Marat Safin lost 10 thousand dollars after failing to attend a press conference Matches on the fourth day of the French Open in Paris were repeatedly interrupted due to rain. Maria Sharapova, who met with the Czech Iveta Beneshova, suffered greatly from the bad weather. There were two unplanned pauses in this fight. However, this did not in any way affect the Russian woman’s fighting mood.

To solve the problem of improving the nation's health, according to the head of Rossport, Vyacheslav Fetisov, it is necessary to review and qualitatively change the entire infrastructure of children's and school sports. We are talking not only about equipping school gyms with modern equipment and inventory, not only about building additional sports facilities, but also about increasing the status of teachers and coaches, and most importantly, about a different approach to physical education.

Total's President for Upstream and Refining, Christophe de MARGERIE, is confident that the situation with the development of the Kharyaga oil field will not affect his company's chances of winning the tender for the development of the Shtokman gas field. He stated this while answering questions from Russian journalists.

In Yekaterinburg they are ready to immortalize the first president of Russia in stone The small homeland of the first Russian President Boris Yeltsin wants to pay tribute to its native. Yesterday, the governor of the Sverdlovsk region, Eduard Rossel, explained to the initiative group of Yekaterinburg residents what they need to do to rename Volodarsky Street in the city center to Boris Yeltsin Street.

One of the most pressing issues today is art for children. Because if you don’t cultivate the taste and need for art from early childhood, you won’t have to try for adults in the near future - new generations won’t want to read books, listen to music, or watch plays.

The ban on the flight of American and Canadian aircraft over the territory of Belarus will be selective, a source in the Foreign Ministry told reporters yesterday. “This, of course, will not apply to civil aviation aircraft,” he said.

European oil and gas workers talk about fuel nationalism Europe, on the eve of the G8 summit, at which the main topic will be energy security, continues to insist on increasing oil and gas supplies from Russia. Yesterday, at the oil and gas summit in Paris, French Trade Minister Francois Loos called for the development of the Shtokman gas field to begin as soon as possible in order to increase the supply of hydrocarbons on the market and thereby at least slightly reduce their prices.

Cold-blooded killing of Iraqis undermines US efforts A scandal is breaking out in the United States that could overshadow the story of the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American guards in the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad. Four to eight US Marines were among the suspects in the killing of 15 to 24 civilians in the Iraqi town of Haditha in the Sunni Anbar province.

A law on the rights of Muscovites from demolished houses has been adopted The city authorities reassured the residents of five-story panel buildings and other buildings included in the demolition and reconstruction program, assuring them that the new Housing Code does not cancel the city hall’s earlier promises to provide apartments of at least equal area and in the same area.

German sports journalists proudly call this football player “a Ukrainian product with German quality,” without seeing a single bit of irony in this. At the same time, the Germans hope that Andrei Voronin’s development as a master took place precisely in Germany, which at one time accepted a 16-year-old boy from Odessa into its arms. In Germany, for some reason, they really like to compare Voronin with Shevchenko, despite the fundamental differences in career development scenarios.

Universities will have the opportunity to sell innovative developments The Russian government is pleased with the results of the first competition among the best universities, held within the framework of the national project “Education”. And they are even ready to allocate more money to continue the program. First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev announced this yesterday at a meeting on national projects. “A new competitive selection will be launched next fall,” he promised.

The helicopter may have a competitor - an ekranoplan At the international aerospace show ILA-2006, which recently ended in Berlin, the Russian exposition could have attracted more attention. Provided that the MiG-29 and Be-200 aircraft that aroused admiration would be joined by another strange device - either an airplane or a ship. But there was not enough advertising, clever PR, and aggressive marketing.

The European Court was accused of violating its own regulations Representatives of the Russian-speaking Sysoev family, who are seeking in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) recognition that Latvia has violated their right to private and family life, accused the Strasbourg court of violating its own regulations.

The more unsettled Iraq is, the greater the danger of the country's collapse. Secretary General of the Iraqi Communist Party of Kurdistan Kamal SHAKIR told Vremya Novostey columnist Elena SUPONINA about scenarios for the development of the situation. The headquarters of the Kurdish Communist Party is located in northern Iraq, in the city of Erbil. -- There are concerns that Iraq could split into parts. Is this possible? - There are grounds for concern.

The criminal case against Evgeniy Ishchenko may put an end to direct elections of mayors in Russia Yesterday, the press service of the Volgograd Regional Prosecutor's Office reported that a criminal case has been opened against the mayor of Volgograd, Evgeny Ishchenko, on grounds of crimes under Art. 285 part 2, 286 part 2 (abuse and excess of official powers) and 289 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (illegal participation in business activities).