Western financiers no longer see prospects for the euro The fall in the euro exchange rate around the world accelerated sharply yesterday. Speculators began to sell large volumes of the European currency, as a result of which its rate reached its lowest level in the last eight months - $1.2238/euro at auction in New York and $1.223/euro in London.

Forecast for the coming days It got colder in the central regions, there were rains, heavy in places. Changes in the weather occurred due to the cyclone, which on Thursday will be the main character, and not only in the central region, but also in the Black Earth Region and the Middle Volga.

Alexander Dzasokhov explained to Vladimir Putin Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted the resignation of the head of North Ossetia, Alexander Dzasokhov. On Tuesday, Mr. Dzasokhov met with the head of state's plenipotentiary representative in the Southern Federal District, Dmitry Kozak, and informed him of his decision, and yesterday he arrived in the Kremlin for an audience with the president.

Roland Garros debutant Nadal will play Federer on his birthday Today at the French Open in Paris, the moment of truth will come for Russian tennis fans. In the semi-finals of the tournament in women's singles, two Russians will play against foreign opponents. Elena Likhovtseva will fight with the hostess of the court Marie Pierce, Nadezhda Petrova will have to sort things out with the former first racket of the world, Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne.

Everyone is invited to participate in the competition to identify tax evaders A bill on the distinction between tax optimization and criminal tax evasion schemes may appear next year. Stanislav Voskresensky, Deputy Head of the Expert Department of the Presidential Administration, announced this at the conference “Conscientious Taxpayer, or the Business Purpose Doctrine in Russia,” organized by the Tax Committee of the Association of European Businesses.

YUKOS paid for amendments to the 2005 budget YUKOS paid for the increase in non-interest budget expenses this year. Although, as the Ministry of Finance assures, they would have managed without paying tax arrears by YUKOS, Sibneft and Bashkir oil workers. Additional revenues even without these oil billions will be higher than planned by 14%. And they will allow us to cover additional expenses for social needs that the president requested in his message to the Federal Assembly.

Panasonic, as part of its global social strategy Panasonic ideas for life, together with the Russian National Orchestra (RNO), recently held a musical and educational project, Ideas for music. Pupils from five Moscow boarding schools gathered in the Orchestrion concert hall. For them, the RNO chamber orchestra performed excerpts from Sergei Prokofiev’s suite “Peter and the Wolf”. At the end of the concert there was a tour of the Orchestrion.

Kabul police chief blown up in mosque Yesterday morning in the city of Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan, a suicide bomber blew up a suicide vest right in a mosque. At least 27 believers were killed, including Kabul police chief General Mohammed Akram Hakrizal, who previously headed the Kandahar police. The death toll is bound to rise as more than 70 people have been hospitalized since the explosion, many of them in critical condition.

In Russia and abroad they are assessing the damage from the decision in the Khodorkovsky case If the media, politicians and entrepreneurs, and not only in our country, regarded the harsh verdict in the Khodorkovsky-Lebedev case as one of the main, significant events, then yesterday sociologists explained to them how far they are from the people: at least in Russia itself almost half the country (49%) practically did not follow this “process of the century” or did not understand its essence.

The Russian team was defeated by the 30th team in the world The debut of a foreign coach in the Russian national teams in Olympic team sports was sad. Silver medalist of the Summer Games in Athens, the women's national team led by Italian Giovanni Caprara, who took the place of the legendary Nikolai Karpol, was defeated by girls from Serbia and Montenegro in the opening match of the international tournament on the Apennine Peninsula - 0:3 (18:25, 21:25, 21:25).

The Dutch authorities failed to promote integration The Dutch expressed their attitude towards the EU constitution at a national referendum yesterday. The official results of the survey will be announced on June 6. The preliminary results of the first national referendum in the country's history will be known early this morning. But it was clear in advance that the Dutch went to the polls to say “No!” to the European Constitution. Three days before the Dutch, the French had already done this.

The development of the banking system last year was successful, First Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank Andrei Kozlov said yesterday at a press conference in St. Petersburg on the eve of the 14th International Banking Congress opening today. Mr. Kozlov also included the summer panic in the market as a positive event: the Central Bank seems to be grateful to the crisis for doing the dirty work that officials should have done.

Minsk will take into account the Russian experience of movement in the WTO Belarus has passed 70% of the way to joining the WTO, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Mikhnevich said at a press conference. He did not answer the direct question in what year it would be possible to join this organization.

24-year-old Russian cyclist Vladimir Karpets, making his debut in one of the three most prestigious super stage races, the Giro D'Italia, took an honorable 7th place in the general classification (out of 189 participants) and showed the second time at one of the stages - a mountain race with separate start. Vremya Novostey correspondent Vladimir Ilyin spoke with the leader of the Spanish professional group “Il Balears” Vladimir KARPETS.

The Moscow City Duma exempted schools, government institutions and heroes from land tax Changes in federal legislation continue to keep the Moscow mayor's office in suspense. Constantly criticizing the Russian government for reducing regional taxes, the city authorities themselves lost sight of a number of provisions of the new Tax Code, which almost led to the bankruptcy of the capital's social institutions.