The main military prosecutor's office denied the reports that appeared in a number of media outlets about the disappearance of criminal cases from the archives of the GVP against the former state security chief of the USSR Lavrenty Beria , Soviet intelligence officer Oleg Penkovsky and some other responsible persons. At the same time, the GVP recognized that during the audit of the archives, the loss of some documents was discovered.

Today, in the St. Petersburg Diocesan Directorate of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, employees of the North-West Customs will transfer the icons seized from smugglers, reports to RIA Novosti , with reference to the information received in the press department of the North-Western Customs Administration (SZTU). The program will be attended by Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga Vladimir and the head of the SZTU, Colonel General of the Customs Service Vladimir Vyunov.

NASA National Aeronautics and Research of the Space of the United States - NASA - gave the "green light" to the "shuttle" of Columbia assigned to the space of the "shuttle". According to representatives of the American space department on Wednesday, the start of the ship from the Cosmodrome on Cape Canaveral in Florida will be produced at 10:39 in time of the east coast of the United States (at 18:39 Moscow time).

The first cases of injury to people with fallen icicles are recorded this winter in Moscow. Sources in the ambulance service were reported on Thursday that on the eve of medical help five people turned, who, according to the victims themselves, were injured by icicles and snow masses that fell from the roofs of houses. Three were aimed at hospitalization, two assistance was provided on an outpatient basis.

In the coming years, a Jewish cemetery with a ritual complex will appear in Moscow. According to Interfax, the resolution of its creation was signed by the mayor of the capital, Yuri Luzhkov. According to the information received today from sources in the city administration, this decision was made at the suggestion of the Federation of Jewish communities of Russia (Feor).

In Vilnius, the final match of the NEBL Cup ended. Kazan UNICS became the champion of the Northern Conference of the Fiba European Champions Cup, winning the Final Four of the NEBL at the Lithuanian team "Letuvos Ritas" with a score of 93:90. During the first three game segments on the site, there was a fairly equal game with a small advantage of the Russian team, which helped them create a good back in front of the last quarter.

In the famous Paris Theater "Antoine", the world premiere of the new performance of the legendary Marso Marso took place. The 80-year-old Mim presented three lyrical compositions with his new troupe-“Wandering monk”, “Masquerad ball”, and “Tiger”. In the first of them, Marso appeared in his favorite image of Bim, invented by him back in 1947, ITAR-TASS reports.

The second Easter festival under the artistic leadership of Valery Gergiev will be held in Moscow from April 27 to May 10, 2003. The city authorities made the corresponding decision, Interfax reports with reference to sources in the metropolitan administration. The organizers of the festival will be the Moscow Patriarchate, the Committee on Culture, as well as the concern OJSC of the Mass-Media system.

Great Britain began transferring its warships to the Mediterranean Sea as part of preparation for a possible military action against Iraq. On Thursday, the helicopter -bearing ship Ocean and the ARK Royal aircraft carrier should go to the location. Later, 13 more ships of the Royal Navy will join them, ITAR-TASS reports. At the naval base in Plymut, the preparation of Ocean for the campaign was completed.

In the Bay of Hertner, five kilometers from Magadan, four cars fell under the ice, ten more were stuck in an ice crack. There are no dead. According to the regional and emergency department of the region, the incident occurred last weekend, but still rescuers pull out cars stuck in ice. For these purposes, they also use a helicopter, reports Interfax.

Saudi Arabia is working on a plan for preparing a military coup in order to overthrow Saddam Hussein in order to avoid war against Iraq. This was announced on Thursday in exclusive material by the informed American weekly Time .

The Minister of Defense of South Korea Lee Zhong said that his country is ready for the development of the North Korean problem "according to the worst scenario." He noted that the army of South Korea is ready for any turn of events.

Wholesale prices for fuel from the beginning of January have risen by an average of 10%. Retail prices for automobile gasoline in Russia over the first week of the year have increased by 1.9%, which is the most significant weekly growth over the past few months. Obviously, gasoline will continue to drive - after all, the growth of wholesale prices will crush the gas station. According to the Russian fuel agency, diesel fuel was most rise in price - by 16%.

In Moscow, under the Holy Danyl Stavropigial Monastery of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Center for Spiritual Development of Youth will be created. As the Sources in the city administration told the Interfax agency today, the resolution on the allocation of the land plot for the construction of the Center was signed by the mayor of the capital, Yuri Luzhkov.

With the help of a new research methodology, a complete analysis of the genetic functions of the animal was first carried out and all the genes responsible for the accumulation of fat were identified. This discovery - a powerful breakthrough in the struggle for the waist line - shows which genes violate the fragile balance between energy consumption (food) and energy consumption (physical activity), turning a thin one into a fat woman, writes Nature .