Social workers of the Dobrovsky district of the Lipetsk region, visiting at home of single elderly citizens, offer them to listen to audio recordings of Orthodox worship. For this purpose, at the expense of the regional social program “We will save your home and heat”, portable tape recorders were purchased, Blagovet-info reports. The audio recordings of the liturgy and sermons in honor of the main church holidays were carried out by students of the Lipetsk State Pedagogical University.

The best tennis player in the world Serena Williams does not want to play against men. The American said this after the other representative of the weaker sex, the golf, Annika Sorenstam, decided to try her hand at the men's professional tournament, which will take place in May this year on the field of the Colonial club. “I am not going to play against tennis players,” said 21 -year -old Serena Williams.

In the near future, shirts may appear in stores that do not absorb tobacco smoke, sportswear with cooling effect, costumes that drive mosquitoes, socks that are fragrant with floral aromas, and other “smart clothes”, reports The Daily Telegraph (translation on the website inopressa.ru ).

The City Court of the Proletarian District of Saransk condemned a resident of the capital of Mordovia Andrei Ersyykin to one year in prison according to article 273 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Creation, use and distribution of malicious computer programs." According to the state prosecutor Yevgeny Maksimochkin, for the first time in Russia a citizen was convicted under this article.

Baghdad asks the Turkish parliament not to give consent to the use of Turkish territory by the US troops in the war against Iraq. Such a request is contained in the appeal of the chairman of the parliament of Iraq (National Assembly) of Saadun Hamadi to his Turkish colleague Buletch.

The catamaran "Scarlet Sails", on which the Russian traveler Fedor Konyukhov intends to set two world records in the Atlantic, is launched in the Bay of Bristol. The rigging of this legendary port in the west of England establish a mast and tackle for a two -stage unprecedented race, which will begin on March 1, 2003 in the English Bristol and end there on April 10. This was announced in an interview with ITAR-TASS project manager Oscar Konyukhov.

The Honduras government announced a monetary reward for assisting in capturing 20 bankers accused of deceit of depositors. This was announced on Tuesday at a press conference in the capital of Tigusigalpa, Security Minister Oscar Alvarez. The investigated financiers are suspected of embezzlement of $ 264 million with private deposits. To everyone who will help to find bankers, the Minister of Security offered a reward of several thousand dollars.

The first national congress of the Society of Supporters Guram Sharadze, a famous scientist and politician, deputy of the Georgian Parliament, took place the day before in the concert hall of the State Philharmonic of Georgia. The forum was attended by about 2,000 representatives of the company from different regions of Georgia, the Blagovet-Info reports.

Nine Patriot missile systems were delivered from Holland to Turkey. They were on board the Rosano cargo vessel, which moored on Wednesday in the port of Lengerun in southern Turkey. They will be placed along the Turkish-Iraq border. Accompanying complexes of about a hundred Dutch military specialists have already begun to deploy them. It is known that Patriot complexes will discuss 360 Dutch military personnel.

The US National Aeronautics and Space Research Agency ( NASA ) announced that it lost contact with the Pioneer 10 space probe, launched more than 30 years ago to study the surroundings of the solar system. The last communication session took place on January 22. At this moment, the probe was at a distance of 12,760 million kilometers from the ground.

Employees of the Moscow criminal investigation department detained two suspects in a robbery attack on the apartment of a famous producer, president of NOX Music, Joseph Prigozhin. As a result of the raid, his son was seriously wounded. On the morning of January 31, four unknown people burst into Prigozhin’s apartment on Pokrovka Street . Threatening with a pistol, they tied the producer's wife, his five -year -old daughter Dana and the nanny of the girl.

Manchester United in a brilliant style set the WEFA Champions League on Tuesday, and Real Madrid only in the last seconds equalized the score in Dortmund, retaining a chance to enter the quarterfinals. The second time over the past two weeks, Manchester was not on Juventus’s teeth. A convincing victory on the road - 3: 0 - provided the British with an 8 -ok advantage over "Juve" and "Deportivo", as well as an early exit to the quarter -finals.

Iraq President Saddam Hussein began the struggle against obesity among officers of the Iraqi army and members of the government. On Wednesday, he issued a decree that provides for financial measures of influence on fat army officers and government members. According to the order, everyone whose weight will exceed the "permissible physical norms" will be deprived of half the wages and premium. It is established that weighing will be carried out twice a year.

NASA experts among the wreckage found a video cassette with the last minutes of life of the COLUMBIA shuttle team. The shooting was conducted inside the shuttle just a few minutes before the team began to have problems. On a 13-minute video film, it is recorded how astronauts are preparing for landing: put on gloves, calmly talk. Four astronauts are shown on the film: Rick Hazband commander, pilot William McCul, Bortinzhiner Kalpan Chavla and Lorel Clark.

By the end of 2003, Gorky Automobile Plant OJSC plans to reduce 7 thousand employees. As a result of restructuring, the number of employees at the plant will be reduced from 67 thousand to 60 thousand people. Half of the abbreviated workers will be transferred to other production. They will be allocated from the plant and will become independent units. The rest will be fired completely.