During the Olympic season, the World Championships lost their appeal The World Hockey Championship starts today in the Latvian capital. The Russian national team, led by Dynamo Moscow head coach Vladimir Krikunov, will enter the battle tomorrow. Our team will meet with Kazakhstan in the opening round of Group “C” of the preliminary stage.

About the performance by Vladimir Pankov “Transition” by Vladimir Pankov, made at the Center for Drama and Directing (it is now being played at the Teatrium on Serpukhovka) is two dozen sketches of the city’s bottom. Several young playwrights wrote monologues for homeless people, prostitutes and drug dealers; plot connection - they all somehow end up in the underground passage.

Football. German Championship. 32nd round. Bayern - Stuttgart - 3:1, Duisburg - Werder - 3:5, Schalke - Arminia - 3:1, Eintracht - Kaiserslautern -- 2:2, "Wolfsburg" -- "Mainz" -- 0:3, "Nuremberg" -- "Borussia" M -- 5:2, "Cologne" -- "Hamburg" -- 0:1, " Hannover - Borussia D - 1:2, Hertha - Bayer - 1:5. Leading: Bayern - 73 points, Hamburg - 68, Werder - 61. In order to once again win the national championship, Bayern only needs to win at least one of the last two matches.

On holidays you will have to walk around the center of Moscow On holidays, Moscow, as usual, will become pedestrian. Or at least a bicycle one. Difficulties with getting into the city center will begin on May 5th. The reason is the traditional cycling race “Five Rings of Moscow”.

American exchange operator NASDAQ Stock Market Inc. is heading towards further conquest of the London Stock Exchange (LSE). According to The Wall Street Journal, NASDAQ management is going to buy about 6% of the shares of the British exchange, thus increasing its stake to 25%. According to the newspaper's source, the deal could take place in the coming weeks. He also noted that its main goal of accumulating a blocking stake is to effectively prevent possible attacks on the LSE by competitors.

On the eve of the Victory Day, Vnesheconombank yesterday honored war and labor veterans. VEB Chairman Vladimir Dmitriev congratulated the bank’s veterans on the holiday and presented them with memorable awards and gifts. Vnesheconombank, whose history has already passed the 80-year mark, cares for the memory of the Victory and for its veterans who worked at the bank during the war or came to work directly from the fronts of the Great Patriotic War.

Convicted of terrorist attacks in the United States given an unenviable life A US court in Alexandria, Virginia, yesterday sentenced Zacarias Moussaoui to life imprisonment without the right to appeal the sentence. He was found guilty of complicity in a conspiracy to prepare the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, which claimed more than three thousand lives.

As the Vremya Novostey newspaper expected yesterday, due to “electoral hibernation” the presidential elections in Finland were not limited to one round. The second round is scheduled for January 29. Incumbent Tarja Halonen, 62, whose term expires in March, had a strong lead in Sunday's election with 46.4% support. But to win on the first run, she needed 50% of the votes plus one vote. To win the second round, Tarje Halonen will need a simple majority of votes.

Georgian Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili said that he is ready to apologize to Russia for his statement about the Russian market, but will do this after Georgia regains Abkhazia and South Ossetia. “Every person has the right to apologize or thank. I am also ready to apologize to Russia, but only after we return to Abkhazia and Tskhinvali,” Okruashvili told reporters on Thursday.

A woman has agreed to head the Israeli Foreign Ministry Yesterday at a meeting of the ruling Israeli Kadima party, the names of future ministers of the transitional government were announced. Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will soon officially announce the appointment of ministers who will serve until the parliamentary elections on March 28. The post of Minister of Foreign Affairs in the transitional government will be taken by Ms.

Neftyanaya Bank was not allowed to die a natural death The Central Bank yesterday revoked the license of Neftyanoy Bank under the article “laundering proceeds from crime and financing of terrorism.” Thus, the regulator denied the bank the right to voluntary self-liquidation. As you know, Neftyanoy submitted a corresponding petition to the Central Bank in mid-April.

Russia does not like the draft resolution on Iran The dispute over Iran's nuclear program has once again divided the international community. China and Russia, who have the right of veto in the Security Council, are not satisfied with the proposal of their colleagues, primarily American ones, to impose international sanctions against Iran, based on Chapter VII of the UN Charter. It talks about tough measures taken against one or another country that threatens international security.

The US is trying to create an alternative to the CIS US Vice President Richard Cheney made a splash yesterday by delivering an edifying lecture to the Russian leadership on how to carry out democratic reforms. Almost two months before the July G8 summit in St. Petersburg, he poured a tub of cold water on the Kremlin and caused at least bewilderment in Moscow with his harsh statements.

In response to the international community's threat to transfer Iran's "nuclear dossier" to the UN Security Council, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that Iran's nuclear program will continue because it is exclusively peaceful. What, then, are the possible scenarios for the development of events around Iran? Rajab SAFAROV, General Director of the Center for the Study of Modern Iran, discusses this.

Investments in the Russian monopoly turned out to be more than successful The largest German energy concern E.ON is generally satisfied with the progress of negotiations with the Russian Gazprom on participation in the development of the Yuzhno-Russkoye gas field. Yesterday in Essen, at the company's annual meeting of shareholders, the chairman of its board, Wulf Bernotat, noted that E.ON retains its interest in this project, and "significant progress" has been made in negotiations with Gazprom.