The President promised the Olympic champions and medalists an SUV Yesterday, Russian Olympians who returned from Turin with medals had to break their sports regime, and even in the presence of their coaches. True, there was a reason. And not alone. Vladimir Putin invited the athletes to the Kremlin to wash the awards they won at the Winter Olympics, which ended a week ago.

Exhibitions for the anniversary of the XX Congress of the CPSU An idle question: does it make sense to measure Soviet history by party congresses? Did they have any real meaning? Was the 20th Congress, in particular, such a key and turning point event for the country? Yes - due to Khrushchev’s report “On the cult of personality and its consequences”, which then began rehabilitation.

The Prosecutor General's Office has completed the investigation of another wet Yukos case. Former Yukos security officer Alexey Pichugin will soon appear before the Moscow City Court again. Yesterday, First Deputy Prosecutor General Yuri Biryukov approved his indictment, and the case went to court.

Alexey Varlamov became the winner of the Alexander Solzhenitsyn Prize The ninth Alexander Solzhenitsyn Literary Prize was awarded to Alexey Varlamov “for his subtle study in artistic prose of the strength and fragility of the human soul, its fate in the modern world; for understanding the paths of Russian literature of the twentieth century in the genre of writer’s biographies.” Alexey Varlamov was born in 1963 in Moscow, graduated from the Faculty of Philology of Moscow State University in

Lakshmi Mittal may sacrifice a controlling stake in the company merged with Arcelor for the sake of the merger itself It seems that for the head of Mittal Steel Co., registered in the Netherlands, a native of India, Lakshmi Mittal, buying his closest competitor, Luxembourg-based Arcelor, has become a matter of principle, and he is even ready to make some concessions to attract Arcelor shareholders. According to Britain's Financial Times, Mr.

The captain of the Russian national football team, Alexey Smertin, officially confirmed that he will soon move to the capital's Dynamo. “One of these days I’m going to Moscow to sign a contract with the Dynamo club,” Smertin said in a statement published on his website. — I hope that all the necessary formalities will be met, after which I will be able to take part in the cup match with Krylia Sovetov on March 13. I won’t hide the fact that I wanted to return to Russia.

Bill Gates suspected competitors of colluding with the European Commission Another high-profile scandal has erupted around Microsoft's activities in Europe. The press service of Bill Gates' company accused EU officials of facilitating secret meetings between Microsoft competitors and British computer expert Dr. Neil Barratt, whose responsibilities include checking the compliance of new Microsoft programs with EU standards.

Kumyks retained the post of Prime Minister of Dagestan The Dagestan parliament decided not to lag behind Chechnya in any way and at yesterday's plenary session approved a new prime minister. It was a builder by training, Shamil Zainalov, who had previously represented Dagestan legislators in the Federation Council for five years. The new appointment will not upset the existing balance of interests of the main ethnic groups in the republic: Mr.

The H5N1 virus has disrupted the plans of bird shooting enthusiasts Bird flu could deprive tens of thousands of Russians of one of their favorite hobbies - due to the threat of mutation of the H5N1 virus, spring bird hunting is under threat. Regional bodies of Rosselkhoznadzor are now painfully torn between the demands of suffering shooters and the need to take protective measures.

A series of road cycling races "Pro Tour" has started The eight-day traditional Paris-Nice race kicked off the second series of the Pro Tour, in which 20 of the strongest professional road cyclist teams are taking part. The Pro Tour made its debut last season, replacing the World Cup, which had sunk into oblivion. The first winner of the series was the Italian Danilo Di Luca from Licuigas Bianchi.

Kharkov has legalized bilingualism The Russian language received regional status in Kharkov. Yesterday, this decision was approved by 53 deputies of the Kharkov City Council, only three were against. The city council made a similar decision ten years ago, but it was canceled. Now local officials, along with the state Ukrainian language, will use Russian when communicating with citizens, when drawing up official documents, and also when writing street names.

The dollar no longer has a competitive advantage against the euro and is becoming cheaper Vladimir Putin's constant complaints against the government for its failure to curb inflation (see page 1) are forcing the Central Bank to strengthen the national currency at a faster pace. The dollar exchange rate against the ruble has already reached a monthly minimum of 27.88 rubles. for a dollar.

The famous German artist and director Achim Freier, without whose performances it is impossible to imagine a modern theater space, is staging Mozart's The Magic Flute at the New Opera Theater. Fryer has already staged this opera twice, but is preparing an original production for Moscow. It will be his theatrical debut in the city, where “Flute” is not the most common repertoire title, but Robert Wilson’s production recently appeared at the Bolshoi Theater.

The Fifth Russian annual exhibition Expo-Russia 2006, which will be held in the capital of Jordan, Amman, from March 14 to 16, is intended to open a new page in the development of economic relations between Russia and the countries of the Middle East region. The event will be held with the support of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Russian-Arab Business Council, as well as the Jordanian and Iraqi embassies in Russia.

The Russian Orthodox Church is outraged by the creation of an interreligious commission under the Council of Muftis The Russian Orthodox Church fears that the Christian-Islamic dialogue in Russia is being “shredded” and will turn into a tool for solving momentary problems of individual faiths and religious associations.