Goskomstat hopes for discoveries during the census The All-Russian population census, the first since January 1989, officially began this morning. According to the head of the State Statistics Committee, Vladimir Sokolin, the preliminary stage of the campaign went quite satisfactorily: “The main lesson is that the country opened its doors to census takers.” A serious emergency occurred only in one case - a female census taker was attacked by a previously convicted citizen .

Russia and Ukraine agreed on parity participation in the gas consortium Despite the abundance of political statements regarding the signing of the Russian-Ukrainian agreement on the creation of a consortium to manage the Ukrainian gas transportation network, which took place on Monday in Chisinau, its details require separate comments.

Russian tennis player Tatyana Panova successfully passed the first round of the 2nd category WTA tournament with a prize fund of 625 thousand dollars that began in Filderstadt (Germany), beating Italian Silvia Farina-Elia - 6:3, 6:2. In the second round, Tatyana will meet with Jelena Dokic (Yugoslavia).

The Ministry of Communications has calculated the cost of the reform The Ministry of Communications and Informatization, which has already entered the reform stage, intends to attract investments worth about $1 billion. The money is intended to increase the profitability of mail (currently it is 4%) by modernizing the transport service and introducing information technologies for the implementation of such modern services as parcel trade, express mail delivery, money transfers, etc.

Heads of three regional departments of the FSNP are suspected of corruption The head of the tax police of the Chelyabinsk region, Alexander Titov, yesterday sent a report of dismissal to the head of the Federal Tax Service of Russia, Mikhail Fradkov. This is the third recent case of personnel changes in the leadership of the territorial tax authorities of the Ural Federal District.

The Russian championship among women's basketball super league teams begins today. At the first stage, 11 elite clubs will hold a two-round tournament. Then there will be a division according to sporting principles into the best six and a quintet of outsiders, where the participants will play each other two more times, after which the playoffs will take place. It will start from the quarterfinal stage. The favorites of the tournament are Samara SSAU and the current champion Ekaterinburg UMMC.

There will be either 8 or 10 planets in the solar system Pluto is in danger of being demoted in rank - astronomers are ready to deny it the status of a “big planet” and relegate it to the category of ordinary asteroids. And all because scientists found a “little brother” for him. This sensational discovery was recently confirmed by decoding images taken by the Hubble orbital telescope.

The clear leaders of the English championship play in the same colors Nine rounds have been played in the English Premier League - almost a quarter of the championship. Therefore, it is already possible to predict something. For example, you can even now bet that the 2002/03 English champion will wear a red uniform (that’s why the title of Ioanna Khmelevskaya’s novel is mentioned in the title).

Former member of the musical group “Na-Na”, and now the lead singer of the group “Kedy”, Vladimir Levkin, fell into the hands of robbers on Monday evening. According to the Central Internal Affairs Directorate, the attack occurred around 10 p.m. on Vlasyevsky Lane, where he rents an apartment. When the former “Nanai” left the entrance and headed to his car, three strong men emerged from the darkness, detectives believe, who had been specially waiting for the celebrity.

An exhibition from Belgrade helped to understand what one museum destroyed in Moscow could have become Have you seen Renoir's paintings done in the manner of Watteau? - No, you haven’t seen such paintings... Do you remember Andre Derain’s still life with ceramics, napkins and glass stolen from Caravaggio and Chardin? - No, you don’t remember.

Prices are supported by government promises to start purchasing The grain interventions needed to maintain acceptable grain prices have been postponed. As a result of a meeting held yesterday in the White House, the timing of government procurement was postponed to the beginning of November, although according to the September decision of the Cabinet of Ministers, they were supposed to begin in the third ten days of October.

Famous European designers showed their projects The Scena gallery has opened an exhibition “Working with Taste” by the Italian designer Marco Gorini, and the gallery of the Hermes boutique presents works by students of the Moscow Architectural Institute, made in collaboration with the French designer, a student of Philippe Starck, Matali Crasset. The Scena gallery, which occupies a large apartment on Nikitsky Boulevard, organized a pompous opening day for the second time.

Moscow pretends to give in to Bush's pressure Yesterday, US President George W. Bush again convinced Americans and the whole world that it is necessary to adopt a tough new UN resolution on Iraq as soon as possible. According to Bush, regime change in Iraq is the “only way” to ensure America's security.

Representatives of the State Customs Committee of Russia yesterday announced the prevention of a record-breaking smuggling operation of its kind. They prevented the illegal export of more than 27 tons of nuclear materials from the country. Customs officials did not disclose details.

Moscow premiere of The Bourne Identity In the unusually cold and stormy Mediterranean Sea, Marseille fishermen catch an unknown person. He has eighteen grams of lead in his back, an implanted microchip under his skin for who knows why, and a echoing emptiness in his head. The unknown remains such primarily for himself and has no idea even what his name is.