French authorities have begun an investigation into the activities of the international telecommunications company Vivendi Universal. The Paris prosecutor's office opened a criminal case against the media concern, suspecting it of falsifying financial statements. According to shareholders, in 2000 and 2001 the company published deliberately incorrect information about the state of its finances, the rapid growth of which was carried out through large loans.

The traditional World Handball Cup among men's teams has started in Sweden. Eight teams are participating in the competition. At the first stage, the Russians were placed in the same group with Yugoslavia, Germany and Iceland, the other quartet at the preliminary stage was made up of world champions the French, gold medal winners of the continental championship Swedes, Danes and Egyptians. The top two teams from each group advance to the semi-finals.

Russia is recalling its ambassador to Georgia, Vladimir Gudev, who served in this post for only two years. The diplomat said that his replacement was routine. The new Russian ambassador will be the well-known politician in Tbilisi, Vladimir Chkhikvishvili, who served as director of the US and Canada Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry. Mr.

In November, Sibneft will not supply oil to the Moscow Refinery, since it has not yet submitted an application, the press service of the Moscow Oil Company, which manages the plant, told the Vremya Novostei newspaper. As a result, 200 thousand tons of raw materials will be supplied by TNK (it has not yet been among the suppliers to the Moscow Refinery), Nafta Petrol and the Moscow Oil Company, 100 thousand tons will be supplied by the Korus company, another 44 thousand tons - other suppliers.

Fortunately, the list of dead is not growing. The first funeral of those killed during the terrorist attack on Dubrovka and during the operation to free the hostages took place yesterday in Moscow cemeteries. Five people were buried. The Moscow authorities decided not to hold a centralized memorial service in order to give all survivors of the tragedy the opportunity to say goodbye to their loved ones without strangers. Today, about 40 more hostages killed by gas will be buried.

The commander of the Air Force and Air Defense military unit stationed in Sergiev Posad, Colonel Yuri Neustroev, was recently detained by officers of the FSB and the Organized Crime Control Department of the Moscow Region. According to investigators, the officer took up his post two years ago and immediately drew attention to the only shopping pavilion on the territory of the military unit.

Alexander Pochinok helped children Yesterday, Labor Minister Alexander Pochinok spoke at the State Kremlin Palace. Appearing at the international forum “Adults to Children,” organized by a certain center for consulting programs “Generation—21st Century,” the minister actually told the audience that they are, to put it mildly, not exactly who they say they are, and are helping mainly for yourself, not for your children.

The main reason for the closure of the so-called Representative Office of Ichkeria in Baku was that its leader, Ali Asaev, was connected with the terrorists who took hostages in Moscow. This explanation was given to the Vremya Novostey newspaper yesterday by the Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan.

The investment company Rinako, part of the MDM group, yesterday officially announced the acquisition of a 70% stake in Antonovskoye Mining Management OJSC. This mine in the Novokuznetsk region annually produces up to 1 million tons of raw and 350 thousand tons of commercial quartzite, which is used for the production of ferrosilicon, a component of ferroalloys. The main consumer of these products is the Kuznetsk Ferroalloys plant, which has been controlled by the MDM group since July 2001.

The wide neck of the vessel is not yet a sign that there is a drink inside The alcohol market is expecting serious changes in legislation, especially concerning the “shadow” sector.

At the Theater. Pushkin plays a play based on the famous novel by Iris Murdoch Iris Murdoch was a very smart and educated woman. She taught philosophy at Oxford, taught a course on French existentialism, and wrote novels. One of them, “The Black Prince,” was published at the height of the stagnation in “Foreign Literature” and became, as they would say now, one of the cult books of the Russian intelligentsia.

Changes in Formula 1 can only delay Michael Schumacher's championship The long-awaited meeting of the International Motor Sports Federation (FIA) commission ended late Monday in London. Its result was the adoption of a number of revolutionary changes in the rules of the Formula 1 World Championship. According to some estimates, the “royal races” have not seen so many innovations for almost 20 years. First of all, the fate of the Belgian Grand Prix was decided in an instant.

In the days when the hostages were sitting in a hall seized by terrorists, television was given a very difficult task: on the one hand, to inform the public as fully as possible about what was happening, and on the other hand, not to damage or interfere with the special services and, if possible, to direct public emotions to constructive direction.

The American corporation Dell Computer, the world's largest manufacturer of personal computers, is building a new sales policy in Russia. Yesterday, the head of the Russian representative office of Dell, Alexander Shtalenkov, announced the corporation's plans to expand its business by creating a new brand for the Russian market and organizing a powerful distribution channel for Dell computer equipment in this market.

Federal forces in Chechnya lost another combat helicopter yesterday. At about 16.00, right near the main base of the United Group of Forces (OGV) in Khankala, a Mi-8, assigned to the aviation of the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, crashed. All four people on board were killed. According to the main version, based on witness testimony, the helicopter was shot down from the ground from a man-portable air defense system (MANPADS).