Mikhail Kasyanov is ready to become the leader of the united opposition Mikhail Kasyanov yesterday held his second press conference since his resignation as head of government at the office of his company MK-Analitika. The country, in his opinion, continues to go in the wrong direction at an ever-increasing speed. The ex-prime minister himself is categorically against revolutions, but believes that Russia needs a peaceful change of not only the president, but also the course.

Yesterday, the Latvian Seimas approved the Constitution of the European Union in the first reading with a convincing majority of votes. 82 deputies were in favor, two were against, and 12 abstained. Latvia, like a number of other EU countries, entrusted the adoption of the fundamental law of the European community to the parliament, not the people. There will be no referendum held in the country.

The winners of the “Changing Museum in a Changing World” competition have been announced In the coming year, at least 17 bright events will happen in Russian museums - “Orchid Island” will be shown in the Irkutsk region, prison life will be shown in Udmurtia, a crafts fair will be held in Izborsk, “Leonardo lessons” will be given in Volgograd.

Accused of school siege in Beslan recanted his testimony “I do not admit my guilt and refuse the testimony given during the preliminary investigation,” Beslan terrorist Nurpashi Kulaev said yesterday after the indictment was announced in the Supreme Court of North Ossetia. This came as a complete surprise to all participants in the process, since during the preliminary investigation he confessed to all the crimes charged against him, except one - premeditated murder.

Evgeny GINER, President of CSKA: “What we have been working towards all these years has happened. If you remember, in 2001, when new shareholders came to the club, many smiled when I said that in a few years we would be a European-level club. Now these smiles are only joyful. We reached the final of the European Cup, won it, and the whole world learned about us and through us became acquainted with Russian football. UEFA President Lennart Johansson was the first to congratulate me.

Another member of the Islamic radical organization Hamas was killed on Wednesday by an Israeli missile strike. Palestinian sources said several more people were injured, but the Israel Defense Forces have not confirmed this information. This is the first Israeli rocket attack since the truce with the Palestinians was concluded in February this year. “The Palestinians forced us to fire a rocket at the militants,” an Israeli army source told Vremya Novostei.

Yesterday, the chairman of the Georgian parliament, Nino Burjanadze, accused Minsk of “violating elementary civilized norms, principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity.” The occasion was the visit to Abkhazia of a delegation of the House of Representatives, the government and the presidential administration of Belarus last Sunday.

Concerned about the fate of the Cinema Museum, which is still under threat of eviction from the Cinema Center building, the Guild of Film Scholars and Film Critics sent a letter to the Russian government and asked to look into the current situation. The answer came from the Ministry of Economic Development. It states, in particular: “Premises with a total area of ​​3036 sq.m...

Victims at the water park will be able to independently study the expert opinion on the causes of the tragedy The Zamoskvoretsky Court of Moscow yesterday recognized the right of people who were injured when the roof of Transvaal Park collapsed to read with their own eyes why the glass dome collapsed. The court ordered the Moscow City Prosecutor's Office to familiarize the victims with the conclusion of a comprehensive construction and technical forensic examination.

The Russian Ministry of Transport heads the transport workers of Europe On May 24, 37 foreign transport ministers will arrive in Moscow. Under the chairmanship of their Russian colleague Igor Levitin, they will gather for the 89th session of the European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT). Several other national transport departments will be represented at the two-day event by lower-ranking officials.

The government does not disclose the value of Gazprom and Rosneft The state yesterday received an assessment of Rosneft and Gazprom by Morgan Stanley. Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein (DrKW), who worked on behalf of Gazprom, recently completed an assessment of these same companies. However, the government did not make public the value of these companies, but began studying the materials.

Yushchenko had to choose between Tymoshenko and gasoline Viktor Yushchenko put an end to the confrontation between Russian oil companies and the Ukrainian government. Late on Wednesday evening, he signed a decree “On measures to stabilize the situation on the oil and petroleum products market,” and yesterday he met with the heads of the largest Russian raw materials companies. The decree of the country's president turned out to be very harsh.

Tomorrow the prizes will be awarded at the 58th Cannes Film Festival Nineteen films from the big competition have already been shown, the favorites of critics and the public have been determined, everything else will depend on chance and the tastes of the jury, headed by Emir Kusturica, who himself won the Palme d'Or twice - for "Dad on a Business Trip" and "Underground" .

All-Russian protest of motorists was noticed by the government Thousands of motorists who took to the streets of Russian cities yesterday only to protest at the authorities' alleged sanctions against right-hand drive cars can celebrate victory - the heads of the Cabinet of Ministers categorically stated that there will be no ban in the foreseeable future.

For moving from faction to faction, parliamentarians will be deprived of their parliamentary status The electoral legislation reform initiated by the president has reached a new stage. Today the State Duma will consider in the first reading the next amendments to the election laws proposed by the head of state.