Iraq has been waiting for humanitarian aid from Russia A strange situation is developing with the provision of humanitarian aid to Iraq from Russia. The war has been going on for the thirteenth day now, and the Iraqis, who still see the Russians as friends, have not received at least such human support from Moscow.

Incorporation of the gas transportation concern is postponed By April 1, the Belarusian concern Beltransgaz will not be corporatized, although this particular period was agreed upon in advance with the Russian side. According to the union agreement, a joint gas transportation enterprise with the participation of Gazprom should be created by July 1. According to the newspaper Vremya Novostey, all the documents necessary for corporatization will most likely be prepared in two weeks.

The organizers of the 2004 European Championship in Portugal presented the tournament's mascot, called Kinash. This is the name of the historical emblem on the coat of arms of Portugal, which consists of five shields and symbolizes the five victories of the first king of the state, Alfon Gerich, over the Moors. The mascot image was developed by Warner Brothers. According to the designers, this is a cheerful boy who loves to play football and who has his own idols - Eusebio and Figo.

Gazprom will buy it at the entrance to the pipe LUKOIL became the first independent gas producer that will sell a significant amount of produced raw materials to Gazprom, rather than trying to enter the market on its own. Currently there are contracts for the sale of small volumes of gas to the concern from YUKOS (in the Tomsk region) and from Rosneft (in the Krasnodar region).

The Taliban decided to help Saddam Iraq is not the only place where foreign troops have been subject to surprise attacks. The day before yesterday three rockets exploded in Kabul. One was aimed at the headquarters of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan (ISAF), the second rocket fell near the US Embassy and a warehouse with military equipment located in the same area, and the third exploded in the south-eastern part of Kabul.

JSCB "Avtobank" changed its name to "Avtobank-NIKoil" in accordance with the decision of the extraordinary meeting of the bank's shareholders, which took place yesterday. As noted in the Avtobank press release, the new name reflects the development of the process of its integration with the NIKoil financial corporation.

Dmitry Rogozin became disillusioned with United Russia Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Dmitry Rogozin will probably one of these days return to the People's Party, which he recently left to join United Russia. According to the Vremya Novostey newspaper, the deputy discussed this issue with the leader of the People's Party Gennady Raikov on Saturday. Apparently, there are many more reasons for Mr. Rogozin’s separation from United Russia than for the alliance.

Both the US and Iraq say they are satisfied with the progress of the campaign The protracted campaign in Iraq has sparked debate within the US administration and the US media. Disagreements over the Pentagon's military strategy forced American generals to make excuses.

State inspectorate discovered hundreds of UFOs The Transport Inspectorate of the Ministry of Transport discovered several hundred unregistered aircraft in Russia. The current regulations do not have a clear answer to the question of how the authorities should treat this air armada.

GAZ sends a batch of taxis to Iraq The Gorky Automobile Plant (part of the Ruspromavto holding) has begun shipping Volga-taxi cars to Iraq, the company’s general director Alexey Barantsev said yesterday. The first batch of cars was supposed to leave for Iraq on March 21, but the start of a military operation by the United States in Iraq called the implementation of the contract into question. Now, according to Mr.

Ombudsman calls for amnesty for Russian soldiers along with militants Russian Human Rights Commissioner Oleg Mironov said yesterday that he would support the Duma's resolutions on an amnesty for Chechen fighters only if an amnesty was simultaneously announced for Russian military personnel convicted of crimes against civilians. Of course, we are not talking about murderers and rapists - as in the case of militants, serious crimes should not be included in the amnesty.

Alexey Ulyukaev fell ill at the wrong time This coming Friday, April 4, the Nizhny Novgorod region must pay 811.734 million rubles on Eurobonds placed in 1997. (repayment of part of the loan) and 177.567 million rubles. (coupon payment). Nizhny Novgorod residents will not be able to pay on their own. To repay debts on the Euroloan, the regional budget for 2003 provides for a surplus of only 220 million rubles.

Turkish “conspirators” returned to their homeland Official Ashgabat yesterday announced the transfer to Turkish law enforcement agencies of six citizens of this country accused of involvement in the “attempt” on Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov on November 25 last year - Yilmaz Mehmet Ihsan, Ekrem Celik, Shada Celik, Omer Kush, Mustafa Mesut Guler and Nezhata Bayrama.

Americans distribute humanitarian aid in Iraq Yesterday, British troops near the Kuwait border began pouring drinking water into Iraqi tanker trucks for delivery to Allied-occupied Umm Qasr and the surrounding area. About 100 thousand people will be provided with water at the rate of 7 liters per person per day.

The Yaroslavl Regional Court yesterday handed down a verdict in the case of a gang of murderers operating under the guise of the real estate company “Partner”. According to official investigation data, the seven criminals were responsible for 15 murders. The leader of the gang, Alexander Borovkov, and his assistants Vasily Shivkoplyas and Alexander Galotin received life sentences.