"Perugia" was defeated in the Belgorod "Cosmos" In the first match of the "Round of Six" of the men's Champions League, "Lokomotiv-Belogorye" in the Belgorod Sports Palace "Cosmos" deprived the Italian "Perugia" of all hopes of reaching the "Final Four" - 3:0 (25:16, 25:17, 25:18 ) . The rivals have already gotten to know each other well this season. The teams met twice in the group stage.

The Kaliningrad region won the right not to pay the loan in a local court The case of the loan from the German Dresdner bank AG is one of the most scandalous in the recent history of the Kaliningrad region. It is like a black blot on the investment reputation of the westernmost Russian region. But last Tuesday evening, the arbitration court of the Kaliningrad region adopted a ruling in the case that, it seems, could turn a blot into a point.

The award for the best Russian novel will be sponsored by a British corporation This year the Russian Booker Prize will be awarded for the fifteenth time.

China highly values ​​Russia's commitment to the "one China" principle and its rejection of the idea of ​​Taiwanese independence, Chinese Vice President Zeng Qinghong said in Beijing yesterday.

Today in Vienna there will be talks between the European trio (Great Britain, Germany and France) and Iran on the latter's nuclear program. The meeting, convened at the initiative of the Iranian side, is the last attempt by Europe and Tehran to find a compromise ahead of the meeting of the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) scheduled for March 6.

The United States proposes to introduce international sanctions against Iran, similar to those that were in force for more than 12 years against Iraq. In the case of Iraq, it ended in a war, after which the question arose about the effectiveness of UN sanctions and the future of this organization. Vremya Novostey columnist Elena SUPONINA recently spoke about this in Cairo with the former UN Secretary General and former Foreign Minister of Egypt Boutros Ghali.

The Strasbourg court stood up for the freedom of party member Limonov Russian authorities violated the right to freedom and personal integrity of 20-year-old NBP activist Valentina Dolgova, who participated in the seizure of the presidential reception office in December 2004. This decision was made yesterday by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), ordering Ms. Dolgovaya to pay 5 thousand euros from the federal treasury in compensation for moral damage caused.

In the central region, the heaviest snowfalls will occur in the southwest of the territory, with snowstorms and snow drifts. For most of the region there will be light snow on Friday and Saturday. The daytime temperature on Friday is -4...-9оС, and on Saturday night it will be frosty, -13...-18оС, daytime temperature -3...-8оС. On Sunday, a new cyclone will cause a sharp increase in temperature to 0...-5°C, and in some places even to a thaw.

Mikhail Gorbachev celebrated his 75th birthday without fanfare In just over a month, Russia celebrated the anniversaries of two of its former rulers. On February 1, the first President of the Russian Federation, Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin, solemnly celebrated his 75th birthday in the Kremlin.

Tbilisi warned Russian military personnel, including peacekeepers in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, that if they do not receive Georgian visas by March 10, they will be deported. The headquarters of the Group of Russian Forces in Transcaucasia (GRVZ) was informed about this by the head of the military police department of the Ministry of Defense, Alexander Sukhitashvili. He also notified the command of the “blue helmets” (CIS Collective Forces in Abkhazia and Mixed Forces in South Ossetia).

India will receive nuclear technology from Bush "We have reached a historic agreement with India to cooperate on nuclear energy," President George W. Bush announced in New Delhi yesterday. The United States agreed to supply India with nuclear fuel and technology in exchange for international inspectors' access to the "peaceful part" of Indian nuclear facilities. For the United States, the key condition of the agreement was the separation of Delhi's peaceful and military nuclear programs.

The Ministry of Emergency Situations conducts exercises to combat bird flu The mobilization of the fight against bird flu has reached its maximum in Russia. Following the organization of a special government headquarters the other day, command and staff exercises began yesterday at the Ministry of Emergency Situations base to combat bird flu.

The Public Chamber agreed with the State Duma on a mechanism for examining bills Already in mid-March, the Public Chamber should begin performing one of its main functions - participation in the legislative process and conducting an examination of bills. To ensure mechanisms for such participation, the State Duma will have to amend its regulations. The corresponding amendments are already ready, and next week the Duma Committee on Regulations will approve them.

60 years ago, Churchill declared the Cold War on the USSR The day after tomorrow marks the 60th anniversary of Winston Churchill's Fulton speech. It marks the beginning of the Cold War, which ended only in the early 90s. It began a new division of the world into military blocs. In a speech on March 5, 1946, at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, British ex-Prime Minister Winston Churchill said that the world was facing a new war and tyranny, the source of which was the Soviet Union.

Arcelor announced readiness to discuss merger with Mittal Steel Billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, whose corporation Mittal Steel announced in January its intention to buy the Luxembourg-based Arcelor Group for $18.6 billion, seems to have managed, although not much, to get closer to its goal.