The President thanks the Jews of Russia and America Vladimir Putin yesterday, on behalf of the Russian authorities, expressed deep gratitude to two Jewish communities. Russian Jews were praised by the president for their great contribution to the development of our country, and especially to its multinational culture.

The government may ban the import of used foreign cars older than five years. Russian officials, unable to withstand the pressure of the automobile lobby, left it to the discretion of the government to decide the question of what foreign cars of “age” are subject to prohibitive import duties into Russia. At tomorrow's meeting, the Cabinet of Ministers will discuss the concept for the development of the domestic automobile industry until 2010.

The Volgodonsk NPP is being harnessed to the Don economy The administration of the Rostov region has secured a preferential energy tariff for the five most energy-intensive Don enterprises, which is 5-10% lower than usual. According to the plan of the provincial authorities, cheap electricity will be supplied by the Volgodonsk nuclear power plant.

Evgeniy Kiselev’s team is full of optimism If the partnership “Media-Socium” and its registered television company “TV-Spectrum” win the competition on March 27, Evgeniy Kiselev’s team can return to the air within one or two months. This was stated yesterday by Mr. Kiselev himself, who also did not rule out that TV-Spectrum, with a temporary permit from the Ministry of Press, will begin broadcasting at an earlier date.

The Central Bank will find a new leader today. Deputies will most likely agree with the candidacy proposed by the president, and Viktor Gerashchenko’s successor will be the current First Deputy Minister of Finance, Sergei Ignatiev.

A major tennis tournament from the Masters series started today on the courts of American Miami. The prize fund in women's competitions is 2 million 820 thousand dollars, for men - 3 million 575 thousand dollars. All the strongest tennis players in the world participate in these competitions. There are eight Russians in the main draw of the women's tournament. Our Anna Kournikova meets with the Greek Elena Danilidou in the first round.

Anatoly Sitnikov, general director of the Nazarovskaya State District Power Plant, one of the largest thermal power plants in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, died in a car accident. Last weekend he and his friends went fishing. On the Achinsk-Nazarovo highway, a Zhiguli of the seventh model crashed into the Niva in which the director was traveling at full speed. The cars collided head-on. The driver of the "seven" and his wife, residents of one of the nearby towns, died on the spot.

Russian peacekeepers were captured by relatives of hostages Russian "blue helmets", three officers and a private of the CIS Collective Peacekeeping Forces in Abkhazia, were kidnapped on Monday evening in the village of Otobaya, Gali region. Their car was blocked near checkpoint 207 by a group of masked armed men, after which the peacekeepers were “escorted” in an unknown direction. It is still unclear why the military personnel did not resist.

Belgian politician is now seen as an innocent victim Belgium once again confirmed its reputation as a supplier of material to sections of European judicial chronicles. Alain Van der Beest, who at one time showed great promise - a former minister in the governments of Belgium and Wallonia, the burgomaster of his city near Liege and in the 80s one of the leaders of the Socialist Party (Francophones) - committed suicide.

The famous Jewish satirist living in Switzerland and writing in Hebrew was awarded the 2002 Israel State Prize for his literary work. The highest award of the State of Israel, the monetary equivalent of which is 50 thousand shekels (12 thousand 200 euros), will be awarded to Kishon on Israel's Independence Day - April 17. Ephraim Kishon (real name Franz Hoffmann) was born in 1924 in Budapest. During World War II, he survived Nazi and Hungarian concentration camps, as well as the Russian Gulag.

A sexual maniac was detained in Norilsk - 25-year-old taxi driver Rustam Bakhtiyarov, who raped six underage girls in one month. Despite the fact that the polar city has only 180 thousand inhabitants, identifying the criminal was not at all easy. Bakhtiyarov, who has already served two terms for theft and drug possession, went through a good criminal school.

Russian chemical weapons could kill international official The meeting of the executive committee of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which opened on Tuesday in The Hague, was decided to be held behind closed doors. The routine protocol of the event threatens to be disrupted by the famously twisted “Russian intrigue”, which international fighters against chemical weapons do not seem to want to bring to public discussion.

Queen's musical will support anti-globalizationists Six years ago, the creation of a musical began, the basis of which would be the songs of the classic rock band Queen. On May 14 this year, the project will finally be presented on the stage of the London Dominion Theater, and then shown in other countries around the world. An impressive team of proven professionals worked on the production of the musical We Will Rock You, whose budget was seven and a half million pounds (!).

Gazprom's claims to SIBUR may be expanded during the company's bankruptcy procedure compared to those presented in Gazprom's application to the arbitration court of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug to declare SIBUR bankrupt, says SIBUR interim manager Mikhail Fomenkov. In his commentary on the situation at SIBUR, it is noted: “I would like to draw attention to the fact that Gazprom’s statement indicated only some requirements.

Relations between Muslims and Hindus are getting worse Yesterday, Indian soldiers shot dead two militants barricaded in a mosque in the village of Mirgund (Jammu and Kashmir state). The village elders were unable to persuade them to surrender in an amicable manner, the siege continued all night, and in the morning the firefight broke out again and the militants were killed.