Cuba has declared mourning following the death on Monday of 77-year-old Vilma Espin ( pictured ), one of the country's most powerful women, after a long illness. She was the wife of 76-year-old Raul Castro, brother of Fidel Castro. Due to Fidel's illness, Raul has been acting president since last summer. Vilma Espin Guillois was born on April 7, 1930 in Santiago de Cuba into a wealthy family. Her father owned the Cuban branch of the Bacardi company, which produced the famous rum.

Gazprom promises to sell above-limit gas at different prices From July 1, Gazprom will receive the right, recently issued by the government, to sell gas in excess of the limits established for 2007 at 60% more expensive than at government prices.

The Ministry of Economic Development and Trade promises to eliminate the import of medicines to Russia In 2008, drug importers will receive an additional invitation to the domestic pharmaceutical market.

The St. Petersburg Maly Drama Theater - Theater of Europe ends this season with the premiere of Leonid Zorin's play "Warsaw Melody". The theater's chief director and artistic director Lev DODIN told Natalya SHKURENOK about the premiere and plans for the coming years.

The head coach of Spartak resigned The country's most titled football club is once again experiencing a change in leadership. Yesterday, the head coach of the vice-champions, Vladimir Fedotov, resigned, which was immediately accepted by the chairman of the board of directors and the actual owner of the club, Leonid Fedun. The team was led by Spartak sports director Stanislav Cherchesov. The contract with him was concluded until the end of 2008.

Premiere of the opera "Pelléas et Mélisande" We have no living memories associated with Claude Debussy's opera based on Maurice Maeterlinck's symbolist drama Pelléas et Mélisande (world premiere in 1902 in Paris). It is not performed in Russia, and it was even more impossible to present it on our theater space than Wagner’s “Tristan” or Richard Strauss’ “Electra,” revived on the Mariinsky stage after almost a century-long intermission.

The hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Vatican have different assessments of the chances of a meeting between the pontiff and the patriarch Two mutually exclusive statements regarding the prospects for a historic meeting between the heads of the Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches were made by representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate and the Vatican.

The Minister of Finance could not stand the monopoly of Gazprom Emotions had not yet had time to cool down from the head of government’s readiness to give Gazprom for use without the legally required procedures (auction) the subsoil within the Sakhalin-3 project and the Chayandinskoye field, when the gas monopolist asked for new preferences.

Watch from June 21 on Moscow screens “Evan Almighty” (USA, 2007, Tom Shediac). The most expensive comedy to date, the continuation of the super-popular “Bruce Almighty”, where Jim Carrey had to take on the responsibilities of the Lord God.

Yuri Chaika may resign soon Yuri Chaika may soon leave the post of Prosecutor General of Russia, which he took only a year ago . As Vremya Novostey learned from unofficial sources, the other day he allegedly submitted an application to President Putin with a request to be relieved of his position at his own request. It was not possible to obtain official confirmation or refutation of this information yesterday. Mr. Chaika himself has been in Spain on an official visit since Monday.

Russians want to preserve the election of power, but do not believe in the ability of elections to influence power Does the revival on the political Olympus associated with the upcoming federal elections in Russia have anything to do with the mood of the people? The people need elections, but do the people need elections? What if the majority remains indifferent and ignores the elections, deciding that their votes don’t affect anything anyway? What then?

Bolshoi artists on a small stage “Doors Wide Open,” a new performance by Natalia Shirokova, became a natural continuation of her debut at the “Workshop of New Choreography” at the Bolshoi Theater.

Rospotrebnadzor is ready to accept Moldovan wines for examination The road to Russian shelves is once again opening for Moldovan wine. Yesterday, the chief sanitary doctor of the Russian Federation, Gennady Onishchenko, announced that after a long break , the first samples of wine products from this country will soon arrive at Rospotrebnadzor for examination.

Chisinau does not expect help from GUAM Yesterday, the summit of GUAM, an organization uniting Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova, ended in Baku. The Baku summit culminated in many declarative statements indicating, at best, that the structure established ten years ago under the patronage of the United States continues to exist. A typical confirmation of this was the message from US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the summit participants. It “expresses gratitude (! - Ed.

The Paris tournament brought together all the best couples in the world for the first time this season Located a few minutes' walk from the famous Eiffel Tower in Paris, the arena with six-thousand-seat collapsible stands and several sand courts adjacent to it kicked off the first Grand Slam tournament of the season.