The head of the State Statistics Committee demands that the government influence the press There are 100 days left before the start of the population census in our country. The head of the State Statistics Committee, Vladimir Sokolin, told members of the government about this yesterday. At the cabinet meeting, he reported on how preparations were going for this extraordinary event. According to Mr. Sokolin, the census has essentially already begun.

The Office of the Prosecutor General in the Far Eastern Federal District has completed an investigation into one of the most brutal crimes committed in the region in recent years. In February 2001, in Komsomolsk-on-Amur (Khabarovsk Territory), attackers threw Molotov cocktails at the Charodeyka cafe late at night. At that time, the establishment was crowded; teenagers were celebrating the birthday of a peer.

Safin, Agassi, Sampras - offside Marat Safin, the second racket at the Wimbledon tournament, Andre Agassi, the third, and Pete Sampras, the sixth, dropped out of the game almost simultaneously. Safin was completely discouraged by the performance of the Belgian Olivier Rochus. Agassi never expected such agility from the Thai tennis player Paradorn Srichaphan. And Sampras did not suspect that a very average player from Switzerland, Georges Bastle, would fall on him.

"Lulu" by Alban Berg at the Helikon Theater As often happens in Helikon Opera, the new idea of ​​its artistic director and director Dmitry Bertman is designed in a revolutionary spirit and in the “out of the blue” genre. In Moscow, the list of repertoire titles is scarce and traditional to the point of tears.

Smokers believe that fees can be increased, but only slightly Amendments to several chapters of the Tax Code will be considered by the Duma today. Among the most controversial issues is changing the system of levying excise taxes on tobacco. The government proposed replacing the specific system that has been in place for five years (excise tax rates are fixed in rubles and differ depending on the class of tobacco products) with a combined one.

The prosecutor's office demanded that the verdicts in the cases of Bykov and Kholodov be overturned The Moscow prosecutor's office yesterday protested the verdict against the former head of the Krasnoyarsk aluminum plant, Anatoly Bykov. Investigators accused him of organizing the murder of his former business partner Vilor Struganov, and the Meshchansky Court of Moscow on June 19 found Mr. Bykov completely guilty.

The European aircraft manufacturing consortium EADS intends to create a subsidiary in Russia. As Klaus-Dieter Bergner, first vice-president of the consortium for marketing, said yesterday in Moscow, a formal decision on the creation of the EADS-Russia company is expected before the end of this month, and its organization should be completed by September.

The Germans can only count on the Chancellor The final match of the World Cup Brazil - Germany will take place only on Sunday, but fans from all countries are already looking forward to this event. Brazilian fans line up at hairdressers to get their Ronaldo hair done, and TV sales have skyrocketed in Germany. Even German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who is in Canada for the G8 summit, expressed a desire to watch the game.

Freestyle fight for Slavneft After a dozen anonymous calls about a bomb planted in the building of the Russian-Belarusian oil company Slavneft, which were heard by the police over the past month, yesterday the situation around the company really exploded. As the general director of the security company Centurion-M (guards the Slavneft office) Gennady Romanov said, events developed like this.

Instead of the plant there was a criminal case, and even then it was unsuccessful The trial of one of the most notorious scams in Russian healthcare ended in a scandal. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, almost all the money allocated at one time by the state for the construction of Russia’s first insulin production plant was openly stolen. As a result, we still have not established full-fledged production of this drug.

On the second day of the tournament for the Intercontinental Handball Cup among men's teams, the Russian team had a rest, but the opening match of the tournament was played by the Algerian squad - the champion of Africa. Her match with the Argentines turned out to be very stubborn, and the advantage of the South Americans was expressed by only two goals - 22:20.

Orlov was launched at the Moscow Film Festival On Wednesday, as part of the Moscow International Film Festival, the first Golden Eagles were awarded at Mosfilm. The award ceremony turned into an international presentation of the new Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, officially headed by Vladimir Naumov, and organized and inspired by Nikita Mikhalkov at the behest of those who sent him, that is, the congress of the RF IC.

The new law on the Central Bank awaits only the presidential signature The country's main bank will soon begin to live by different rules. Yesterday, the Duma, by 389 votes, overcame the Federation Council's veto on the updated version of the law on the Bank of Russia. Now the fate of the bill, which the Duma has been working on for two years, depends on the president. Vladimir Putin will most likely sign the document adopted by the Duma and rejected by the senators.

Olympic champion figure skater Alexei Yagudin intends to implement an unprecedented plan. This season, Yagudin wants to combine his amateur and professional careers. The skater does not hide the fact that he received an invitation from the organizers of one of the most prestigious ice shows in America, Stars On Ice, and may soon sign a contract.

The best Russian basketball player of the 1999/2000 season, center Elen Shakirova, became the third Russian woman to play in the WNBA championship this year. On the night of June 27, she played her first match this season for the Charlotte Sting. Last year, Shakirova played for the Houston Rockets, but the club traded her to Charlotte in exchange for draft rights.