Iraqi opposition says Brits are smarter than Americans British Prime Minister Tony Blair wants to beat US President George Bush and be the first to visit Iraq. Blair's likely visit to the southern Iraqi city of Basra, where British, not American, troops are stationed, was kept secret until the last moment. Blair officially set off yesterday on a six-day voyage, during which he will visit Kuwait, Poland, Russia (celebrating the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg) and France. First of all, Mr.

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Moscow has its own questions for Tehran Yesterday, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov gave a rather sharp rebuke to Washington's attempts to accuse Moscow of facilitating Tehran's desire to obtain nuclear weapons. The confrontation around Iran “does not meet anyone’s interests, this will not happen, Russia opposes interference in the affairs of any state,” the minister said. Mr.

Petrova knocked out Seles In the first round of the tournament, Russian Nadezhda Petrova managed to knock out the experienced Monica Seles from the fight, for which she needed only two games. In the second round, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, seeded 17th, lost. Moreover, the Russian lost to the little-known Brazilian tennis player Saretta. Also in the second round, Mikhail Youzhny dropped out of the tournament. Roland Garros. 1st round: Nadezhda Petrova (Russia) - Monica Seles (USA, 12) - 6:4, 6:0.

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Today Bob Hope turns 100 years old American actor Leslie Towens Hope, who went down in history under the pseudonym Bob Hope, accepts congratulations on his centenary anniversary. He changed his name at school because, according to the roll call rules, they called him Hope Leslie, which sounded very similar to the English word hopeless.

Moscow fights for industrial production growth in court Capital officials reiterate that the growth of Moscow's industrial production is limited by the intractability of the federal government. At yesterday's press conference, the head of the Moscow Department of Science and Industrial Policy, Evgeny Panteleev, said that on June 11, representatives of the Moscow and federal governments will meet in an arbitration court to hear the bankruptcy case of the Moskvich automobile plant.

The celebration of the first conquest of Chomolungma was not without tragedy Yesterday, a Russian-made Mi-17 helicopter crashed on the slope of the world’s highest mountain, Chomolungma (Everest), near the climbers’ base camp. There were nine people on board. Two died, four are in serious condition in hospital. The cause of the disaster is unknown, but the base camp is located at an altitude of 5350 meters. Flying helicopters there is dangerous due to the thin air and strong winds.

In the coming days in the central regions, the average daily temperature will become below normal and return us to the beginning of May. The next atmospheric front will bring even colder air, and light frosts are not excluded in some places. But rain is unlikely. In Moscow and the Moscow region at night, an atmospheric front will move from north to south through the Moscow region, pulling behind it a portion of dry but cool air.

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OTZ is developing the pipe components market CJSC United Pipe Plants (OTZ), the flagship of which is OJSC Chelyabinsk Pipe Rolling Plant (ChTPZ), announced the completion of the creation of a vertically integrated group. OTP is going to dominate the market of shaped products - parts used in the installation of pipelines, pumping stations, branches, turns. A special place in the OTP product range is occupied by bends for large-diameter pipelines used by the fuel and energy complex.

Kuchma is against the Ruhrgas proposal Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma opposes Ukrainian gas pipelines being concessioned to the international consortium being created to use the Ukrainian gas transportation system for gas transit to Europe. “Ukraine has differences in its position with the German company Ruhrgas, which talks about the need to hand over Ukrainian gas pipelines to a consortium in concession,” the president said. “I personally am categorically against it,” Kuchma said.

Yukos promises Russia 60 billion petrodollars The Yukos oil company yesterday signed the largest contract in the history of cooperation between Russia and China. According to it, over the next three years the company will supply 2 million tons of oil by rail. The transaction amount was $1.1 billion.

The main task of any government is to ensure high rates of economic growth in the long term. In terms of production dynamics, our country ranks 17th among 23 countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the former USSR over the past 14 years. It is unlikely that such a modest result can be explained solely by the mistakes and miscalculations of previous governments: over the past year, Russia was in penultimate, 11th place in terms of growth rates among the CIS countries.