Armenia still remains Russia’s main friend in the Caucasus Today the first meeting of the new parliament of Armenia - the National Assembly of the fourth convocation - will take place in Yerevan. The elections held on May 12 opened a large electoral cycle, into which the country is the first of the South Caucasus states to enter: Robert Kocharyan’s second presidential term expires next year.

The Americans pulled out of the fight for Alitalia There are only two candidates left in the tender for the sale of the state stake in the Italian airline Alitalia . In one of them, Aeroflot and the Italian bank UniCredit merged, in the second - the company AP Holding SpA, representing the interests of the management of the large Italian airline Air One, and the bank Intesa Sanpaolo SpA.

Before yesterday's vote in the UN Security Council on a draft resolution establishing an International Tribunal for the assassination of ex-Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, Russia's permanent representative Vitaly Churkin announced his disagreement with the inclusion in this document of a reference to Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which provides for “harsh sanctions and even use of force." In general, Russia supports the creation of the tribunal, although, according to Mr.

The first study of Russian neo-Nazism has been published Russia could face a catastrophe if racists and chauvinists enter the new parliament, says Viktor Shnirelman, chief researcher at the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Together with the Moscow Bureau for Human Rights, the institute published his book about Russian skinheads, as well as their image in the media and public opinion.

In the European territory of Russia, starting from the northern and northwestern regions, the heat has subsided. The cold snap was accompanied by rain and thunderstorms, sometimes strong. However, the weather continues to amaze residents of the central regions of Russia with new temperature records. On May 29, another temperature record was set in the capital, the fourth this month, when during the day the thermometer reached +32.5°C.

The Saeima of Latvia will elect a president Today the first round of presidential elections is taking place in the Latvian Seimas. The day before, Prime Minister Aigar Kalvitis said that he was confident in the success of the candidate from the ruling coalition, Valdis Zatlers. To win, he needs to get 51 votes, while the coalition parties have 58 deputies in the 100-seat parliament.

This coming weekend, another heavyweight championship belt could go to Russia. Sultan Ibragimov from Rostov-on-Don will meet the World Boxing Organization (WBO) title holder, American Shannon Briggs, on June 2 in Atlantic City. Ibragimov, who has no defeats in his professional career, has been seeking a meeting with Briggs for quite some time, and now has a fairly high chance of winning.

Nine Russians took to the court at 11 o'clock Paris time At the French Open, our Maria Sharapova successfully played her opening match; Roland Garros 2004 finalist Elena Dementieva was the first Russian to secure access to the third round of the competition; Marat Safin dropped out of the fight. These are, in brief, the main results of the morning gaming block of the Paris Grand Slam tournament.

Chronicle of sporting events Basketball. NBA. Playoffs. Eastern Conference Finals. “Cleveland” – “Detroit” – 91:87 (series score 2:2). 3:21 before the siren, Cleveland was in the lead 87:79, but the visitors reduced the gap to two points in the last minute of the fourth period. A tactical foul immediately followed and LeBron James confidently took free throws. Rasheed Wallace's long-range shot at the same time as the signal to end the fourth period failed to reach the target.

Russian gas producers decided to reduce production plans The warm winter has become a reason to revise plans for gas production in Russia. For the first time in many years, the head of Gazprom, Alexey Miller, gathered the heads of companies - major players in the gas market - to a meeting to jointly make this obvious decision for everyone.

The trial of “sellers” of government positions has begun The Moscow District Military Court (MoVS) received a criminal case against a group of, without exaggeration, consummate swindlers who made money on the endlessly discussed topic of corruption.

Russia “has been and remains the main partner” in a peace settlement in Abkhazia, President of the unrecognized republic Sergei Bagapsh said yesterday, delivering his annual message to the Abkhaz parliament.

Eni management is suspected of shortchanging every Italian family by 100 euros per year The Milan prosecutor's office yesterday revealed some details of the crimes of which the management of the Italian oil and gas giant Eni, headed by Paolo Scaroni, as well as top managers of its subsidiaries - gas transportation Snam Rete and gas distribution Italgas and some independent gas traders - in particular AEM, are suspected of committing SpA and Arcalgas SpA.

The 1996 Olympic champion and 1999 world all-around champion Nikolai Kryukov is rightly called “the last of the Mohicans” by the Russian team. And the point here is not so much the age - in November the athlete will turn 28 years old, but the fact that the fans associate the name Kryukov with the generation of gymnasts who left the big sport - Svetlana Khorkina and Alexei Nemov.

Kemerovo Governor Aman Tuleyev thinks so The tragedies at two Kuzbass mines owned by the Yuzhkuzbassugol company - Ulyanovskaya and Yubileynaya - in March and May of this year claimed 148 human lives. The governor of the Kemerovo region, Aman TULEEV, told Vremya Novostey about the cause of these tragedies and how to radically improve safety in the coal industry. — Aman Gumirovich, what is the root cause of the security failure in the coal industry?