Former US Vice-President Albert Mountains said he would not participate in the upcoming presidential election. “I decided that I will not be a candidate in the 2004 elections,” the mountains said in an interview with CBS. He said that his refusal to participate in the 2004 elections also means that he "probably will no longer have the opportunity to" ever participate in the race for the White House, RIA Novosti reports.

16 new lawsuits against the Moscow Government with a demand for compensation for damage, as expected, will be filed on Monday in the Tver court by former hostages and relatives of those who died as a result of a terrorist attack in the theater center at Dubrovka at the end of October. "Today, 16 claims will be filed in the Tver inter -municipal court, about 20 claims of the former hostages and relatives of those who died as a result of the Dubrovka attack.

U.S. President George Bush has appointed the former Governor of New Jersey Thomas Kin today the head of an independent commission created by the administration to investigate the circumstances of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Its head, former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, last Friday left this post because of a number of public and business circles of doubts about his ability to combine business interests with new duties.

The US Department of Defense allocated Raytheon and TRW (recently included in the Northrop Grumman Corporation) $ 48 million for the development of a firm laser with a capacity of 25 kW. Financing is carried out as part of the Joint High-Power Solid-State Laser (JHPSSL) program, the purpose of which is to create a solid-state laser with a capacity of about 100 kW. According to the terms of the contract, Raytheon and TRW must submit prototypes of their lasers by the end of 2004.

The head of state continues to receive questions, to which Vladimir Putin will answer Thursday, December 19 on the air of Channel One, the Rossiya TV channel, on the Mayak and Radio of Russia . According to data from the Unified Telephone Center for Messages, at 10 a.m. on December 16, 449 thousand 387 calls have already been received and processed. In peak times, the density of calls reaches six per second. Calls that operators do not have time to accept are recorded on an answering machine.

More than 100.3 thousand Japanese have already signed official statements that in the event of an incurable and painful illness, they would like to voluntarily die with the help of a doctor. This was announced today by Tokyo actively acting here "society for death with dignity." Its main goal is to achieve the adoption of legislation permitting euthanasia - the killing of a hopeless patient to stop his suffering.

In the Khamovnichesky inter -municipal court, the capital on Monday will continue to proceed with the claim of the musicians of the Krematoria group against their former colleague Viktor Troegubov and the Lean Publishing House.

The State Customs Committee of Russia categorically refuted the messages of some media and the supposedly intentional delay in customs clearance of goods from Denmark.

372 children were invited to Moscow to celebrate the new, 2003, year of the metropolitan government. Children from the districts affected by floods in the south of Russia and the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, children of the Black Sea and Northern Navy Fleets of Russia will come to the capital. Those whose parents died in the performance of official duties, and children from the families of dead miners from the CIS and Baltic countries, ITAR-TASS reports.

In the northern capital, the financial director of the Road-Construction company, reserve, Evgeny Denisov, died by the hand of Killer. As the Rosbalt IA in law enforcement agencies was told, the murder occurred at about 13:00 at the house 11 in Pirogov Lane, where the company's office is located. According to preliminary data, the killer shot twice to Evgenia Denisov from the weapon unidentified so far. Presumably, the killer was waiting for his victim in the gateway next to the entrance.

Members of the expert commission who conducted a psychological and psychiatric examination against Colonel Yuri Budanov will announce their opinion in court in the absence of the defendant. About this at a court hearing on Monday was asked by the chairman of the commission Valery Krasnov. According to him, this requirement is based on Article 57 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, guaranteeing human health.

The Tver inter-municipal court of Moscow today adopted for consideration of 16 more claims from the victims in the case of the seizure of hostages in the theater center on Dubrovka on October 23-26, ITAR-TASS reports. According to the lawyer Igor Trunov, who represented the interests of the victims, the claims of 450 thousand to $ 1.5 million were filed for nine more former hostages and seven relatives of the dead hostages.

The well-known Aquarists, a brightly painted zybra fish presented a real surprise scientists. A small zibra fish , which got its name due to an unusual color, has an amazing property. As the experts of the medical institution of Howard Hughes established, it is able to completely regenerate the heart tissue and is the only well -known today capable of such vertebrates. This discovery can significantly help in the development of new methods of treatment in cardiology, ITAR-TASS reports.

Vote "not for the empty slogans of candidates, but for their practical affairs" in the upcoming December 22 elections of the President of the country and local authorities, the conference of Bishops of Lithuania today called on the believers, ITAR-TASS reports. "It is not easy to evaluate what is hidden under the cover of beautiful slogans, the performances of the election campaign.

In the conflict between the leadership of Iraq and the Lukoil oil company, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation intervened around the terminated contract for the development of the Oil Field of the Russian Federation.