“Oscar” is awarded for the ability to manipulate the viewer As your observers predicted, there was no clear Oscar favorite this year. Still, when you consider the weight of each individual statuette, the leader is Ron Howard's A Beautiful Mind (Best Picture, Director, Supporting Actress, Adapted Screenplay). Let's talk about them. In the USA, A Beautiful Mind was an unconditional success with both critics and the public.

The winners of the Leipzig Book Fair, which ended on Sunday, were Serbian writer Bora Cosic and Czech poet and translator Ludvik Kundera. RIA Novosti reports this. Bora Cosic, who received the Prize for European Understanding, was awarded by the President of the German Bundestag, Wolfgang Thierse. Presenting the prize to the writer along with a 10 thousand euro bonus, he emphasized the merits of 69-year-old Cosic, calling him one of the most outstanding writers of Serbia and Montenegro.

Slaves with ten years of experience found in Chechnya Russian special services carried out an unprecedented operation against slave traders in Chechnya. On Sunday, in the Urus-Martan region, they managed to recapture five hostages from one of the gangs, who had spent more than ten years in captivity. So far, the details of the misadventures of these people - four Russians and one Georgian - have not been fully clarified.

Duma centrists need an initiator of the resignation of the speaker Speaker Gennady Seleznev, as it turned out, suits almost everyone in the Duma, but almost everyone is ready to remove him. True, no one dares to raise the question head-on. This is the situation the Duma majority from the centrist “alliance of four” finds itself in, judging by their statements yesterday. Last week, the centrists, with a majority of votes in the chamber, deprived Mr. Seleznev of a vote in the Duma Council.

European and Russian parliamentarians discuss terrorism issues The work of the St. Petersburg Interparliamentary Forum on Combating Terrorism, organized by the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly and PACE, begins in the northern capital only today.

Avtobank entered into an agreement with the Industrial Insurance Company (PSK) on cooperation in the field of insurance and banking activities. A week before, PSK managers decided to sell 99.66% of the company’s shares to the NIKoil financial corporation, formalizing the deal in the form of a strategic partnership agreement. Previously, NIKoil acquired a 75% stake in Avtobank.

All winter World Cups have found their owners Last weekend the competition for the World Cup in winter disciplines finally ended. The last stages of competition for an elite group of athletes in cross-country skiing, biathlon, snowboarding and ski jumping have passed. After this, the snow and ice season, in which the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City were still the main ones, finally became history.

The prosecutor's office of the Stavropol Territory protested the acquittal of the Leninsky District Court of Stavropol in the case of the Minister of Property Relations under the regional government, Vladimir Ryzhinkov. He was accused of exceeding his powers in the division of trade union and state property of the Caucasian Mineral Waters resorts.

US offended Canadians As I was crossing the Canadian border south of Montreal yesterday, a huge timber truck loaded with stacks of logs coming from America pulled alongside my car. The direction of its movement was mysterious: timber is usually transported from Canada to the United States, and not vice versa, and this was reminiscent of the US Commerce Department's just announced increase in import duties on some Canadian timber.

The governor of Primorye banned low wages “I’m surprised why we haven’t died here yet,” exclaimed a resident of the Khankaisky district during Primorye Governor Sergei Darkin’s next trip to the outback. After thinking about this cry of the soul for a day, the head of the regional administration began to act.

To end my career As one would expect, in the third round of the Masters series super tournament in Key Biscayne, losses began among the players seeded in the top ten. In particular, the second racket of the tournament, Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero, lost to Romanian Adrian Voina - 6:7, 6:1, 2:6. Unfortunately, Ferrero’s company was also accompanied by our Yevgeny Kafelnikov (3), who has been unable to achieve stability this season.

Film academics sacrificed moral principles for the sake of political correctness On Monday night, the Academy Award winners became known. The main Oscar triumph this year was, as expected by most analysts, “A Beautiful Mind” - the biographical film of Ron Howard was recognized as the best film of 2001, and also received an Oscar in the categories “Best Director” (Ron Howard), Best Supporting Actress (Jennifer Connelly) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Akiva Goldsman).

Widespread elections to legislative assemblies at various levels swept across Russia on Sunday. The Omsk region turned very red on Sunday. Five of the 30 seats were occupied by communists. At the same time, representatives of the Union of Right Forces, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, Yabloko and Trudovaya Siberia were vying for the seats in the regional parliament that had become vacant for various reasons, but, according to preliminary data, none of them won in their polling stations.

Poland celebrated the third anniversary of its stay in the North Atlantic Alliance by holding major NATO exercises Strong Resolve-2002 on its territory. Special correspondent for the Vremya Novostey newspaper Katerina LABETSKAYA asked the Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces, General Czeslaw PIONTAS, who recently met with Russian journalists, about whether Warsaw feels safe thanks to its new allies. - We feel comfortable in the NATO family.

Krasnodar authorities imposed a fourfold tax on Sochi entrepreneurs The largest protest in the history of this resort is planned for today in Sochi. Almost all local entrepreneurs - more than 16 thousand people - were preparing to take to the streets and squares of the city the day before. It is expected that consumers of goods and services will join them and the number of protesters will increase several times. In addition, today most Sochi shops and markets will be closed.