Russia offers to deal with the cultivation of opium poppy in Afghanistan using space monitoring, RIA Novosti reports. This was stated today by the special representative of the President of the Russian Federation on the fight against terrorism and transnational crime Anatoly Safonov. According to him, almost five hundred tons of opium poppy is grown in Afghanistan annually, and a simple solution to this problem does not exist.

Sergey Bykovsky The other day, the Federal Law of January 10, 2006 N 18-ФЗ “On Amending Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation”, regarding the registration and activities of non-profit public organizations (NPOs), entered into force.

The first Brazilian cosmonaut Lieutenant Colonel of the Air Force Marcus Pontes received from the hands of the country's president Luis Inasiu Lula da Silva the highest award of Brazil - an order for merits, RIA Novosti reports.

The Federal Agency for Construction and Housing and Communal Services (Rosstroy) has signed government contracts with the winners of an open competition for the construction of residential buildings for the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (Ministry of Defense). In St. Petersburg, Leningrad and Kaliningrad regions, large-scale construction of housing for military personnel begins.

A terrorist attack occurred in Afghanistan, as a result of which two Canadian troops were injured. According to AP , the explosive device was installed at the roadside of the road in the Gilmene Province. Another incident occurred in the province of Nangarhar, where US troops killed a militant who threw a grenade towards the American military convoy. As a result of the explosion, none of the American soldiers were injured.

Today, the Foreign Minister of Armenia Vardan Oscanyan said that there was no military decision of the Karabakh conflict, RIA Novosti reports. According to Oscanyan, this problem is possible only through peace negotiations. “However, if, nevertheless, Azerbaijan starts the war, this will be the last mistake of Baku,” he said at a joint press conference with the head of the EU delegation, state secretary of the Austrian Foreign Ministry Hans Winler.

The implementation of national projects is beginning to bring the first natural, but unsatisfactory results. The designers probably had in mind to “bring up” health care, education, housing construction and agriculture, which had lagged far behind during the years of market reforms, by allocating additional budget resources to them. Naturally, the money had to be allocated for a reason, but based on the fulfillment of very specific conditions and parameters.

This morning in North Ossetia, one of the leaders of the North Ossetian Interregional District of the Cossacks Bimbulat Dzutsev was killed, RIA Novosti reports. Dzutsev was killed at 09:45 Moscow time, when he drove up to his office. According to eyewitnesses, he was shot from a machine gun in a mask who got out of a silver car driven up. It is known that Dzutsev in 1992 headed the Ossetian militia during the Ossetian-Ingush conflict.

The film of the Cuban director Juan Carlos Cremat Malberti “Little Fugitives” is released today in Russian rental on April 20. This is a children's cinema with an innocent name and a plot clean, sponsored by sweets and soda (the film helps to promote the “United Confectioners” and “Drinks from the Black Head”) is actually called “Viva Cuba!”.

** Government of the Russian Federation ** The government discussed measures to implement the transport strategy of the Russian Federation until 2010. A number of ministers expressed an opinion about the insufficient financing of these measures, accompanied by low efficiency and quality of construction. In particular, the head of the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia G. Gref regarding the situation with the development of transport infrastructure in the country as an extraordinary one.

Yahoo is again accused of cooperation with the Chinese authorities. According to the organization “Reporters Without Borders”, the company’s employees transferred information to the Chinese authorities, because of which 39-year-old Juan Liyun in 2003 was 4 years in prison, Wireed writes. Yahoo was handed over to the authorities a draft of a letter that was preserved on the Liyuna postal server, which allegedly contained a call to overthrow the power of the Communist Party in China.

On April 14-15, 2006, the All -Russian scientific conference “Sociological methods in modern research practice” was held at the State University Higher School of Economics, dedicated to the memory of the famous sociologist and teacher, the first dean of the Faculty of Sociology of the State University Higher School of Economics A.O. Kryshtanovsky [1]. Alexander Olegovich Kryshtanovsky (1955-2005) was a complex and varied person, sometimes tough and principled. But he was never boring.

The main theater review of Russia is completed: the winners of the National Theater Prize "Golden Mask" are declared. Its musical section causes at least bewilderment: the best jury considered what looks like yesterday from the point of view of the modern process and does not even claim a revelation.

On April 18, a party dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the hippie movement was held at the Rhythm-Blue Cafe. Among the invited were Stas Namin and the Flowers group, Garik Sukachev, Sergey Galanin, Dmitry Revyakin, Sergey Voronov, Vyacheslav Malezhik, Alexander Kushnir, Valery Yarushin and others. At the entrance to the cafe, everyone was given an indispensable attribute of an exemplary hippie - a bauble.

Tomorrow, with an official publication in the Rossiyskaya Gazeta, the State Duma decree on amnesty in connection with the centenary of the institution of the State Duma in Russia comes into force, RIA Novosti reports. It is assumed that two or three thousand convicts and 10-12 thousand people under investigation will fall under an amnesty.