In the forests of the Novgorod region, the census of animals takes place. According to RIA Novosti on Wednesday in the Novgorod Department for the Protection, Monitoring and Regulation of the use of hunting animals, a winter route accounting of wild animals began in the region. According to hunting experts, this annual "census of the forest population" is for specialists both a difficult and quite exciting occupation.

Participants in the Eighth World Russian People’s Cathedral (VRNS), who completed their work on the eve of Moscow, called on the countries of the Orthodox tradition "to put on a qualitatively new level" cooperation in the face of modern threats, in particular terror and extremism, RIA "Novosti" reports.

Police representatives arrived today at the house of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. The purpose of the visit is to ask Sharon questions regarding the "bribe case." Last month, businessman David Appel was accused of the Israeli prosecutor's office of giving a bribe to the prime minister’s family in 1999 in the amount of 700 thousand dollars.

Israeli soldiers arrested on the western bank of the Jordan River one of the members of the leadership of the group of "Brigade of the Martyrs of Al-Aaksa", calling themselves the combat wing of the Fath movement. Terrorist Jihad Saufiz was captured in his house in the village of Tubas near the city of Jenin, ITAR-TASS reports.

The world boxing champion 38-year-old Briton Lennox Lewis will announce his departure from big sport on Friday. Thus, the long -awaited repeated duel between Lewis and Ukrainian Vitaly Klitschko will not take place. Lewis has a worldwater world champion title according to WBC. During his career, he spent 44 fights, 41 of which won. The last time he entered the ring in June 2003 in a battle against Vitaly Klitschko.

In Kazan on Thursday, Grigory Arutyunov, General Director of the Municipal Department of Vodokanal, was killed. This was reported in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic. The killer shot several times in Harutyunov, when he left the entrance of the house on Chekhov Street at about 7 in the morning, where he lived. From the wounds received, the head of the enterprise died on the spot, reports ITAR-TASS.

Several hundred employees of the Air Force took part in the manifestations conducted on Thursday in support of the independence of the British state television and radio corporation. About 200 people gathered under the poster "Hands off the Air Force!" In front of the building headquarters of the corporation in London.

In the afternoon in the metropolitan region it will sharply warm - the thermometer column will rise to zero, Roshydromet said. So far in Moscow, minus 6-8 degrees, in the region - up to 10 frost. The weather forecasters explain such changes in the weather in the fact that the eastern anticyclone that brought to Kazakhstan, which brought to the metropolitan region of frost, replaced the Atlantic cyclone from Scandinavia, ITAR-TASS reports.

The Dominican Republic will conduct a unique surgical operation of the two -month Rebecca Martinez, born with two heads. The operation will be carried out by a group of 18 surgeons, nurses and other specialists who will work in several shifts for about 13 hours. Doctors will be led by a children's neurosurgeon from the University of California (USA) Horge Lazareff, who in 2002, carried out a successful operation to separate the Siamese twins, reports RIA Novosti .

Up to 4 million Russian citizens use drugs, the leadership of the State Committee of the Russian Federation for the control of the trafficking of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances (Gosnarko control) said. "According to various estimates, in Russia, from 2.5 to 4 million people with experience in using narcotic drugs. The main part is people under 30 years old," said Alexander Fedorov, deputy chairman of the State Directorate of Gosnarko, Interfax on Thursday.

The court of the city of Hamburg justified on Thursday the native of Morocco Abelgani Mzudi, who was accused of aiding criminals who committed the attack on September 11, 2001. He also defended the charge of participating in a terrorist organization, Interfax reports. The Hamburg prosecutor's office demanded the sentence of Abdelgani Mzudi to 15 years in prison. The basis for this was the acquaintance of the accused with terrorists, some of whom lived in Hamburg at one time.

The Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov said that Russian communists condemn the position of the former CPSU in relation to the Russian Orthodox Church , Interfax reports. “I consider the CPSU a big mistake that she quarreled with the Orthodox Church,” Zyuganov said today, commenting on his participation in the VIII World Cathedral of the VIII of the VIII of the VIII Lavra. According to Zyuganov, now about 30% of members and active supporters of the Communist Party are believers.

All deposits in Russian banks, regardless of the type of currency, in January 2004 had a negative real ruble profitability. The main factor that influenced the level of real ruble profitability of deposits was high inflation, which amounted to 1.8%in January.

The Meshchansky court of Moscow found the ex-head of the company of Yukos-Moscow Vasily Shakhnovsky guilty of tax evasion and fees worth more than 28.5 million rubles and sentenced him to one year of imprisonment. At the same time, the court freed him from punishment in connection with "a change in the situation." "However, given the change in the situation and the presence of mitigating circumstances, the court exempts the punishment of Shakhnovsky," said Judge Irina Kolesnikova.

The Russian traveler and Yakhtsman Fedor Konyukhov plans to set two world records at the intersection of the Atlantic Ocean on Maxi-Hyakh. Today, the Yacht "The Ski Sails Trading Network", controlled by Konyukhov, started at 10:10 on Greenwich from the Canary Island of La Homer, from where 500 years ago I went to open America Christopher Columbus. According to ITAR -TASS, the son of a traveler Oscar Konyukhov, "an unpleasant gusty wind blows from Africa, in the air - small particles of sand.