The British newspaper The Financial Times calls the 24-year-old Russian businessman Nikolai Smolensky one of the two applicants, along with an applicant from Iran, to buy a bankrupt British automotive company MG Rover. Smolensky, who has been the owner of the British company TVR, which produces sports cars from last year, arrived at the Rover plant in Birmingham to discuss the possibility of a transaction.

US Secretary of State Kondoliza Rice accepted family members of an American journalist Paul Khlebnikov , who was killed in Moscow in July 2004. This was announced at a briefing by the official representative of the US State Department Richard Bucheure. He noted that the American side carefully monitors the investigation of this crime and works closely in this matter with Russia, raising it at any opportunity.

In the Komi Republic, six people were killed as a result of an accident. This was reported by RIA "Novosti" by phone in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic. “On the eve of the Komi Republic on the Sysolsky district of the Komi Republic on the Syktyvkar -Kirov, the driver of the Zhiguli car drove into the oncoming lane and a collision with the Niva machine,” the agency’s interlocutor said. After the collision, the Zhiguli car caught fire.

As a result of the attack in the Iraqi city of Erbil (350 km north of Baghdad), at least 60 people were killed, Reuters reports with reference to sources in the hospital. More than 150 people were injured, reports ITAR-TASS. According to preliminary data, the suicide bomber exploded himself among volunteers gathered at the post of entries in the ranks of the police in the center of Erbil, inhabited mainly by the Kurds. This was reported by representatives of the Security Service.

In the middle of the week, the northwest wind will be replaced by the South, which will bring summer warmth to the Moscow region, Roshydrome reported. In the morning in Moscow, 2 degrees of heat, in the suburbs - near the zero. On the basis of weak frosts up to minus 1 degree. Variable cloudy, without precipitation, the wind is north-west, weak, 2-5 meters per second. In the afternoon, the air in the capital warms up to 14-16 degrees, in the region - from 12 to 17 degrees.

A number of deputies of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus spoke out to prohibit smoking at the wheel. This proposal was drawn up in the form of a protocol record during a discussion of the WHO Convention against tobacco on Wednesday, Interfax reports. "It is necessary to make changes to the Code of Administrative Offenses and ban smoking at the wheel, as well as banned the use of a mobile phone," said the initiator of this idea, deputy Vasily Chr.

The Russian federal property (RFFI) and the Federal Property Management Agency may launch the Rosneft privatization mechanism by introducing shares to the corresponding structure based on the decision of the President and Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. This follows from the orders signed by the head of the Government of the Russian Federation Mikhail Fradkov "On making technical changes and additions to the privatization program for 2005".

The Czech Parliament adopted a law on the payment of compensation to citizens who became victims of Soviet invasion, or their families. The amount of payments will be from a thousand to five thousand euros to each victim, depending on the severity of the damage caused to him. Now, according to the rules, the head of state Vaclav Klaus should be signed under the law.

In London, court hearings are held in the case of the rape of a 28-year-old teacher with a 15-year-old student. The incident occurred right in the classroom on the second working day of the teacher at the Central London school. Despite the fact that 8 months have passed since the rape, a woman is still unable to return to her duties due to emotional injury. The teacher checked the work of students after lessons when she was noticed by a 15-year-old teenager. The young man attacked a woman.

The Moscow Kremlin on the eve became the center of events of the fourth Easter festival, taking place on these holidays in the capital and 20 regions of Russia. In the ancient walls of the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin, Georgian spiritual chants performed by the "Mdzaleri" choir. Its name means in Russian "bird singing". The team, founded in 1994, is a laureate of many international folklore competitions.

The day before, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said that Georgia does not intend to endure the stay of the Russian military bases endlessly. The Georgian side insists on the final output of Russian troops until the end of 2007. Saakashvili is sure that the issue of withdrawing bases from Georgian territory will be decided until May 8. According to him, there is an intensive exchange of documents on the details of this conclusion between the presidents of the two countries.

Russian tennis player Marat Safin on Tuesday reached the second round of the Roma Masters tournament with a prize pool of more than two million euros, and his compatriot Mikhail Yuzhny led the rocket, not being able to overcome the first barrier of the competition. The second "racket" of the tournament Safin in less than two hours prevailed over Czech tennis players Irja Novak with a score of 6: 7, 6: 1, 6: 1. From the first minutes of the match, Marat showed that he was only configured to win.

The Pakistani security forces arrested the head of the Al-Qaeda cell Abu Faraj al-Libi in the province of North Vaziristan in the west of the country. It is reported by the satellite television channel Al-Jazera. According to the television channel, Abu Faraj and the Pakistanist accompanying him were detained on Monday near the village of Mardan north of Peshavar in the district border with Afghanistan.

After the victory with the minimum score of Chelsea in the reciprocal match of the 1/2 finals of the Champions League, Liverpool coach Rafael Benitest paid tribute to the hard work of his team, the faith of the Mersisidians to their own strengths and fantastic support of the fans. After a zero draw last week, to get into the final of the Red Tournament on Enfield, Luis Garcia was quite fast.

Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie, she said, is now much more concerned about making a good impression on educators in the English kindergarten where her son goes. It was clearly changed after moving to a village house in Buckinghamshire, where eight rooms were at her disposal, she says that the pedagogical council, where her boy discussed, made her be nervous more than shooting in films, writes British Daily Telegraph (translation on the website inopressa.ru ).