Platon Lebedev will not be tried without Mikhail Khodorkovsky In the Meshchansky District Court yesterday, hearings began on the merits of the case of the head of the MFO "MENATEP" Platon Lebedev. They did not last long, since it immediately became clear that his case would be merged with that of the former head of YUKOS, Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Although the court hearing is open, only a few journalists were able to attend. The rest remained outside the door, under the supervision of bailiffs.

TNK-BP is going to develop the eastern fields together with a consortium of Gazprom, Rosneft and Surgutneftegaz. TNK-BP co-owner Viktor Vekselberg mysteriously promised at the April Russian Economic Forum in London that negotiations with Gazprom on cooperation in Eastern Siberia would be completed by June. Yesterday it turned out that even then he sent a proposal to the gas monopoly to jointly develop the oil resources of the region.

"Troy" by Wolfgang Petersen on Moscow screens The heroes of the Iliad appeared on the silver screen infrequently. Obviously, the first film on this topic was the German film “Helena” by Manfred Noah in 1924. Three years later, Alexander Korda made a film in Hollywood with a title more suitable for a Soviet production melodrama of the mid-70s - “The Private Life of Helen of Troy”, but about a quarter of the material from it has now been preserved.

The department of Sergei Stepashin did not find any compromising evidence on Roman Abramovich in Chukotka The Accounts Chamber today completes its audit of Chukotka's budget execution last year with a board meeting. This will be followed by a press conference of auditors, in which, according to the latest information from the Vremya Novostei newspaper, Sergei Stepashin will not participate.

The winner of the last UEFA Cup was appointed by Italian referee Collina 24 years after the last triumph, Valencia again managed to shine on the European stage. The Bats, after unsuccessfully trying to win the Champions League, beat Marseille 2-0 to take the UEFA Cup, adding it to the title of Spanish champions they had already won this year.

The case of Dmitry Ayatskov turned out to be “premature” The criminal case against the governor of the Saratov region Dmitry Ayatskov, which became the main news for the country last week, completely unexpectedly “blown away” yesterday.

The UN Security Council yesterday adopted a resolution condemning Israel for the destruction of residential buildings and the death of civilians in the Gaza Strip. On Wednesday, during a demonstration in the Palestinian village of Rafah, ten Palestinians were killed and more than 40 were wounded by shots from an Israeli tank. Among the dead are three children. Contrary to forecasts and usual practice, the Americans did not block the Security Council’s decision, but abstained during the voting.

The placement of the second issue of bonds of the Agency for Housing Mortgage Lending (AHML) will take place on the MICEX on May 25. Together with the securities of the first issue, the bonds of the new issue will be a unique instrument of the stock market: the principal amount of the debt and coupon payments on it are fully covered by the state guarantee, recorded in the federal budget as internal borrowing of the Russian Federation.

CLUBS Schwarz. The Spanish group Schwarz plays a very diverse music. It's like they're traveling all over the map of musical styles to find their own niche. And they found it, but, it seems, not on planet Earth: their main topic is space and the extraterrestrial world. "Chinese pilot Zhao Da" , May 21. AVANT Festival . The organizers tried to invite musicians from all over the world playing alternative rock, jazz rock, funk rock, post-folk (electro-folk), avant-garde electronics, post-rock, etc.

Bernice Abbott exhibition opens at the Moscow House of Photography The penultimate chord of the Photobiennale turned out to be spectacular. Bernice Abbott's "Changing New York" project - the progenitor of many monographs and exhibitions - has drawn a line. "Changing New York" is the main work of Bernice Abbott.

The owner of the English football club Chelsea, Roman Abramovich, has arrived in Milan, where he is going to negotiate the acquisition of the top scorer of the Italian championship, Andrei Shevchenko. According to some reports, Abramovich is ready to offer Milan management up to 20 million pounds sterling (about 30 million euros) for the Ukrainian forward. In the summer of 1999, Shevchenko’s transfer from Dynamo Kyiv to Milan cost the Italians $24 million.

Forecast for the coming days The Atlantic cyclone spreads rain and coolness across European territory. And the weather will not return to the usual limits for these May days, remaining somewhat colder than usual. The atmospheric vortex will continue to circle over the central regions over the coming weekend. In the capital on May 21, partly cloudy weather, intermittent rain in places, maximum temperature +10...+12оС, north-west wind, 5--10 m/s. On May 22, the weather pattern will not change.

The festival of performance and improvisation “Perfest-2” is taking place in Moscow The steppe salamander monitor lizard, the Far Eastern giant cephalopod, and the slimy bovine worm are new exhibits at the Museum of Unique Nature. There is an open day at this museum. The research assistant (Yuri Urnov), a stout guy with the characteristic intonation of a lecturer, sits on the left at a table on the proscenium and presents the animals to the audience.

Yesterday, the verdict came into force for the head of the medical service of military unit No. 74330, Major Vladimir Vitkovsky, accused of negligence that resulted in the death of Private Alexander Dubovik. Another 273 of Private Dubovik’s colleagues suffered from severe pneumonia. The chief medical officer who admitted his guilt received two years probation. The investigation did not name either the causes or the culprits of the epidemic.

Ferrari-Maserati salon opened in Moscow's Gostiny Dvor Fans of automotive luxury and connoisseurs of Italian style will be able to admire the models on display at the first Ferrari-Maserati salon in Russia. In order to share with Russians the secret of the exclusivity of Italian brands, the president of the Ferrari-Maserati group, Luca di Montezemolo, flew to Moscow for several hours.