American producers and actors came to the conclusion that a possible war in Iraq would certainly affect the atmosphere and style of the Oscars on March 23. At a meeting with the participation of stars, producer Jil Cates said that no one intends to censor the speech of actors-winners. Actor Ed Harris replied that Oscar is not a political forum, and it would be appropriate to pray for the world at the ceremony.

Russian President Vladimir Putin introduced a package of amendments to the Criminal Code to the State Duma. According to the member of the Commission on Human Rights under the President Valery Abramkin, the main purpose of the amendments is to reduce the number of prisoners. If all amendments are adopted, within two years the prisoners will become less by 300 thousand (that is, almost a third).

The Czech Parliament - the superiority of one vote - supported today the Government of the Social Democrat Vladimir Spidla. The question of trust was raised 10 days ago when the parliament elected the president of the Czech Republic of the opposition representative of Vaclav Claus, not a government candidate. In the lower house of the Czech parliament, the ruling coalition has the majority in one deputy mandate.

Negotiations on the unification of Cyprus conducted in the Hague under the auspices of the UN ended to no avail. The leader of the Cipriot Turks Rauf Denctash rejected the reunion of the island prepared by the United Nations. The Greek and Turkish community was proposed at the end of March to take a plan to a referendum in order to open the road to the European Union united Cyprus.

The United States sent the DPRK a formal protest in connection with the incident on March 2, when the North Korean fighters tried to intercept the American reconnaissance member. According to the representative of the State Department, Richard Bucher, such actions of Pyongyan prevent the establishment of peace on the Korean peninsula. The North Korean official agency today stated that the US refusal of direct negotiations with the DPRK leads to an increase in tension.

The UN Security Council transferred to a later term voting on the draft resolution on Iraq proposed by the United States, Great Britain and Spain. The representative of the White House Ari Flysher said on Monday evening that Washington and London were continuing diplomatic consultations, trying to achieve the adoption of the resolution. Earlier, American and British diplomats insisted that the vote take place today.

The authorities of Transnistria will not interfere with the export of ammunition from the Russian military warehouses located in the region. The head of Transnistria Igor Smirnov and Deputy Minister of Defense of Russia Vladimir Isakov agreed on this today. Earlier, the Transnistrian authorities objected to the export of ammunition, fearing the destabilization of the situation.

The Czech Parliament today discusses the issue of trust in the government. In the lower house of the Parliament, the ruling coalition of Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla has the majority in one deputy mandate. If at least one of the members of the coalition does not support the government, it will be dissolved. The crisis began 10 days ago, when the parliament elected the president of the Czech Republic of the opposition, Vaclav Klaus, and not the government candidate.

The United States tested a powerful aviation bomb, called "Mother of all bombs." The tests took place today in Florida. The bomb is introduced using satellites. Its capacity (9 and a half tons of explosives) is almost twice as much as that of Daisy Katter, which was dumped in Afghanistan a year and a half ago to destroy the underground tunnels of Bora Bor.

In Armenia, the current head of state Robert Kocharian is officially recognized as the winner in the presidential election. Today, the final results of the second round of elections, held on March 5, are announced. Kocharyan has 67 and a half percent of the vote, his opponent, the leader of the People’s Party of Armenia Stepan Demirchyan, is almost half as much. The opposition disputes the results of the elections, indicating massive violations during the vote.

Andrey Sharry: The man of the day of Radio Liberty March 11 - English Baroness Lina May Jeger. She was awarded the “Medal for Merit” by the former president of the Czech Republic - for help in saving Czech students from the Nazis during the Second World War. Born in 1915 in the county of Gloucester. She graduated from College Birbeck at the University of London. During the Second World War, she worked at the Ministry of Information.

In the world community, fierce disputes around Iraq continue. Voting in the UN Security Council on a resolution providing for the disarmament of Iraq by force. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Asnar said today that France, Russia and China opposing the resolution have “own interests” in Iraq. The representative of the ruling Party of Pakistan - one of the 15 members of the Security Council - announced that his country would refrain when voting on the resolution.

Yuri Zhigalkin , New York: American and British diplomats were forced to announce on Monday about their readiness to postpone the deadline for several days, established in the project of their resolution to disarm Iraq. This proposal followed after the French president clearly stated that Paris would impose a veto on any resolution that could become a prologue to the war.

Today in the program: - The press of Azerbaijan. - Council of Europe - an assistant or observer? - Who depends on the Azerbaijani press? Baku journalists love to protest. Do rallies help with freedom of speech? Comments the editor -in -chief of the newspaper Echo Rauf Talyshinsky and expert of the Extreme Journalism Center Shakhin Rzaev.

The Israeli army continues anti -terrorism operations in the Palestinian territories. In the city of Hevron on the western coast of Jordan last night, in a shootout with armed Palestys, one soldier was killed and five were injured. The house of an extremist group "Islamic jihad" and an underground workshop for explosives were destroyed. 10 Palestinians were arrested. The operation is carried out in response to a recent attack on a Jewish settlement, as a result of which two settlers died.