The NBA is in the midst of a campaign to sign contracts for the next season. Traditionally, there is a hunt for players who are free agents. However, few clubs can boast of having free money, and great basketball players demand high salaries. In this case, the increased attention to Europeans does not seem surprising. Thus, the Detroit Pistons began an active campaign to attract new players with an eye on Europe.

Australian teenager sets third world record 18-year-old Ian Thorpe became the main sensation of the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan. Yesterday he set another world record - 1.44.06 seconds. at a distance of 200 meters freestyle. As a result, Thorpe not only won the duel against Dutch swimmer Pieter van den Hoogenband, who finished second in 1.45.81 seconds, but also became the second swimmer after American Tim Shaw to earn three freestyle golds at one championship .

In the Moscow region, authorities spent the whole day yesterday assessing the scale of the destruction that occurred due to the squally winds with downpours that swept over Moscow on July 24. In the capital, 2.5 thousand trees were knocked down, three thousand square meters of building roofs were damaged, two gas pipelines were damaged, and 190 trolleybus and tram lines were broken. Five people were killed, 36 were injured of varying severity.

The White House did not ignore the zeal that a whole group of officials showed throughout the spring and half of the summer, persuading the Duma and the Federation Council to approve a voluminous package of priority laws for the president and the government.

A state prize for a first novel is a rare occurrence. But it was this award that was awarded to “Khurramabad” by Andrey VOLOS, even earlier - before the full book publication - it was awarded by Anti-Booker (1998). A bright and powerful (at times very scary), reliable book is focused on the most pressing problem - the tragic exodus of Russian-speaking people from Central Asia. “Khurramabad” was followed by the novel “Real Estate” (New World, No.

The German gas company Ruhrgas, the largest European partner of Russian energy, celebrated its 75th anniversary. Friedrich Späth, who headed the board of the concern from June 1996 to June 2001, talks with the Berlin correspondent of the Vremya Novostei newspaper YURI SHPAKOV. - Mr. Spaeth, these days you are handing over the “marshal’s baton” to the new chairman of the board, Burkhard Bergmann. How satisfied are you with what you have been able to accomplish during your years in this position?

The taming of gas in its significance for humans is quite comparable to the taming of fire. Gas, which illuminated the houses and streets of Europe in the 19th century, and came to the kitchens of high-rise buildings in the 20th century, can rightfully be considered one of the things that radically changed the quality of people’s lives. And although today gas stoves are being replaced by electric ones, this does not mean that the time of gas is passing.

Director of the Federal Tax Police Service Mikhail Fradkov will meet with Vladimir Putin today. The head of the Federal Tax Service announced this on Wednesday after a meeting of the heads of the tax police of the Central Federal District. “It is difficult to predict the issues that will interest the president,” Mr. Fradkov said.

The “Pyongyang recluse” comes to Russia Kim Jong Il, the “respected leader” of the DPRK, will finally arrive in the Russian capital. Let us recall that the Russian President personally invited him during a meeting last summer in Pyongyang, when the leaders of neighboring countries met and even, as knowledgeable people say, developed sympathy for each other.

Workers at the Novosibirsk station had to face an unusual technical problem on Wednesday night. One of the empty trains standing on the tracks unexpectedly set off without a driver. The electric train moved off on its own when the driver and his assistant moved along the train to the cabin of the last car to send the train to the depot. The trackmen noticed the uncontrolled “escape” of the train from the station and managed to move the switches so that the train came to a dead end.

Four children died in Ingushetia as a result of the explosion of a shell they found. The tragedy occurred in the village of Kantyshevo, Nazran district on Tuesday. The power of the explosion was so great that a crater with a diameter of 15-20 and a depth of about 2 meters was formed at the site where the shell was discovered. 12-year-old Amirkhan Kadzoev, 9-year-old Milana Kadzoeva, 6-year-old Milana Zurabova and 5-year-old Muslim Zurabov died on the spot.

Tomorrow's government meeting will be devoted to the restructuring of the Russian military-industrial complex, otherwise called the reform of the defense industry. Initially, the government's discussion of the future of the defense industry was scheduled for May 5, but the issue was postponed several times.

Stock market rise delayed The prospects for economic growth, which experts were talking about a few weeks ago, have been pushed back indefinitely. The season of corporate reports of the world's leading companies, now in its third week, has not met the hopes of analysts and players for a quick revival of business activity. The Russian market is hiding. The players became quiet and waited, looking first at America and then at Argentina.

The 15th stage of the traditional multi-day cycling race “Tour de France” took place. It passed between the cities of Pau and Lavaux in the south of France. Belgian Rick Verbrugge from the Lotto team, who finished first, gave himself a wonderful birthday gift, and after finishing he said that he dedicated his victory to his wife and little daughter.

Today, the Baltika brewing company will file a claim with the Arbitration Court of the Moscow Region against Meta-Tabak CJSC for damages caused by the company's products, the Baltika press service reported. Baltika hopes to receive 300 thousand rubles from the defendant company. According to Baltika's lawyers, Meta-Tabak earned this amount by selling cigarettes under the brands Baltika No. 3 and Baltika No. 9, violating the brewing company's rights to a registered trademark.