The appearance of the first flowers threatens costs for thousands of allergy sufferers Spring is a special time of year when every fourth resident of Russia involuntarily “wanted to sneeze” on others. According to official data from doctors, at a time when the environment “blooms and smells” after winter, the incidence of allergic hay fever in Russians ranges from 13 to 24%. Despite improvements in traditional treatment methods and the development of new drugs, this disease remains incurable.

Israeli PM threatens to kill Palestinian leader Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon made the most serious attack in recent years against the head of the Palestinian Authority, Yasser Arafat. The prime minister said on Friday that he was relieving himself of any responsibility for Arafat's personal safety. Sharon discussed this issue with US President George W. Bush during a visit to Washington in mid-April. “Three years ago, during our first meeting, I promised Bush not to touch Arafat.

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko is not giving up attempts to sell the country's petrochemical enterprises to Russian companies and get the highest possible price for it.

Gallery XL cloned itself Irina Korina's installation can be considered another gift for the tenth anniversary of the most successful Moscow gallery Contemporary Art - XL. The artist invited the space of the old gallery (the one on Sadovoy) to visit the new gallery (on Podkolokolny Lane). In other words: the walls of the old XL are built inside the new XL, it turns out to be a matryoshka gallery.

“Torpedo” punished “Zenith” in the match of the championship leaders After the eighth round, the Russian championship acquired a sole leader. Torpedo, having beaten Zenit, which for the time being shared the lead with the Muscovites, with a score of 3:1, single-handedly topped the standings.

Inspectors will be fined for low speed The capital's main highways will soon be equipped with radars. Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov promised this the other day during a friendly visit to the authorities of Seoul, the capital of the Republic of Korea. According to him, “all capital highways will be equipped with special electronics, with the help of which it will be possible to measure the average speed of vehicles.” “I have already given this task,” the mayor clarified.

And Alexey Kudrin teaches him to live The Board of Directors of the International Monetary Fund will meet tomorrow in Washington for a special meeting dedicated to the election of a new managing director. And apparently, if not tomorrow, then quite soon the IMF will have a full-fledged leader - former Spanish Finance Minister Rodrigo Rato. Despite the expectations and even the readiness of the Fund's main shareholders for a long discussion, no alternatives were found to Mr. Rato.

In the suburbs of Chelyabinsk on Saturday evening, Ivan Krikovsky was detained - the second criminal who escaped from the city psychiatric hospital on April 21. He and his two accomplices had to undergo a medical examination, the results of which were planned to determine whether the criminals were sane at the time they committed their crimes. But the matter did not come to an examination - on the morning of April 21, the patients escaped from the hospital, killing one of the guards.

The US Federal Communications Commission fined Miami radio station El Zol $4,000 for a joke it played on Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Last June, Morning Joker hosts Joe Ferrero and Enrique Santos called Fidel Castro's secretariat in Havana. They said that the President of Venezuela and Fidel's great friend, Hugo Chavez, was calling. For the prank, a montage of real radio addresses by Hugo Chavez was used. The jokers got a conversation with Fidel Castro himself.

Estonian politicians remembered the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact Joining NATO did not rid Estonia of its fear of the “backroom deals” of major players in European politics. This time, the reason for the scandal was the declaration of Russia and the EU on the extension of the terms of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) to new members of the European community. The draft document was published last Monday in Brussels, and its signing is scheduled for tomorrow.

Michael Schumacher again did not meet serious resistance The next stage of Formula 1, the San Marino Grand Prix, ended with the usual victory of Michael Schumacher. Following the Ferrari driver were Jenson Button from BAR and Williams driver Juan Pablo Montoya. The result of Sunday's race at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari circuit is logical and that makes it even more sad. An opponent equal in caliber to the current world champion is not yet in sight.

Energy companies promise not to lose generating assets and shareholder trust Over the past three days, RAO UES of Russia has reminded the country of its work.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs has authorized the use of tow trucks throughout Russia Now not only Moscow motorists, but also car owners in all Russian regions will have to rescue their own cars from impound lots. Last weekend, the order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation on the procedure for detaining and prohibiting the operation of vehicles came into force.

Vitali Klitschko won the world title Yesterday, early in the morning Moscow time, a historic event took place in the ring at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. For the first time in the history of professional boxing, a Slav became the world heavyweight champion according to the most prestigious version of the WBC. In order to deal with South African Corrie Sanders, Ukrainian Vitali Klitschko needed eight rounds. A few days before the fight, a serious scandal broke out around him.

The state is ready to seize excess profits from oil companies Already this summer, the newly appointed cabinet of ministers may have a reason to please the president with the first portion of “surplus profits” confiscated from oil workers. At the end of last week, following proposals from the Ministry of Finance, the State Duma increased the mineral extraction tax (MET) and the export duty on oil. The price of the issue is 4-6 billion dollars.