which, from January 1, 2004, the operation of vehicles equipped with protective sound alarms is prohibited in the capital. At the meeting, the author of the amendment, deputy Alexander Krutov, noted that over two and a few years, the already installed security alarm devices will develop a warranty resource.

Entrepreneur from Moscow German Sterligov intends to participate in the elections of the Governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Interfax reports. He submitted the corresponding notification to the election commission on Wednesday. His candidacy was nominated by a group of voters.

The Israeli media are discussing today the information that US President George Bush learned about one of the most bloody terrorist attacks in the history of Israel only four hours after Kamikadze blew up a passenger bus in the Jerusalem quarter. Bush was asleep, no one wanted to bother him.

The Moscow District Military Court will be sentenced in the case of the murder of the journalist of the Moscow Komsomol member Dmitry Kholodov on June 26. This was announced on Wednesday by Judge Vladimir Serdyukov, presiding on the trial. After that, the court retired to the meeting for a sentence, ITAR-TASS reports. On Monday, all 14 representatives of the defense performed in court that protect the interests of the six defendants.

The robbery of the Office of the “Euro-Asian Center for Social Research” √ the representative of the Foundation Public Opinion (FOM) in the Ural region will most likely never be disclosed. According to the "New Region" , the director of the Euro-Asian Center Sergey Statsenko shall have this opinion. The emergency occurred night from June 12 to 13. All expensive computer technology, as well as a unique party of French perfumes, was stolen from the office of the sociological service.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called on Russian entrepreneurs who keep resources in foreign banks, think about their return. Speaking on Wednesday at the congress of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Moscow, he warned that Western communities "would tighten the use of funds in offshore zones in connection with" toughening the struggle against terrorism.

AvtoVAZ has prepared a global program for updating its model range, reports Lada-Online . Gradually outdated cars will be replaced, as the leadership promises. The rear-wheel drive "classics" will be replaced by an updated car , which will be shown for the first time this summer at the Moscow Motor Show, but as already reported, it will go to the series no earlier than 2005-2006. According to Ladaonline, instead of the Samara family, the VAZ-11ZZ family is being prepared.

Another blow was waiting for the return of the veteran of the Russian national team from Japan Stanislav Cherchesov. On June 18, the independent court of Austria rejected the protest of his team Tyrol and finally deprived this club of professional license for debts. Thus, the club, in which Stanislav Cherchesov became the champion of Austria three times, will perform in the regional league.

The President of the Olympic Committee of Russia Leonid Tyagachev does not like how training of domestic football and hockey clubs and prefabricated teams were built. “As a coach with twenty years of experience in the national teams of the USSR and Russia, I advocate that in Russian sports they return to the previous tough methodology - the team’s working day should be at least 10 hours a day,” L. Tyagachev on Wednesday in an interview .