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Kim Il Sung's sarcophagus is better than Lenin's The main shrine of North Korea is considered to be a mausoleum in which a sarcophagus with the body of Kim Il Sung is installed. Everything that is directly or indirectly connected with the name of Kim Il Sung is revered or even idolized by North Koreans. Foreign guests are especially warned before arriving in Pyongyang: under no circumstances should they throw away newspapers with portraits of the North Korean leader or his books.

But the Iraqis are stocking up on machine guns and pistols The head of the UN team of inspectors for the disarmament of Iraq (UNMOVIC), Hans Blix, and the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Muhammad AlBaradei, completed a two-day stay in Baghdad yesterday. The personal representative of President Saddam, Brigadier General Amer Al-Saadi, who was responsible for organizing inspections on the Iraqi side, spoke with them.

Nord-Ost has overcome its own death Before the pre-premiere showing of the revived “Nord-Ost,” I had an eerie feeling: I couldn’t believe that I would enter the hall where the hostages had been languishing for three days and could, “disconnecting” from the terrible backstory, just watch the performance. It seemed that the cheerful atmosphere of “Nord-Ost” left these walls along with the first shots of the terrorists.

Ordinary visitors to pharmacies have hardly felt the changes that have occurred in the pharmaceutical market over the past two months since the introduction of new drug certification rules. After all, the price tags have remained virtually unchanged. However, rumors that the innovation initiated by the Ministry of Health will still hit Russians’ wallets do not subside.

The scandal in the Moscow mayor's office that occurred last week between Yuri Luzhkov and the head of the city construction complex, Vladimir Resin, seems to be almost settled. The mayor, as promised, made personnel conclusions. However, they did not affect either the core team of the city executive power, or even the heads of departments of the Moscow government.

The Kazakh policeman and the Kuban ataman deceived everyone - from Rosrezerv to the Chechens The investigation into the case of large-scale theft of Rosrezerv funds was recently completed by the Investigative Committee (IC) under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. His “heroes” are two businessmen who managed to receive $6 million from the state in exchange for forged documents about the shipment of a huge shipment of wheat to the granaries of their homeland.

Amendments to the insurance law adopted in the first reading The State Duma on Friday approved in the first reading amendments to the law “On the organization of insurance business in Russia” and other acts of legislation.” The changes and additions provide for the division of insurance companies into organizations providing personal (primarily life insurance) and property insurance.

This week, residents of North Korea, which calls itself the Land of Morning Freshness, will widely celebrate the main holiday of the year - the birthday of their leader, Comrade Kim Jong Il. The North Korean leader will turn 61 next Sunday. Preparations for the “happy February day” are painted in thick military-patriotic tones. Last year, Pyongyang defied Washington's policies by expelling IAEA inspectors and demanding a non-aggression pact from the United States.

The European Union does not like Russian quotas Restrictive quotas on pork, beef and poultry meat, which have not yet come into effect (they should begin to take effect in the spring), threaten to spoil Russian-European relations. The head of the Russian representative office of the European Commission, Richard Wright, said that Russia violated the provisions of the 1994 Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between Russia and the EU.

Radu Poklitaru staged Carmen Suite “Russian Festival Ballet” is one of many domestic troupes that are officially listed as Moscow, but never perform in the capital. There is a removable rehearsal base here (the Zuev House of Culture at the moment), and performances, premieres and earnings are only abroad. Typically, such troupes carry a “Sleeping Beauty” painted for 16 people or a “Swan” plucked for up to 12 birds.

The Russian Basketball Cup among men's teams has entered the main stage. The strongest super league clubs have already joined the fight for the trophy. Last weekend, CSKA played its first match in the tournament. The army team had to fly to distant Surgut to meet with one of the leaders of the second division, the local “University”. The club's management exempted the Americans Holden and Alexander, as well as the Greek Hatzivrettas, from the exotic trip.

Vladimir Putin spoke a lot of German yesterday The opening ceremony of the Year of Russian Culture in Germany and the festival “Russian-German Cultural Meetings 2003-2004” was not without its hiccups.

The meaning of what is happening to the largest Russian party, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, is quite difficult for an outside observer to understand. The expulsion of Seleznev, Goryacheva, Gubenko, then Zyuganov’s furious attacks on the chairman of the executive committee of the NPSR Gennady Semigin, now the flaring criticism of Sergei Glazyev... Not all is well with the communists.

Until Russia and Ukraine reach an agreement with each other Moscow and Kyiv still do not have a consensus on the principles of participation of foreign partners in the project of an international consortium to manage the Ukrainian gas transportation system. This can be considered the main result of the meeting of the consortium’s supervisory board held in Kyiv on Friday, which approved only a short-term work plan.