In Nicaragua, as a result of floods and landslides caused by heavy rains, 17 people were killed, 24 are considered missing. According to local authorities, most of the dead are children under the age of 12 years. Rescuers believe that the number of victims of the elements will increase, RBC reports. At the end of last week, strong rains collapsed at Nicaragua. As a result, many settlements were flooded. Thousands of their inhabitants were forced to leave their homes and move to safer places.

In Sierra Leone, the Mi-8 of the Russian airline UTair crashed. On board the helicopter were 24 people - 21 passengers and three members of the Russian crew, RIA Novosti reports. Rescuers found that the helicopter fell in an area located southeast of Engham, and is on the slope of the mountain among tall and thick trees, which greatly complicates the search and rescue operation. Nevertheless, according to them, all people who were on board the helicopter Died.

The dollar exchange rate will remain in the range of 29.02-29.03 rubles, the euro exchange rate (today 35.33 rubles) will also not change much. There was stagnation on the Russian stock market yesterday, the RTS index decreased for the 5th time. Today, judging by the mood, it may decrease for the 6th time. The Forex currency market is waited intensely: today (or tomorrow) everyone will learn about the historical decision of the Fed.

The Finnish police confiscated most of the exhibits from the exhibition to the 100th anniversary of the Helsinki to test their authenticity. The reason for the investigation was the statement of one of the buyers who bought a picture at the exhibition, but later suspected that it was a fake, RIA Novosti reports.

The Astrakhan Territorial Administration of the FAS opened a case against the Russian gas monopolist “Gazprom” and the regional subsidiary “Lukoil”. It is reported by Prime-Tass . Claims of the Antimonopoly Office arose in terms of the sale of automobile gasoline, the agency notes. According to the FAS, the share of Astrakhangazprom LLC (Gazprom subsidiary) and LUKOIL-Nizhnevolzhsknefteproduct LLC in the retail sales market in the aggregate exceeds 80%.

In Nazran, a cache with an explosive device left by militants leaving the city was discovered. This is stated in the report of the regional operational headquarters (Rosh) on the management of the counter -terrorism operation in the North Caucasus. According to Rosh, in a cache found on the eve of the Dynamo city stadium, there was a home -made explosive device weighing about 20 kg, a grenade launcher, more than 500 rounds and anti -tank grenades.

Russia proposed to take part in the creation of a new manned ship to the European Space Agency. Such a ship can be used for flights to the International Space Station, as well as to other planets, ITAR-TASS reports. “We are talking about the promising universal spacecraft“ Cliper ”, the development of which is engaged in the RSC Energia,” explained the head of the Federal Space Agency Anatoly Perminov.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov will today hold the All-Russian meeting on civil defense problems (GO). The meeting will be attended by the heads of federal executive bodies and executive bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation on civil defense problems.

In Iraq, an American soldier captured hostage is executed. The Arab television channel Al-Jazira showed a video that depicts a person sitting on the ground with blindfolded eyes. The execution of the television channel did not show, but said that the American was shot dead. According to Al-Jazeera, the kidnappers executed the prisoner because the United States did not change its policy in Iraq, writes RBC . US official representatives have not yet commented on this information, reports AR.

In Istanbul, the NATO summit ended. Now the heads of state and governments of the member countries of the North Atlantic Alliance are leaving Istanbul to go to Brussels, RIA Novosti reports. In the Belgian capital, they will gather for an emergency meeting at which the successor of Romano Prodi will be approved as chairman of the European Commission. The applicant is the Prime Minister of the Potruugali Durau Barros.

The delegation of the Armenian parliament, headed by the speaker of the National Assembly Arthur Baghdasaryan, at the invitation of the chairman of the People’s Assembly of Bulgaria, Ognyan Gerjikov, will go on a visit to Bulgaria today.

The unknown vandal during the night damaged several invaluable historical and cultural monuments in Venice. We are talking about the marble capitals of the 10th century by one of the columns of the Doe Palace on the Square of St. Marc and two statues of the Savior Church, who had his hands were repulsed. In addition, a small sculpture of the Madonna was destroyed and the figure of St. Peter near the Church of his name, built in the XIV century, was damaged, RIA Novosti reports.

The heads of state and governments of 25 member countries of the European Union unanimously approved at an emergency meeting in Brussels the candidacy of Portuguese Prime Minister Zhuo Barrozo for the post of head of the European Commission, RIA Novosti reported. He was officially nominated by the Prime Minister of the chairman of Ireland Berty Aheern after not one of the candidates discussed by the EU leaders in the EU leaders gained the required number of votes at the Summit on June 17-18.

The Moscow District Military Court refused to resume the investigation in the case of the death of the Kursk nuclear submarine. Thus, the decision of the Moscow Garrison Military Court was upheld and the complaint of lawyer Boris Kuznetsov, representing the interests of relatives of the dead sailors, was rejected. Boris Kuznetsov considers it unreasonable to terminate the investigation and asks the court to cancel the decision on the termination of the criminal case.

NASA experts adjusted the duration of the day on Saturn. So, according to the data obtained from Cassini, the time of circulation of the planet around its axis is 10 hours 45 minutes and 45 seconds (± 36 seconds), reports gazeta.ru . Thus, the duration of the day has become 6 minutes more than before. Previous data were obtained using Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 devices.