Today the G8 summit opens in Canada, in which Russian President Vladimir Putin will also take part. As Andrei Illarionov, presidential adviser on economic issues, told reporters, in two working days it is planned to consider issues of combating terrorism, strengthening global economic growth, and the possibility of supporting a plan for the development of Africa. The forum will be held in the small mountain town of Kananaskis.

If the presidential elections in the Russian Federation took place next Sunday, 46% of Russians would vote for Vladimir Putin. These are the data from a survey conducted on June 22-23, 2002. Foundation "Public Opinion" (FOM) in 100 settlements in 44 regions, territories and republics of the Russian Federation. A total of 1,500 respondents were surveyed.

The volume of Russian exports in 2002 will grow by 3.2%, and the volume of imports to Russia - by 11%. This forecast is contained in the review of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation on the socio-economic development of Russia for January-May of this year. According to Goskomstat data, in 2001. exports from Russia amounted to $103 billion, and imports - $53.4 billion.

The IMF mission considers it realistic to achieve the inflation level in the Russian Federation based on the results of 2002. at the rate of 14%. This was announced at a working meeting of representatives of the fund with Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Alexei Kudrin. As a source close to the negotiations that ended the day before told reporters, the mission's experts believe that the decline by mid-2002.

Projections of federal budget expenditures for 2003. will allow increasing wages in the public sector by 33% from October 1 next year. This is stated in the materials of the Ministry of Finance, prepared for consideration at the meeting of the Government of the Russian Federation on June 27 of the priorities of budget expenditures for 2003.

The euro/dollar exchange rate has reached its highest level since the beginning of 2000. Analysts attribute this to the fact that investors' confidence in shares of American companies is falling and interest in the euro is growing. According to Zenit Bank analyst Alexei Tretyakov, recently a lot of scandals have arisen related to the violation of the rights of minority shareholders, inflated payments to company managers and the presentation of false data in financial statements.

Against the backdrop of a new sharp drop in American stock indices, as well as a collapse in futures on the Nasdaq and S&P, trading on the Russian stock market began with a noticeable decline in prices for almost the entire range of traded securities. Already in the first half hour of trading on the MICEX, the share prices of RAO UES of Russia came very close to the level of 3 rubles, the quotes of LUKOIL shares decreased by more than 3%, and YUKOS by 4.2%.

Terrorists can find materials to make dirty radioactive bombs in almost any country in the world. This is noted in the IAEA statement. As the organization points out, terrorists can use radioactive materials used in medicine, industry, and conventional weapons to create weapons that can contaminate large areas with radiation. The IAEA claims that more than 100 countries cannot provide reliable protection for radioactive materials such as cobalt-60, strontium-90, cesium-137, and iridium-192.

Both the investigation and the prosecution are convinced that there is “more than enough evidence” in the case of the murder of MK journalist Dmitry Kholodov. Leonid Troshin, head of the information and public relations department of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation, stated this in an exclusive interview with RBC.

The State Duma today adopted in the first reading amendments to the law “On Natural Monopolies” in connection with the reform of the Ministry of Railways of the Russian Federation (MPS). The document is one of four bills developed to provide legal support for the structural reform of federal railway transport. Thus, the lower house has already approved in the first reading the entire package of government bills aimed at reforming the Russian Ministry of Railways.

A Belgian court today refused to open a judicial investigation against Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Thus, the court rejected a lawsuit filed by a group of Palestinian and Lebanese refugees accusing the Israeli leader of the massacre of refugees in the Sabra and Shatila camps in Lebanon in 1982. Then, as a result of the massacre organized by militants of Christian paramilitary groups with the connivance of the Israeli armed forces, more than 2 thousand people died.

The State Duma today adopted in the third and final reading the law “On the turnover of agricultural land.” 258 deputies voted for the adoption of the bill, 149 were against it, and 5 people abstained. The State Duma today adopted in the third and final reading the law “On the turnover of agricultural land.” 258 deputies voted for the adoption of the bill, 149 were against it, and 5 people abstained.

JSC AvtoVAZ is ready to act as one of the main players in the global automotive industry. According to the press center of the Volga Automobile Plant, this was stated by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of AvtoVAZ JSC Vladimir Kadannikov, speaking at the European Congress "Automotive News" in Gothenburg, which was also attended by the heads of Ford Europe, PSA (Peugeot-Citroen), General Motors, Volvo ,Saab.

The security services of the US Congress building have ordered 25 thousand gas masks, which will protect congressmen and their aides, as well as tourists in the event of a chemical or biological attack on the Capitol. Gas masks will be stored in various parts of the Congressional building so that they can be easily distributed if necessary.

Today is International Anti-Drug Day. Drug trafficking is an international problem. This business has become dominant in the range of interests of international organized crime groups, being an extremely profitable type of criminal activity. At the same time, the drug business is merging with various kinds of extremist organizations that are destabilizing the situation throughout the world.