Moldovan law ends Yushchenko's plan Non-governmental organizations in Moldova yesterday accused the OSCE and Russia of “pressuring the Moldovan authorities” to return them to the negotiating table. And they called for resolving the Transnistrian conflict “on the basis of the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova,” as provided for in the law on the main provisions of the special legal status of Transnistria, recently adopted by the Moldovan parliament.

We award the published photograph with the modest title “Photo of the Day.” On it you see the main character of today's cultural life of the Russian capital, Pyotr Naumovich Fomenko, director of the play "The Forest", brought by the Comedie Française theater. This performance closes the Chekhov Festival. The excitement around it is unheard of (read the review in tomorrow's issue) .

Rosoboronexport presented exotic weapons Yesterday, in the exhibition hall of the Scientific and Technical Center "Commonwealth", the Federal State Unitary Enterprise "Rosoboronexport" together with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB of Russia presented the latest developments of special technical means and weapons for the fight against terrorism.

The first matches of the 2nd qualifying round of the Champions League took place on Tuesday. There were immediate sensations. The old-timer of the tournament, Dynamo Kiev, failed to win at home against the Swiss champion Thun - 2:2. The Kiev team started the meeting with attacks, but immediately almost paid for their inattention in defense. And then Dynamo’s defensive formations didn’t look their best. Twice the home team took the lead, and both times the Swiss champion equalized.

Abkhazia and South Ossetia will defend together from Tbilisi Abkhazia and South Ossetia agreed on mutual assistance in the event of a forceful action by the Georgian leadership against the rebel regions. After several meetings held recently in Abkhazia by the presidents of the unrecognized republics, Sergei Bagapsh and Eduard Kokoity, a military alliance of “outcasts” began to emerge.

Boris Yeltsin and Helmut Kohl arrived in Irkutsk on Tuesday. Former leaders of Russia and Germany are planning several days of active recreation on Lake Baikal. It is expected that in addition to fishing and boat trips, they will also visit local attractions - the Circum-Baikal Railway, which is a monument of engineering art of the 19th century and famous for its numerous tunnels cut into the coastal rocks, as well as the architectural and ethnographic museum complex "Taltsy".

Ministry of Agriculture official detained on suspicion of bribery Employees of the Department of Economic Security (DES) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation on Tuesday detained the head of the department for the development of the alcohol and liquor industry of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, Pavel Marchenko. According to the police, the official was caught red-handed while accepting a bribe, but charges have not yet been brought against him.

The bank raised $500 million at LIBOR+0.9% The government's Vnesheconombank (VEB) successfully played on the growth of Russia's sovereign rating by borrowing $500 million from foreign banks for three years at a rate of LIBOR + 0.9%. Russian financial institutions have never borrowed so much and so cheaply in the West. Yesterday, Vnesheconombank Chairman Vladimir Dmitriev signed an agreement to provide VEB with a syndicated loan from international banks.

Instead of ideas and parties in Russia, bureaucrats compete with each other The newly appointed head of the government commission on administrative reform, chief of staff of the government, Sergei Naryshkin, made his debut in a new field. After the commission meeting, he gave his first press conference in his new capacity yesterday. And he convinced everyone that there was no need to expect a new quality of administrative reform in Russia.

Americans saw Kim Jong Il as a “chairman” The fourth round of six-party talks on the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula continues in Beijing. Yesterday, delegations from the United States, Japan, China, Russia, South and North Korea held a closed plenary meeting at which they discussed the prospects for the negotiation process.

Forecast for the coming days Cyclones and their atmospheric fronts continue to rain, sometimes heavily, in the north, south and center of European Russia. In the central regions, rain covered almost the entire territory. The most precipitation, up to 18 mm, fell in the Moscow, Tula and Ivanovo regions. And in the Volga Federal District there was intense heat on Tuesday; thermometers in the Saratov region in the shade reached 40 degrees.

He invited Baghdad to work aggressively with its neighbors Washington and Baghdad announced yesterday "practical steps" to reduce coalition forces in Iraq. Prime Minister of the Iraqi transitional government Ibrahim al-Jaafari said yesterday in Baghdad after a meeting with US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld: “We will soon take a number of steps to deploy Iraqi troops in some areas of the country.

In the capital's galleries they prefer high-quality paintings The work of two artists from near and far abroad - Russian-American Viktor Kirillov and Odessa resident Vladimir Kozhukhar - would not have occurred to be compared and brought to a common denominator if the Aidan and Regina galleries, showing their exhibitions, had not cohabited in the same building on Tverskaya-Yamskaya, and the opening days would not coincide minute by minute.

Roman Abramovich's company announced the date of the shareholders meeting Sibneft announced the date for the annual meeting of shareholders. The company's board of directors appointed him to September 12. At the meeting, among other issues, it is planned to approve Sibneft's dividends for last year in the amount of $2.3 billion. The register of shareholders was closed yesterday, so YUKOS, as the owner of a 20 percent stake in the Siberian holding, will receive about $460 million.

Birmingham bombers arrested London's public transport may soon be disrupted again. But not due to the destruction after the terrorist attacks, as was the case on July 7 and 21.