Prosecutors in Germany and France are interested in insider trading at EADS and Airbus The top management of the European aerospace and defense concern EADS, which includes the German-French aircraft manufacturer Airbus, has come under close scrutiny from prosecutors. And not only in Germany, where, as is known, a case of using insider information for personal gain has been under investigation for a year now.

Colonel Budanov was again denied early release The former commander of the 160th Tank Regiment of the Ministry of Defense, Colonel Yuri Budanov, sentenced to ten years for the rape and murder of an underage Chechen girl, was once again denied leniency and was not released. On Monday, the Dimitrovgrad City Court considered a request for parole of perhaps the most famous military man in Russia, convicted of a crime against civilians in Chechnya.

Australian regulators prohibited Gazmetal from selling its stake in Mount Gibson to Chinese Shougang The Australian Mergers and Acquisitions Committee, as it became known yesterday, banned Gazmetall Holding Cyprus Ltd. Alisher Usmanov to sell her 19.7% stake in the Australian Mount Gibson Iron Ltd. The buyer in the deal is the Chinese Shougang Concord International Enterprises, a subsidiary of the sixth largest steel producer in China, Shougang Group.

On the eve of the NATO summit opening today in Bucharest, Romanian Defense Minister Theodor MELESCANU told Vremya Novostey why this event is important and how the alliance needs to build relations with Russia. Teodor Melescanu, 67, has served as Minister of Defense since April 2007. Previously, in 1992-1996, he was Minister of Foreign Affairs, then a senator in parliament. He is also vice-chairman of the ruling National Liberal Party.

Yushchenko promised a referendum on NATO The United States will continue to support Ukraine and Georgia in their efforts to join NATO's Western bloc. American President George Bush announced this yesterday in Kiev . Today and tomorrow he will continue to discuss this problem with his alliance colleagues at the NATO summit in Romania. “I am going to Bucharest, where I will defend this position. And I told Vladimir Putin about this in a telephone conversation,” Bush told reporters.

The solar anticyclone, which brought pleasant days to central Russia at the end of March, will retain its influence for a couple more days. But the pressure in it begins to fall, and if no precipitation is expected in most areas on April 2, then on April 3 the probability of precipitation increases. In the northwestern, central regions and in the upper reaches of the Volga, the temperature at night is close to zero, and during the day the air will warm up to +7...+14°C.

Moscow promises to relieve parents of schoolchildren from having to pay for security It is possible that from the new school year, contributions for the security of educational institutions, which are now obligatory for most parents of Moscow schoolchildren, will become purely voluntary. “ There should be no imposition of any types of payments on parents .

Putin goes to the NATO summit to take stock The next summit of the North Atlantic Alliance, starting today in Bucharest, will be one of the most memorable in its history . The reason is the same why the annual NATO Security Conference in Munich became famous last year: both events are advertised by Vladimir Putin's participation in them . In Bucharest, he will participate in the work of the Russia-NATO Council at the highest level, the meeting of which will take place in the morning of April 4.

The Russian government in search of macroeconomic policy On the eve of the change of government, a macro-discussion seems to have unfolded about threats to the country’s economic development and ways to counter them.

A representative of the coaching staff of Dynamo Moscow, the national champion as part of this team, Ravil YAKUBOV, in a conversation with Vremya Novostey correspondent Oleg EREMIN, explained why the Ufa Salavat Yulaev will have an advantage over the Yaroslavl Lokomotiv in the final series of the Russian championship starting tomorrow.

Russia will again raise the Kosovo issue in the UN Security Council Today in the State Duma, as part of the “government hour,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will again raise the topic of Kosovo. Largely thanks to the efforts of Moscow, the problem of this Serbian region remains at the center of the international agenda.

The leader of the Star Alliance, the German Lufthansa, changed the airport in Moscow Since yesterday, the list of airlines that are clients of Domodedovo Airport has been supplemented by one of the largest players in the passenger air transportation market. Domodedovo has become the base airport in Moscow for the German airline Lufthansa.

Exhibition of graphics by Vladimir Sterligov in the Proun gallery What image will be born if the universals of Malevich’s artistic system are reunited with the cheerful absurdity of the Oberiut writers? Perhaps the image of a tent with gymnasts flying under the dome on trapeze. This image was sung in his work by Malevich’s student Vladimir Sterligov.

Finnish minister's career was ruined by mobile messages Finland yesterday received a new minister of foreign affairs, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe - a new acting chairman from this country, who became in one person the member of the European Parliament Alexander Stubb, who, by a funny coincidence, was born on April 1, 1968 and celebrated his 40th birthday yesterday.

The conflict between municipal and regional authorities does not allow Kaliningrad to be fully heated Heat from the Kaliningrad Thermal Power Plant has been going into the air for many years. It is not possible to close the huge “window” of CHPP-2 due to a conflict of interests: the energy sector has found a common language with the regional government, but the city authorities still cannot give the go-ahead for their participation in the project.