The volume of Russia's gold and foreign exchange reserves per week from May 11 to 18 increased by about 2% and reached a new record level - $ 394.3 billion, the country's Central Bank said. According to this indicator, Russia still takes third place in the world after China and Japan. The gold and foreign exchange reserves of these countries amount to more than 1.2 trillion and 915 billion dollars, respectively.

The program is conducted by Alexei Kuznetsov. A radio correspondent Freedom Mark Krutov takes part. Alexey Kuznetsov: Today, the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia holds a day of collective actions for increasing wages and ensuring social guarantees. This is the third stage of the All -Russian Promotion of Trade Unions under the motto “For a decent life”. In Moscow, in particular, trade unions organize a live chain from the Government House to the building of the State Duma.

Yuri Zhigalkin: Fighting in Iraq, American soldiers cover America from terrorists, says President Bush. Russian criticism and future of American missile defense. A million for the best idea of combating cancer is offered by American financiers. These are some of the topics of the section "Today in America." Fighting in Iraq, American soldiers protect their own country from terror, President Bush said on Wednesday.

The tragedy at the Yubileinaya mine. Protests of Russian trade unions. The Litinenko case and Russian-British relations.

In many Russian cities today, the third stage of the trade union action "For a decent life" takes place. Rallies and pickets are organized on the eve of consideration by the State Duma of the federal budget for The next three years. The main requirements of the participants in the action are raising salaries and pensions, as well as ensuring social guarantees. In Moscow, representatives of industry trade unions lined up in a living chain, which stretched from Manezhnaya Square to the new Arbat.

The number of victims at the anniversary mine in the Kemerovo region reached 38 people. According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, all the dead during the explosion of methane were extracted from under the rubble. At the time of the explosion, 217 people were in the face, 179 - brought to the surface. Specialists of Rostekhnadzor began to investigate the causes of the accident.

In the Kemerovo region, the number of methane who died in the explosion at the Yubileinaya mine increased - up to 28. According to the latest data, 178 people are brought to the surface, the searches of another eleven miners continue. The commission of Rostekhnadzor began to investigate the causes of the accident this morning. In March, more than a hundred miners became victims of the explosion at another Kuzbass mine - "Ulyanovsk".

Victor Rezunkov: Today we are visiting - Professor Sergey Kapitsa. In St. Petersburg, the conference “Interaction of cultures and civilizations: dialogue or conflict has just passed? Search for the consent strategy in the III millennium. ” This is a large international conference. And I propose to discuss the following topics: the preliminary results of this conference, as well as the topic of one of the “round tables” at this conference, the chairman of which you were, Sergey Petrovich.

On June 4-8 in Prague, the Moscow Theater on Pokrovka (artistic director and chief director-Sergey Artsibashev) will be held in Prague. In the home repertoire of the theater - world, Russian, and Soviet classics, and plays of modern authors (Lyudmila Petrushevskaya). In Prague, the troupe brings four performances: “Examiner” and “Marriage” according to Gogol, “Three Sisters” according to Chekhov and “Hamlet” according to Shakespeare.

In Moscow, residents of South Butova continue to protest against the demolition of their village. Today there is a rally organized by "Yabloko" and the Communist Party. The capital's authorities accuse public figures supporting the residents of the district of politicizing the struggle. Last week, builders tried to start in South Butov the construction of the first multi -storey building. The whole land on which the "Butovites" lived should be - by order of the authorities - built up.

Marina Timasheva: May 16, exactly 40 years after the appeal of Alexander Solzhenitsyn to the Congress of Writers moved in the lists, the Solzhenitsyn Foundation Prize took place in the Moscow House of Russian Abroad. In fact, the fund is engaged in the help of former prisoners-only last year, 2 thousand 660 people received material remembrance. As for the idea of a literary award, she, according to Natalia Dmitrievna Solzhenitsyna, appeared in her wife already in 1978.

On the western coast of Jordan, the Israeli military captured several high -ranking representatives of the Hamas movement, including one of the members of the office (Minister of Education), as well as the mayor of the city of Nablus. Prior to this, in the gas sector, extremists rejected the call of the head of the Palestinian autonomy of Mahmoud Abbas to stop the missile shelling of the southern Israel.

The Russian president avoids politics on his trip and talks about the economy The Russian President continues to tour central Europe. Today he will arrive on an official visit to Luxembourg - this is the first visit of the head of the Russian state in history to the Duchy. With the Duke of Henri and the Duchess of Maria Teresia, Vladimir Putin will talk about trade and investment cooperation.

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine accepted a statement about the danger of usurpation of power by President Viktor Yushchenko. In addition, the parliament obliged the Prosecutor General’s prosecutor's office to evaluate the actions of the state protection department, whose employees in the morning tried not to go to work of three Jushchenko judges of the Constitutional Court.