Giuly brought Barcelona victory over Milan Frank Rijkaard returned to Milan. He returned to show the Rossonieri that it was time to forget about Rijkaard the footballer and start respecting Rijkaard the coach. He succeeded in this as well as possible. Barcelona's 1:0 victory in the away match of the Champions League semi-final over Milan gives the Catalans a huge advantage ahead of the return match. It's not even about the score.

Chinese Chairman Will Teach Bush to Win Without Wars Negotiations between Hu Jintao and George Bush will begin today in Washington. Hu Jintao began his first visit to the United States as head of the People's Republic of China yesterday from Seattle on the east coast of the United States. Then from the American capital he will head to New Haven, Connecticut, where he will speak to students and faculty at Yale University.

Russians began to travel less As a result of last year's monetization of benefits, Russians began to travel less, Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin told State Duma deputies yesterday. At the same time, despite the widespread transition to “real” money, the profitability of the transport complex has decreased. The minister spoke to deputies of the lower house during the “government hour” on the topic of tariff policy in the field of passenger transportation. According to Mr.

NHL clubs are preparing for the start of the playoffs The first National Hockey League championship after the lockout has ended. Frankly speaking, it ended quite well for its organizers and spectators. Club owners, happy with the introduction of salary caps, are already forecasting profits. And fans welcome the rule changes, which have led to a sharp increase in scoring (from an average of 5.1 goals per game in the 2003/04 season to an unprecedented 6.1 goals per game).

Hyundai Motor promises to apologize for bribing officials with a billion dollars South Korean automobile corporation Hyundai Motor, which was recently accused of creating a secret fund to bribe government officials, politicians and bankers, yesterday issued an official apology and offered to spend a billion dollars on charity, reports the BBC. “We bow to the public and apologize,” management of the South Korean firm said in an official statement.

Tajikistan is adopting the tactics of RAO UES in relations with RUSAL The government of Tajikistan, after the visit to Dushanbe last week of the head of RAO UES of Russia Anatoly Chubais, decided to take a closer look at its joint project with RUSAL to complete the construction of the Rogun hydroelectric power station. To do this, Tajikistan turned to the World Bank with a request to engage a consultant to evaluate the almost completed feasibility study of the first stage project.

The Turkish government has submitted for parliamentary approval a draft anti-terror law that significantly expands the concept of “terrorism,” RIA NOVOSTI reports. Along with crimes that are classified as terrorism throughout the world, similar acts are proposed to include prostitution, smuggling and trafficking in people, drugs and weapons, credit card forgery, environmental pollution, hacking of computer systems, premeditated murder and obstruction of education.

Perhaps the most unusual of the privileges of British monarchs is the right (or rather the obligation) to celebrate their birthday twice. The Queen celebrates for the first time on the day she was actually born - April 21st. The second, more pompous celebration always takes place in the summer, on the second Saturday of June, this is the day of the “official birth” of the reigning monarch.

Belarusian opposition is against the return of people Yesterday an international conference dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant opened in Minsk.

The state forgave the corporation for the missing advance The Russian Aircraft Corporation (RSC) MiG has resolved the problem of its debt to the Ministry of Finance. First Deputy General Director and General Designer of RSK Sergei Tsivilev said yesterday at a press conference that the debt was no longer reflected in the corporation's balance sheet for 2005.

“Maria” by Abel Ferrara on Moscow screens A round stone moves to the side, revealing the entrance to the cave - as if the lens of a movie camera had been opened. “And Mary stood at the tomb and cried. And when she cried, she bent down into the tomb and saw two angels sitting in a white robe, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus lay. And they say to her: wife! Why are you crying?

Yesterday, US President George W. Bush congratulated the leader of the Ukrainian opposition Party of Regions, Viktor Yanukovych, on his convincing victory in the parliamentary elections on March 26. The party's press service reported that the congratulations were conveyed by Deputy Assistant to the US President for National Security Jack Crouch. During the meeting, Yanukovych and Crouch discussed economic reforms and the investment climate in Ukraine.

Fellow student Vladimir Putin was appointed head of the Investigative Committee under the Ministry of Internal Affairs President Vladimir Putin, by decree yesterday, appointed a new head of the Investigative Committee (IC) under the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs - one of the key police services, which accounts for almost 90% of criminal investigations in the country. He became 57-year-old Alexey Anichin.

The Duma and the government cannot agree on new tax administration rules The bill on improving tax administration, previously announced as a priority for the government, still cannot reach the finish line in the State Duma. Deputies are even threatening to make “changes to changes,” namely amendments to the 450-page package of amendments to part one of the Tax Code.

Rosregistration doubted the existence of soldiers' mothers Another well-known Russian human rights organization has received a summons to court, where it is expected to consider the issue of its liquidation based on a claim by the Federal Registration Service.