At least 10 people were killed and eight were injured - according to the latest data - as a result of yesterday’s fire in the administrative building of the Severnaya mine near Vorkuta. According to the Radio Liberty correspondent, a family of three people died in a fire, including an eight -year -old child. Doctors are afraid for the life of a twenty -two -year -old Natalia Bukharova, who damaged the spine. A pre -trial team operates in the mine.

Unknown persons attacked the picket participants in Minsk, who noted the anniversary of the disappearance of one of the leaders of the Belarusian opposition - Viktor Gonchar. The potter went missing with the entrepreneur Anatoly Krasovsky a year ago. According to the leader of the opposition united civilian party - Anatoly Lebedko, the attackers knocked him down when he got into his car. They also tried to seize three activists of the Belarusian opposition.

Historian and priest, leading Radio Freedom Radio "Between Vera and Belief" ykrotov@yahoo.com

Lev Roitman: In June of this year, the Constituent Congress of the Union of Armenians of Russia was held in Moscow. How many Armenians live in the Russian Federation? According to official figures, six hundred thousand, according to unofficial ones - more than a million, sometimes they call the figure two and a half million. In other words, no one knows for sure. However, there is no doubt - the Armenian diaspora in Russia is the largest in the world.

In Russia, the influenza epidemic is expected no later than the beginning of 2001 - this is the forecast of the World Health Organization. Doctors recommend that the Russian population make antifungal vaccinations in the fall, since immunity against this disease is produced in the body in 15 days, but is preserved within a year. In Moscow, in all underground crossings where trade is carried out, sound and light alarms and surveillance cameras will be installed.

Omsk power engineers stopped supplying electricity to all forced labor colonies of the region, which owed them more than 40 million rubles. According to the company "Omskenergo", electricity is supplied only to the residential area and objects of the protection of prisoners. Omsk military town, a garrison clinic and food warehouses are also de -energized for debts. The city prosecutor's office opened a criminal case against the leadership of Omskenergo.

The Indonesian police today questioned the son of the former president of Sukharto - Tommy, who suspected of involvement in an explosion in the Exchange building in Jakarta. As a result of the explosion, 15 people were killed in the past Wednesday and 27 were injured. The President of Indonesia Abdurrahman Vakhid ordered Tommy to arrest, but the police limited himself to a call for interrogation, saying that he did not have evidence against the son of Suharto.

Oil prices on the New York Modern Exchange have reached the highest mark on Friday over the past 10 years. For a barrel of oil there yesterday they gave $ 35 92 cents. According to observers, the reason is the new sharp exacerbation of relations between Iraq and Kuwait. Earlier this week, Baghdad accused Kuwait of illegally pumping oil from wells in the border zone. Iraq performed with the same accusations 10 years ago - before the invasion of Kuwait.

The police in Belgrade conducted a search on Friday on Friday in the opposition party’s campaign headquarters and detained 12 people, including the leader of this organization Goran Schilanovich. Police confiscated computers and election campaigns. The arrested activists were later released - after a large group of supporters of the civilian alliance gathered at the police building at the police building.

In Chechnya, the operation to search for Chechen fighters who undermined on Thursday in a formidable car of the Kaliningrad assembly - as a result of which Major Vilorius Buslovsky died on Thursday. According to Russian news agencies, five suspects are detained today. According to the ITAR-TASS agency, Russian sappers on Friday blew two non-residential houses in Grozny. As a result, seven civilians were injured.

India on Friday said that she was not going to resume nuclear weapons tests. In a joint statement following negotiations in Washington, US President Bill Clinton and India Prime Minister Bikhari Vajpai says that the moratorium for nuclear tests meets Indian national interests. The United States imposed sanctions against India and Pakistan, after these two countries conducted nuclear tests in 1998.

The first champion of the Sydney Olympics today was the American athlete Nancy Johnson. She won a gold medal in shooting competitions from a pneumatic rifle. Today, the representative of Switzerland Bright McMakhon became the Olympic champion in triathlon competitions. In total, thirteen sets of awards will be played at the Olympics today. More than 10 thousand athletes from 199 countries participate in the Olympic Games in Sydney.

Human Rights Uchch's human rights organization said that the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections in Yugoslavia are unlikely to be free and honest. Human rights activists note that the Yugoslav authorities are pursuing the opposition, and control most of the media and all key election commissions. Belgrade also opposes the presence of independent observers in the elections.

- Why do Mordovian guys continue to flee the army. - In Pskov, only four people are engaged in the struggle against drug mafia. - The Perm Center for Assistance to Refugees begins its work. - AIDS steps on Pyatigorsk. - Secret agents of America and Russia decide in Tyumen what to do with the Russian mafia. - There are more and more bandits in Cherepovets, and there are fewer police officers. - This is in the first part of the program. In the second: -Rostov-on-Don: censorship is returning.

10 people, including a member of the government, died today in Sri Lanka as a result of a plane crash. According to the military, the Mi-17 helicopter crashed 70 kilometers north-east of the capital of the country-Colombo. So far, the bodies of the three dead have not been found. The causes of the disaster are unknown. Earlier, separatists from the Tamil Tigers organization have repeatedly shot down the Sri Lanka Air Force helicopters. .