In Israel, a scandal is unfolding around the Minister of Justice, 56-year-old Haim Ramon, who resigned yesterday. The reason is the decision of the government's legal adviser, Menachem Mazuz, to bring the minister to trial on charges of sexual harassment. Two young women immediately accuse the minister of forcibly kissing them. Ramon denies the accusations and states that in the first case the girl flirted with him, and he doesn’t remember the second case three years ago at all.

The Russian Finance Minister decided to scientifically substantiate the danger of unnecessary spending of petrodollars Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, having found understanding among his government colleagues on the issue of reducing the expenditure of oil windfalls, decided to look for allies among the scientific community.

World champion Serbia and Montenegro failed to cope with Nigeria In the first two days of the World Championship among men's teams, there were sensations at the sports arenas of the cities of the Land of the Rising Sun. The main surprise was the defeat of the best team of the 2002 world championship, Serbia and Montenegro, from Nigeria in the opening round. Experts and fans were also surprised by Lebanon's victory over Venezuela.

Chileans test copper's strength Chilean miners are shaking up the global copper market. Demanding an increase in wages and compensation, they staged a strike, as a result of which metal prices went up. On Friday, management of the world's largest copper mine, Escondida (57.5% owned by British-Australian BHP Billiton), closed the plant due to an ongoing workers' strike, foreign agencies reported.

FOOTBALL. August 21-27. World Championship among girls under 20 years old. Moscow, St. Petersburg. August 22-23. Champions League. Third qualifying round. Replay matches . August 24. UEFA Cup. Second qualifying round. Replay matches . Premier League. 17th round. August 26. “Torpedo” - “Saturn”, “Lokomotiv” - “Luch-Energia”. August 27. "Moscow" - "Rostov", "Spartak" (M) - "Spartak" (Nch), "Dynamo" - "Tom", "Shinnik" - CSKA. A crucial moment has arrived for the capital's clubs Spartak and CSKA.

Ingush policemen suffered further losses Yesterday in the Ingush village of Alkhasty, policemen killed by militants were buried. The senior investigator of the Sunzhensky District Department of Internal Affairs, Shakhangirei Tsechoyev, and the former criminal investigation officer, Rustam Belkhoroev, were shot at night in their own homes.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych quietly visited Moscow on August 18-19, and the Ukrainian Embassy in Russia explained that the trip was of a private nature. But the importance of the visit is evidenced by the fact that the prime minister postponed his speech at the World Forum of Ukrainians, scheduled for August 19. The prime minister's press service claims that he underwent a routine medical examination in Moscow.

Swiss trader RosUkrEnergo withdrew its ultimatum to Kyiv after Naftogaz of Ukraine paid off part of its multimillion-dollar debt. As RUE reported, the Ukrainian concern transferred $49.6 million at the end of last week for gas supplied in the first quarter. The scheme and repayment period for the rest of the debt - more than $320 million - have not yet been agreed upon, but the trader is no longer going to collect it in court.

CSKA, Spartak and Lokomotiv pushed aside Nalchik At the beginning of the second round, the Russian championship standings begin to take on a predictable form: CSKA is first, Spartak Moscow is second, Lokomotiv is third. In turn, the main troublemaker “Spartak” from Nalchik began a progressive downward movement.

Russia received a response from the United States to the “chicken ultimatum” The “chicken issue” could make it much more difficult for Russia to join the World Trade Organization than Economic Development Minister German Gref expected, threatening to cancel all preferences for meat supplies for Washington (see Vremya Novostey, August 18) .

A grain crisis has broken out in Kamchatka The grain crisis that broke out in Kamchatka on the eve of the 15th anniversary of the August putsch turned out to be artificial.

“He, Me and His Friends” on Moscow screens The film by brothers Anthony and Joe Russo quickly reminds us that the word “friendship” can be interpreted in different ways. This is not only “the mutual affection of two or more people, their close connection” - when it comes to Randy Dupree and his “mutual affections,” you can’t help but remember that this wonderful word was once used to describe both processed cheese and a chainsaw.

The military accused the prosecutor's office of falsifying the “case of private Sychev” One of the main “living” evidence of the flourishing of hazing in the armed forces - the “case of private Andrei Sychev” - was fabricated by the military prosecutor’s office. This was directly stated last Friday at a meeting of the Chelyabinsk Garrison Military Court by a representative of the command of the tank school.

Dreams sometimes come true. And this is the saddest thing that can happen to them.

Iranian project in Lebanon Many of today's Lebanese problems are a consequence of long-standing events in Iran, where the Islamic revolution under the leadership of Imam Khomeini won in 1979. He called on Muslims around the world to fight against two devils, the United States and the Soviet Union, to defeat the state of Israel and liberate the territory of Palestine.