In the eastern regions of Russia, the strongest flood over the past hundred years has been continuing. The water level in most rivers of the Volga region, the Urals, Siberia and the Far East rose above critical marks. About 40 thousand people live in the disaster zone. The critical situation has developed in Tuva. In the capital of the republic - Kyzyl - and six areas have been announced an emergency. Automobile message was interrupted with some settlements, there is no connection.

Radio Liberty correspondent Ilya Dadashidze talked today, on the day of the 80th anniversary of academician Andrei Sakharov, with former USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev. Ilya Dadashidze: You were the person who returned Sakharov from Gorky. How was it? How did you call, what was the conversation? Mikhail Gorbachev: I told me to be connected by phone with Andrei Dmitrievich.

The International Commission, headed by former American senator George Mitchell, called on the authorities of Israel and the Palestinian autonomy to immediately stop violence for eight months. In the report released today, a commission that studied the reasons for the current exacerbation of the Middle East conflict invited Israel to freeze the construction of Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories.

In the area of the city of Yakutsk, the water level in the Lena River continues to rise - the Radio Liberty correspondent said. Three and a half thousand people are evacuated from the city. The length of the iceaging downstream Lena reached 80 kilometers. EMERCOM employees strengthen the barrage dam with sand bags, but the dam will be able to withstand the rise of water no more than 9 and a half meters.

The leadership of the Radio "Echo of Moscow" reached a fundamental agreement on the purchase of 23 percent of the shares of the radio station. The head of the Media-Most holding Vladimir Gusinsky will transfer 14 percent of the shares to the team, another 9 percent is Gazprom-Media. According to Yuri Fedutinov, General Director of Echo of Moscow, the parties will have to finalize the details of the transaction in an interview with Radio Liberty.

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said today in Moscow that the cause of the current Middle Eastern conflict was Palestinian terrorism. Perez emphasized that the purpose of Israeli policy is to end terrorism and resume the political dialogue with the Palestinians, since the conflict cannot be resolved by the power of weapons. Today, Shimon Perez meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other Russian leaders.

Smoking hypertensive patients are very at risk of becoming impotants . This is stated in the report of the professor of family medicine John Spengler, who was heard on Saturday in San Francisco at the conference of the American Society for the Study of Hypertonia. The examination of men with increased blood pressure conducted under his leadership showed that active smokers have twenty -six times more chances to acquire erectile disorders than non -smokers.

In Chechnya, three military personnel were released from captivity from captivity yesterday. About two years, Vyacheslav Voznyuk spent in captivity. He miraculously survived when he left Grozny along the minefield along with the detachment of Shamil Basayev. Two others - Maxim Karavaev and Vladimir Shevelev were captured recently. According to RTR, the military were released without ransom. Now they are in Pyatigorsk and are waiting for sending home.

Vladimir Abarinov, Washington: The main result of the visit of the Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov in the United States is an agreement on the meeting of the presidents of Bush and Putin. She will take place in Ljubljana in mid -June. True, announcing this, Igor Ivanov mixed up the capital of Slovenia with the capital of Slovakia: Igor Ivanov: As you know, an agreement has been reached that the meeting will be held on the 16th in Bratislava, in Slovenia ... June 16 in Slovenia ...

26 people died during a rebellion and a fire in one of the prisons in the north of Chile. The rebellion flashed this morning. The rebellious prisoners set fire to mattresses and blankets. The police used tear gas to disperse the relatives of the prisoners who tried to break into the territory of the prison. The rebellion is depressed. The authorities have not yet reported the reasons for the rebellion.

In Afghanistan on Saturday and Sunday, the warring parties retained a truce to give doctors the opportunity to vaccinate children against polymielite in the regions where fighting are underway. The truce between the Taliban and the forces of the coalition opposing them was achieved through the mediation of the UN and humanitarian organizations.

The United States again expressed its concern to Russia's intention to put weapons to Iran. The representative of the US Department of State Richard Bucker said this issue was discussed last week during a visit to Washington, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Igor Ivanov. According to the Bucker, in negotiations with the Russian delegation, the importance of non -proliferation of certain types of weapons was emphasized.

The Deputy Prime Minister of the Serbian Government Neboish Chovich welcomed a peace agreement with the Albanian rebels, signed on Monday. The protocol on disarmament. Seduced Muscia, the chief of staff of the so -called liberation army Presevo, operating in South Serbia. As an intermediary, the head of the NATO representative office in Yugoslavia put the signature. Under the terms of the protocol, the Albanian rebels must lay down a weapon no later than May 31 of this year.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria A Asnar arrived in Moscow on a three-day visit. On Tuesday, Asnar will hold official negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the chairman of the Russian government Mikhail Kasyanov. The topics of negotiations will be the problems of bilateral economic and humanitarian cooperation.

Khasin Raduev , North Caucasus: Today, from early morning, the village of Sayasan in the Nozhai-Yurt region and the village of Chiri-Yurt, located approximately 20 kilometers southwest of the regional center of Shali, have been completely blocked. Units of Russian internal troops and police are conducting so-called “targeted sweeps” here. Over the past three days, similar events were held in the villages of Dyshni-Vedeno, Serzhen-Yurt, Mesker-Yurt and in the city of Shali.