August 16, Monday Finals WEIGHTLIFTING. Final. Men. Weight category up to 62 kg. 1. Shi Zhiyong (China) - double event total 325.0 kg (snatch 152.5 + clean and jerk 172.5). 2. Le Maosheng (China) - 312.5 (140.0 + 172.5). 3. Sampanis (Greece) - 312.5 (145.0 + 167.5). Le Maosheng is ahead of Sampanis due to his lighter dead weight. Russians did not compete in this weight category. Preliminary competitions BADMINTON. Quarterfinals. Mixed category.

Monetization of benefits may cause a wave of lawsuits against the Ministry of Finance For the first time, one of the municipal enterprises of Irkutsk sued the state for debts under federal laws.

Moscow authorities will fine late builders The meeting of the capital's government yesterday took place without the participation of Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, but according to the canons he had established - with loud criticism of the construction complex. Vice-Mayor Valery Shantsev announced strict measures that will be applied to builders who violate the deadlines for commissioning projects.

Georgians and Ossetians rallied against ghostly provocateurs The exhausting confrontation between Tbilisi and Tskhinvali gave way to an unstable alliance against a common enemy. Yesterday, the parties started talking about a ghostly “third force” maliciously disrupting ceasefire agreements in the conflict zone. True, the parties have not yet reached a consensus on who exactly is behind this “force”.

Bonds of the Agency for Housing Mortgage Lending (AHML) were recently included in the Lombard list of the Bank of Russia. This should have a positive impact on the liquidity of these securities and help expand the circle of potential investors. The inclusion of AHML bonds in the Central Bank's Lombard list will not add working capital to the agency: the first and second issues of debt obligations have already been fully placed.

Otherwise, Azerbaijan will start purchasing weapons Yesterday, the head of Azerbaijani diplomacy, Elmar Mammadyarov, arrived in Moscow on an official three-day visit. This is his first visit to Russia as Minister of Foreign Affairs. The guest is going to discuss with his Russian colleague Sergei Lavrov issues of the fight against terrorism and exchange views on the problems of developing the legal status of the Caspian Sea. The most important question, as Mr.

Climbers will fight terrorists in Chechnya Yesterday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov made several loud statements in Rostov-on-Don regarding the immediate future of the Russian armed forces. In particular, it was decided that starting from 2005, only contract soldiers will fight on the territory of Chechnya. Moreover, the very methodology of fighting militants will change.

“October” apparently decided to compete for the Belkin Prize - in issue No. 7 there were already three stories. All with a pretense of profundity.

Anastasia Myskina is forced to play without a break At the Olympic tennis tournament, French Open winner Anastasia Myskina, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Mikhail Yuzhny and Igor Andreev reached the third round of singles competition. Unfortunately, after the 2000 Olympic silver medalist Elena Dementieva, Marat Safin and Nikolay Davydenko also lost.

The government plays with the percentage of economic growth Tomorrow at the next meeting, the government will again discuss one of the most painful issues of recent times - the forecast of socio-economic development. Over the past year, the Cabinet of Ministers has been literally squeezing out one-tenth of a percent of the increase in annual economic growth drop by drop. The goal is to reach 7.2%. This is exactly how much the Russian economy must grow annually to double its GDP by 2010.

Avtotor began assembling Chevrolet Tahoe and Chevrolet TrialBlaze From now on, Russian consumers will be able to buy only domestically produced Chevrolets. This week, the industrial assembly of American SUVs Chevrolet Tahoe and Chevrolet TrialBlazer started at Avtotor in Kaliningrad. General Motors assures that this will not affect either the price or quality of the car.

Prime Minister Signed an order on the organization of border and customs control of Japanese citizens who were former residents of the islands of Kunashir, Iturup and the islands of the Lesser Kuril Ridge on the Tanfilyev Island of the Lesser Kuril Ridge (Sakhalin Region) . Border control will be carried out when Japanese citizens visit Polonsky Island and Zeleny Island on August 20-23, 2004, as well as Shikotan Island and Yuri Island in the Lesser Kuril Ridge on September 3-6, 2004.

TABLE OF MEDALS. Position of leaders (49 sets of awards awarded) Country W M B Total China 10 6 2 18 USA 8 6 7 21 Australia 6 4 5 15 Japan 5 2 1 8 Ukraine 3 0 1 4 RUSSIA 2 5 3 10 Italy 2 3 3 8 France 2 2 4 8 Türkiye 2 0 1 3 Germany 1 2 1 4 South Korea 1 1 3 5 Hungary 1 1 1 3 Thailand 1 0 2 3 Greece 1 0 1 2 Romania 1 0 1 2 UAE 1 0 0 1 South Africa 1 0 0 1 Note: Excludes women's gymnastics team competition, which ended late yesterday evening. August 17, Tuesday JUDO. Men.

Athens police prohibit drawing on asphalt The Athens police have not yet had any problems with city guests arriving for the Olympic Games. All fans behave with dignity and do not celebrate the victories of their athletes particularly loudly. But sometimes law enforcement officers have to be vigilant. Thus, Anthony Cook, the father of British cyclist Nicole Cook, was arrested.

The Los Angeles Horror trial has begun in the United States. At the trial in California in the sensational case of how representatives of the “Russian mafia” kidnapped five businessmen and, after receiving large ransoms, killed the hostages, the prosecutor announced that he would seek the death penalty for the main defendants. The prosecutor intends to announce at trial the details of a number of more daring crimes of this group.