Immediately after the completion of the qualifying competitions in Imperia (Italy), the draw for the Olympic water polo tournament among women's teams took place. The Russians ended up in Group B with the teams of Hungary, Canada and the USA. Quartet “A” consisted of the hosts of the Summer Games, Australia, Italy and Kazakhstan.

Sheryl Crow. The Very Best Of (A&M/Universal) Today it’s strange to remember that Sheryl Crow started out as a guitarist (!) for Michael Jackson. I performed with the “king” for two whole years, by the way. But as a solo performer she became famous in the field of other music: folk rock, “Americana”. This album is the first collection of the best songs of Cheryl, who burst into the pop world in the early 90s with the hit All I Wanna Do.

The failed “werewolf” returned to work at the Ministry of Internal Affairs The Prosecutor's Office of the Central District of Moscow recently closed the criminal case against the senior detective for particularly important cases of the Main Directorate of Criminal Investigation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant Colonel Gennady Tsepelev.

Belarus is again reminded who is boss in the gas Today another short-term contract between Beltransgaz and Transnafta expires. Minsk has not yet agreed to sign a new one - which will be a couple of dollars more expensive per thousand cubic meters. Gazprom decided to play it safe and held a large-scale online press conference with the participation of Deputy Chairman of the Board Alexander Ryazanov and General Director of Gazexport Alexander Medvedev.

The authorities took care of strengthening their reputation In June 2000, when presenting the State Prizes of the Russian Federation in the field of literature and art for the first time, the newly elected President Putin spoke about “some indifference” of the state to culture, thereby making it clear that this state of affairs did not suit him. There is no reason to doubt the significance of this remark - attention to culture is certainly part of Putin's image.

The shadow of a Russian candidate runs in Ukrainian elections Yesterday, the Security Service (SBU) and the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine released preliminary data from an investigation into the circumstances of the stay in Kyiv of Ivan Rybkin, a candidate for the post of President of Russia. The “Rybkin case” became part of the election campaign in Ukraine. Businessmen associated with the Ukrainian opposition, Igor Kerez and Sergei Bessmertny, were interrogated.

The Lithuanian Parliament decided on March 8 to begin impeachment proceedings against President Rolandas Paksas. Parliamentarians will not wait for the decision of the constitutional court, which must determine whether the conclusions of a special parliamentary commission are correct and whether the president violated the constitution. President Paksas denies his connections with international crime, persons and structures of dubious reputation, as well as Russian intelligence.

Yesterday morning in Novosibirsk, the vice-mayor of the city, 48-year-old Valery Maryasov, who headed the department of consumer market, services and business support of the city hall, was killed. Unknown criminals shot him at 8.45 am in the entrance of his house on Revolution Street on his way to work.

E.on boss has no illusions about Gazprom Chairman of the Board of the largest German energy concern E.on, Wulf Bernotat, warned against Germany's excessive import dependence on natural gas producing countries. According to the EU forecast, the need of Western European countries for external supplies of this type of fuel will increase from the current 40 to 67% in 2020.

Vagit Alekperov is fighting for Iraqi oil again LUKOIL President Vagit Alekperov announced yesterday his intention to visit Iraq. “I hope to be in Baghdad next week,” Interfax quotes him as saying. Although Mr. Alekperov said it was “too early to talk about the contents of the visit,” it is clear that he intends to sign a long-pending memorandum of understanding with the Iraqi Oil Ministry.

The West is studying Mikhail Fradkov Deutsche Welle “The more unexpected Putin’s decision to nominate Mikhail Fradkov for the post of Prime Minister was for most observers, the clearer the signals it conveys to business and the West, political allies and voters. The first signal concerns the president's orientation towards intelligence officers.

German Gref is confident that there is not a crisis between Russia and the EU, but a “very positive dialogue” “Rumors about a trade war with the European Union are greatly exaggerated,” the acting acting director reassured yesterday the participants of the All-Russian meeting of subjects of foreign economic activity. Minister of Economic Development German Gref.

The construction technologies of Moscow skyscrapers are not flawless, but they are constantly being violated The recent tragedy in Transvaal Park unexpectedly attracted increased attention to the construction technologies and materials used in Moscow. Hot on the heels, experts were very reluctant to comment on this topic. Therefore, the exhibition and conference “Unique and Special Technologies in Construction” that opened yesterday in Moscow took on a new meaning.

There are no winning coaches left for the Russian national team The Russian Basketball Federation (RBF) has finally announced the names of candidates for the vacant post of head coach of the Russian men's national team. Six specialists submitted applications for participation in the competition: Sergei Babkov, Sergei Bazarevich, Sergei Elevich, Evgeniy Pashutin, Valery Tikhonenko and Vladimir Tsinman.

But I didn’t forget the insult Today a preliminary hearing was to take place on YUKOS's claim to protect its business reputation against the Ministry of Taxes and Duties (Ministry of Taxes). However, yesterday it became known that on February 25, YUKOS withdrew the claim. True, the holding assures that this does not mean a waiver of claims against the tax authorities.