At the European Weightlifting Championships in Greece, Russian Valentina Popova became the winner in the women's weight category up to 69 kg. She received three gold medals at once - two “small” ones for the best results in the snatch (110 kg) and clean and jerk (135 kg) and for the highest total in the double event, 245 kg. Popova won by a significant margin.

The demonstration of US military power in Iraq has forced many countries to think about their security problems. An authoritative Indian expert, director of the Institute for Defense Studies and Analysis, Krishnamurti SANTHANAM, answered questions from the Vremya Novostei newspaper. --Did the Iraq campaign affect the Indian economy? -- Our oil companies have signed contracts with the Iraqi government for exploration and joint development of fields in the south of the country.

As a result of a major accident at the LUKOIL-Volgogradneftepererabotka oil refinery yesterday, students from gymnasium No. 8, located in the Krasnoarmeysky district of Volgograd, were injured. 28 schoolchildren were hospitalized, 8 are in serious condition. According to the regional department of civil defense and emergency situations, the incident occurred at about three o'clock in the afternoon. One of the units at the enterprise failed and hydrogen sulfide was released.

President The Main Control Directorate of the President of Russia came to the conclusion that one of the main reasons for the crisis in the country's housing and communal services was the lack of coordinated measures at the federal and regional levels to implement structural changes in the industry. In addition, there is no effective management system in the housing and communal services sector. The Department considers it expedient to quickly develop a draft Housing Code.

On April 20, a mayor is elected in Norilsk Only half of the ten candidates for this post reached the end of the election campaign. However, of the candidates who “survived” until April 20, most likely none will be able to collect the 51% of votes required to win, so a second round will not be avoided.

Despite the fact that the Russian Championship started quite recently, the topic of refereeing has already acquired a rather scandalous connotation. Several referees, including last year's best referee Valentin Ivanov, were disqualified after an expert commission of judges found serious shortcomings in their work.

Germany was rated "unfavorable" in economics This year, German GDP growth will not exceed 0.5%. This is stated in the traditional spring expert report of the “six wise men” presented this week - heads of institutes in Berlin, Essen, Hamburg, Halle, Munich and Kiel, engaged in research on the national economy of Germany. Last fall, they believed that economic growth in 2003 would be no lower than 1.4%.

The US demands the speedy lifting of sanctions on Baghdad Speaking to workers at the Boeing plant in St. Louis, President Bush mobilized the country for a new battle - this time to end UN sanctions on Iraq. Since the Iraqi people are “already free,” the time has come to “restore normal Iraqi trade relations with the world economy.” We are ordered to act without delay - we are talking about Washington's global oil interests.

Ashgabat may be deprived of its neutral status The UN Commission on Human Rights adopted a resolution on the situation in Turkmenistan.

Yesterday at about 18.40 in Moscow, at the entrance of his own house on Svobody Street, Sergei Yushenkov, a State Duma deputy, one of the veterans of the democratic movement since the times of Perestroika, an organizer and former member of the parties “Democratic Choice of Russia”, “Union of Right Forces” and “Liberal Russia”, was shot. ", who has worked continuously in Russian parliaments since 1990. Deputies in Russia have been killed before. Mr.

Fisichella will receive his trophy in San Marino And yet justice triumphed. Albeit with some delay, but the victory in the enchanting “Brazilian Grand Prix”, which in the final chaos the judges mistakenly gave to the Finnish driver of the McLaren team Kimi Raikkonen, returned to its real owner. Giancarlo Fisichella, who instantly turned from a triumph to a loser in Sao Paulo, will receive his award in Italy before the San Marino Grand Prix from the hands of its temporary owner.

The Nizhny Novgorod sewing association CJSC "Mayak" - a very prosperous enterprise of the regional light industry - may soon find itself on the street. By May 1, by decision of the regional Ministry of Property Relations, the association must vacate the premises on Nizhnevolzhskaya embankment, which it has occupied for almost 90 years. The Ministry of Property intends to locate the federal state unitary enterprise “Logistics Center” in this building.

European mini-Security Council was held in Athens Yesterday in Athens the work of the European Conference (EC) of heads of state and government, dedicated to the relations of the European Union with neighboring countries, ended. 40 states were invited to it, including Ukraine and Moldova. Each participant's speech was limited to three minutes.

The film “Magnetic Storms” demonstrated the connection between art and life On Wednesday, at the Cinema Center, the Triumph - New Century charity foundation and Roskinoprokat staged a pre-premiere screening of Vadim Abdrashitov's film Magnetic Storms. And in the morning of the same day, the struggle for the building of the Cinema Center, which has been waged by the RF IC and the Federation of Film Unions of the CIS Countries for many years, took another turn.

The traffic police will block the capital's streets for three Sundays in a row In anticipation of the traditional spring holidays associated with the remembrance of the dead - Palm Sunday (April 20), Easter (April 27) and Krasnaya Gorka (May 4) - the traffic police announced a “holiday schedule” for traffic on streets that will be closed to private cars from 6.00 to 18.00.