The exhibition "From Dürer to Goya: three centuries of European engravings" opened at the Russian Academy of Arts in Moscow. 180 works of masters of Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Flanders, Holland, France, England, Spain were located in the halls on the Prechistenka. All this unique collection was delivered to Moscow from a small town in the Sverdlovsk region - Irbit, where the State Museum of Fine Arts is located. The Irbita Museum was founded in 1972.

The abbot and council of the London Westminster Abbey refused the filming group of the film "Da Vinci Code" to conduct filming in the ancient monastery.

According to Exit Polls, the Dutch said "no" of the EU constitution, RIA Novosti reports. According to preliminary information, 62% of 11.6 million of the votes of citizens of the Netherlands had the right to take part in the referendum. According to polls at the exit from polling stations (Exit Polls), 63% spoke out against the adoption of the EU constitution and 37%.

Registering the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia consists of about 150 extremist groups with a total number of up to 5 thousand people. Such figures were brought on Wednesday by the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, Rashid Nurgaliev, speaking at the expanded college of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on the prevention of neglect and juvenile delinquency. Nurgaliev emphasized that currently the problem of extremist manifestations in the youth environment is currently.

Over the past month, 77 American troops were killed in Iraq, ITAR-TASS reports citing the US Army Command. May has become one of the most tragic in the number of losses from the United States since the beginning of this year. The actions of the militants are clearly linked to political processes passing in the country. After holding in Iraq in January this year , the number and intensity of attacks by Iraqi anti -government formations increased sharply.

The official representative of the Prosecutor General’s Office Natalia Vishnyakova, on the day of the sentence in the Yukos case, again confirmed the intention of the prosecutor's office to bring to Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Plato Lebedev new charges of legalizing criminally acquired funds. The amount of theft, according to the Prosecutor General’s Office, is calculated $ 11 billion. Then representatives of the Prosecutor General’s Office refused to comment.

The defense of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev, sentenced the day before, to nine years in prison, states that she intends to achieve the abolition of this sentence. “We will seek this sentence not to take place,” said the head of the Khodorkovsky Protection Group Henry Padva on the air of the Echo of Moscow radio station. ( Protection scheme ) Lawyers can file a cassation appeal to a higher authority - the Moscow City Court within 10 days.

The governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory Alexander Khloponin today informed reporters that the remains of the dead five schoolchildren will be transferred to relatives until June 15.

The expert department of the presidential administration by the fall will prepare a report on the possible replacement of VAT tax on sales, the referent of the head of the department Stanislav Voskresensky said. Speaking on Wednesday at a conference on tax reform, he said that a working group has now been created, which is dealing with this issue. “This does not mean that we are talking about canceling VAT from January 1,” said Voskresensky.

The Church and Hand Center (Central Military Code) "Orthodox Encyclopedia", together with the Roman Catholic Church, is being shot by the documentary seven-class film "Pilgrimage to the Eternal City" about the first Christian martyrs. According to RIA Novosti , the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II said about this on the on the eve of the surveillance, trusteeship and public councils of the Church and Scientific Center (Central Military Center) Orthodox Encyclopedia .

Two people died and five were injured in Mexico as a result of the fall of the Bell-412 helicopter. According to the Ministry of Public Security, the tragedy occurred in the Sochimilko area, located in the south of the Mexican capital. The pilot and one of the passengers, among the wounded two young children who were promptly delivered to the hospital, were killed, ITAR-TASS reports.

The metropolitan region for the first summer day was in the power of a cool atmospheric front. According to Roshydromet, now in Moscow - 14-16 degrees, in the region - 12-17. By noon, the air warms up a little: the thermometer column will barely reach 18-20 degrees of heat, in the region-above 16-21. However, the north-west wind of a speed of 5-10 m/C will add cold sensations to the inhabitants of Moscow and the Moscow Region. All day it will be cloudy, short -term rains will pass.

In Russia, the pre -Petrine tradition of giving newborn in measured icons is being revived. This was told today at a press conference in RIA Novosti , dedicated to the International Day of Protection of Children, the chairman of the board of the Russian Club of Orthodox philanthropists Andrei Poklonsky. In his opinion, the revival of this tradition will contribute to the spiritual and moral education of children and the well-being of all Russian society.

The results of negotiations between the heads of diplomatic departments of Russia and Japan Sergey Lavrov and Nobatika Matimura, held on the eve of Tokyo, stated the invariability of the fundamental disagreements of Moscow and Tokyo. Firstly, at the meeting, the parties could not bring positions closer to the territorial problem of the Kuril Islands. Secondly, it was not possible to set a date for the visit of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin to Japan.

From Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday for six months, a group of 36 military personnel is sent to participate in the international peacekeeping mission. The BIG unit will be deployed at a military base 30 kilometers from the city of El Falluj and will not take part in military operations. The task of the unit is to search and neutralize unexploded bombs and shells, as well as mine clearance.