Nathan Scharansky, the leader of the Israel-Ba-Alia party, will not apply for a deputy mandate in the new Parliament of Israel. Scharansky announced this after a serious defeat, which his party, uniting immigrants from the former USSR, suffered in yesterday's parliamentary elections. The party lost two of 4 mandates. Almost half of the mandates was lost by the Left Party Merets, whose leader Yossi Sarid announced today about resigning.

In Togliatti, in the territory of the Fosphorus plant, over the past two months, the rules for the storage of 68 tons of chlorine are not observed. After the “phosphorus '' for debts to the power engineers was disconnected from energy and water supply, it was decided to evacuate all dangerous substances to the disposal landfill in Chapaevsk. However, the plant did not find funds for this.

The Kyrgyz authorities froze bank accounts and confiscated the property of the opposition newspaper My Capital. According to journalists, the decision was made after last week the editorial office lost the case in court on charges of slander, initiated against the newspaper by the Kyrgyz Prime Minister Nikolai Tanaev. "My capital" has repeatedly published materials on corruption in the highest echelons of power.

The United States would like to get the UN mandate for surgery against Iraq, the American Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Wednesday. In an interview with the 4th channel of British television, Powell emphasized that Saddam Hussein’s regime should disarm - voluntarily or using force. The Secretary of State noted that in a week he will personally present the UN security council available to the United States that Iraq has a mass destruction weapon.

Resignation and emigration is the best for Saddam Hussein a way to protect his country from the war, said US Secretary of State Colin Powell. At a press conference in Washington on Wednesday, Powell noted that the United States is ready to help find asylum for the Iraqi leader, his family and closest associates. The Secretary of State, however, did not give a clear answer to the question about the position of Washington if later against Saddam Hussein, accusations of war crimes are made.

Arkady Dubnov , Kiev: an informal CIS summit in Kiev, despite the certain doubts yesterday, ended with Russian-Ukrainian triumph. President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma was elected chairman of the Council of Heads of State of the CIS, thus, last year’s initiative of Russian President Putin, at first met with hosts by some presidents, for example, Belarusian, was today supported by the heads of all 12 delegations of the Commonwealth.

The organization on security and cooperation in Europe requires immediately to revise the case of independent journalist Sergei Duvanov, sentenced in Kazakhstan to three and a half years in prison. The journalist was accused of raping a minor. Numerous violations during the trial and the obvious absence of Duvanov’s guilt, suggest that the journalist has become a victim of a political reprisal, ”the OSCE statement emphasizes.

The program involves: the leader of the Uzbek opposition movement "Birlik", Abdurahim Pulat, the Uzbek opposition journalist Anvar Usmanov and the head of the site Ferghana.ru Daniil Kislov. Tengiz Gudava: I received an e -mail letter, I read it: “Dear Tengiz, I write to you about your last program of January 23. For those who are familiar with the strap, it turned out to be ridiculous.

Marina Timasheva , Moscow: From April 27 to May 10, the Second Moscow Easter Festival, which is held by Valery Gergiev, the Moscow government and the Ministry of Culture of Russia, will be held with the blessing of the Patriarch of All Russia Alexy II. The festival has more than 40 concerts with the participation of the largest Russian and foreign musicians and groups.

The situation in the southeast of Australia is rapidly worsening, where powerful forest fires have been raging for three weeks now. In the next day, according to forecasts, the temperature in the region will rise to a record mark - plus 45 degrees Celsius, and the wind force will reach 70 kilometers per hour. More than 5 thousand people were abandoned to fight fires. The most difficult situation is in the States Victoria and the new South Wales.

The program is maintained by Andrei Sharogradsky. They participate: Radio Liberty correspondent in Volgograd Andrei Alikbaev, writer Vladimir Nikolaev - Lily Palvelieva talked with him, and the host of the Radio Liberty program "Difference in Time" Vladimir Tolts. The presentation of an article published in the German magazine Focus was prepared by Ivan Vorontsov.

Awards were awarded to the British Academy of Cinema, known under the abbreviation of Baft. The prizes went to the film “The Gangs of New York” by Martin Skorsze and the musical “Chicago” by Rob Marshall. The second Moscow Easter festival will be held from April 27 to May 10 at different sites of the city. There are more than 40 concerts with the participation of the largest Russian and foreign musicians from Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia and Georgia.

Oleg Kusov: The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe got acquainted with the conclusions of Lord Jadd about the situation in Chechnya. In the draft resolution, the PACE Political Commission recommends transferring a referendum to Chechnya at a later time. The head of the Russian delegation Dmitry Rogozin expressed a wish to change Lord Jadd as a speaker in Chechnya, if his arguments form the basis of the resolution.

In the Dutch city of Arnem, on Wednesday, police officers stormed the court building and shot the defendant, who seized the prosecutor hostage. During the assault, the prosecutor was wounded. The 20-year-old Albanian was tried on charges of armed robbery. He demanded a meeting with his accomplice, and after he was refused, he took possession of the guard’s weapon and took the prosecutor hostage.

On the west coast of Jordan, another attack on Jewish settlers was committed. Two people are injured. The car in which they were traveling were fired from an ambush near Ramallah.