Mikhail Sokolov , Moscow: Grigory Yavlinsky defiantly left the meeting of the democratic meeting, and his "Yabloko" party abstained upon voting on the statement of the situation in Chechnya. The fact is that most other parties and organizations opposed the fact that the President of Russia Vladimir Putin personally led the peaceful conference proposed as the way of resolving the Chechen crisis. At the same time, representatives of the polar points of view overturned the apple position.

The United States, Great Britain and Spain decided not to introduce a draft resolution to the UN Security Council, which approves the use of force against Iraq. As the representative of Great Britain at the UN Jeremy Grinstoy said, it became obvious that the resolution would not be approved. The representative of the White House Ari Flysher emphasized that the diplomatic paths of settlement of the Iraqi crisis have been exhausted.

Conducting a referendum in Chechnya without comprehensive preliminary preparation is a political mistake - according to a statement by participants in the democratic meeting adopted today in Moscow. In their opinion, the process of peaceful settlement in the republic should begin with the conclusion of a truce. Then it is necessary to hold a peaceful conference with the participation of all interested parties, preferably, chaired by the President of Russia.

With me in the studio, a lawyer of the Moscow City Bar Association "Lawyer Chamber" Lada Orlova. Since the beginning of spring, Russian summer residents have been reviving. And although snow still lies in the courtyards, tomatoes, peppers and other vegetation, cultivated in the beds of gardeners, are already on the windowsills under the windows of daylight. So, we can say that the country season is open.

In Geneva, the annual session of the UN Human Rights Commission takes place. The focus of attention is a violation of human rights in a number of countries, primarily in China, Iraq and Chechnya. Representatives of 53 member states of the commission will also discuss restrictions on a number of civil rights and freedoms in the framework of the fight against terrorism. This year, for the first time at the meeting, Libya, chosen for this post, prescarms the protests of human rights defenders.

The United States demanded that Israel conduct an immediate investigation into the circumstances of the death of an American citizen on Sunday in the Gaza Strip. The activist of the pacifist movement fell under the Israeli army bulldozer when she tried to interfere with the demolition of the house in the Rafach refugee camp. The Palestinian was also shot in a shootout in Rafakh. Another Palestinian was killed in Khan Junis.

In the Kemerovo region, by decision of the governor, to veterans, who are gentlemen of the orders of the Red Banner and the Red Banner of Labor, the size of the pension is increased by 300 rubles. Currently, in Kuzbass, more than 130 thousand people receive an additional payment for pensions. Each year, 110 million rubles are allocated for these purposes from the regional budget. In Saransk, 33 percent increased the fee for the maintenance of children in nurseries and kindergartens.

The emergency introduced in Serbia after the murder of Prime Minister Zoran Ginjich will most likely last another six weeks. This was stated today by Zoran Zhivkovich, nominated by the ruling Democratic Party of Serbia to the post of head of government. As part of the investigation of the Jingjich’s murder, the Serbian security forces searched the house of the former field commander Zelko Razhnyatovich, nicknamed Arkan, killed several years ago.

Opposition parties of Armenia appealed to the Constitutional Court with a request to recognize the results of the second round of the presidential election invalid. According to official figures, the current head of state Robert Kocharian was more than 30 percent ahead of the opposition candidate Stepan Demirchan. The opposition claims that the voting results are falsified. According to OSCE observers, the elections took place with violations and did not meet international standards.

In France, a trial is undergoing a trial over the former leaders of the Elf oil company, who are accused of corruption and embezzlement of hundreds of millions of dollars. According to the investigation, in the 90s, when the company belonged to the state, the top managers of the Elf received vast commission for the provision of profitable contracts. In addition, the company sponsored political parties in France and Germany, as well as the governments of African states.

The former vice -chairman of the German Free Democrats Party, Jurgen Melleman, announced his exit from the party - after numerous attempts by his colleagues to achieve his exclusion. Some anti -Semitic statements by Melleman caused German public protests. The leaders of the Jewish community of the country believe that Melleman uses anti -Semitic stereotypes to attract the votes of the extreme right -wing voters. Melleman is the chairman of the German-Arab Friendship Society.

The deputies of the Palestinian parliament by a majority vote rejected the demand of the head of the Palestinian autonomy of Yasir Arafat today so that the candidacy of the new head of government was presented for approval. This is one of the amendments proposed by the Arafat to the law on the Prime Minister. However, the opponents of Arafat could not enlist two -thirds of the votes necessary for the law to be adopted in the current edition.

In Birmingham, the World Athletics Championship in closed rooms ended. The US national team won in the team event, which won 10 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze medals. The athletes of Russia have 5 gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze awards, the Swedes have 4 "gold". The champions were athletes from 10 countries, and representatives of 27 states rose to the podium in total.

The United States and Great Britain call part of the employees of diplomatic missions in Israel, Kuwait and Syria - due to the threat of war with Iraq. According to the order of the State Department of the United States and the British Ministry of Foreign Affairs, these countries should immediately leave members of the family of diplomats. London also recommended that all British subjects refrain from traveling to the Middle East.

Representatives of a number of airlines recommended that passengers refrain from flights to Southeast Asia, where the number of cases of dangerous viral disease was growing. In some airports in the region, passengers put on special masks and respirators.