#2
ORT Review
www.ortv.ru
Compiled by Luba Schwartzman (luba7@bu.edu)
Research fellow at the Institute for the Study of Conflict, Ideology and Policy
at Boston University
HEADLINES,
Friday, November 02, 2001
- The final date for the trial of Chechen fighter Salman Raduev has been announced. The trial will open in Makhachkala on 15 November. General Prosecutor Vladimir Ustinov will personally head the prosecution. Ustinov told journalists that Raduev will stand trial together with two accomplices. The three men are accused on ten different statutes of the criminal code -- charges including terrorism, banditry, murder and kidnapping. All three are currently kept in Moscow's Lefortovo prison.
- The Fifth Annual International Investment Symposium is taking place in Boston under the aegis of Harvard University. This year, the symposium is entitled "Reforms and Renewal." Over four hundred representatives of the Russian, American, Canadian, European and Asian business and political elites are participating. The Russian delegation is headed by Economic Development and Trade Minister German Gref.
- The General Prosecutor's office has officially accused State Duma Deputy Vladimir Golovlev of large-scale fraud and forbade him to leave the country. Golovlev is suspected of embezzling 22 billion rubles during the sale of bonds for the Magnitogorsk metallurgical combine.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Justice Minister Yuri Chaika to discuss work on the new law on the fight against extremism. President Putin began the meeting with a discussion of the recent events near the Tsaritsino metro station. Three days ago, fascist youths beat two people to death in what was essentially a pogrom.
- President Putin met with Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri to discuss bilateral relations and the situation in the Middle East and Iraq.
- Demonstrations continue in Georgian capital Tbilisi. Supporters of former Prime Minister Zviad Gamsakhurdia have joined the crowd of students in demanding the resignation of President Edvard Shevarnadze. - Russian First Lady Ludmila Putina met with the participants of the Children's and Youth Film Festival in Sochi. In parting, Putina wished the children luck in their studies, noting that this is the time in Russia when education is vital for well-being and professional advancement.
- Russia's best scientists were invited to the State House to receive awards for the most outstanding discoveries. A total of fifty awards were given out by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov.
- The German parliament will review the question of how much of the graffiti left by Russian soldiers on the Reichstag's walls in 1945 should remain.
- A symposium of cardiologists is taking place in Moscow; it is also broadcast over the internet.
- The crew of the Soiuz spaceship has returned to earth after conducting a series of 10 experiments during an 8-day trip.
- A joint Russian-Ukrainian commission for the investigation of the TU-154 catastrophe will take place tomorrow. Final results will be announced after the meeting.
- Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov has announced that several important experiments are being conducted onboard the Kursk nuclear submarine. Fifty-five bodies have been removed from the submarine so far. Forty-five of these have been identified. Also, sixteen of the twenty-two Granite guided missiles have been removed.
- A new contract murder took place in Moscow today. Deputy Prefect of the Western Administrative District Sergei Balashov arrived at work at 8:45am. He left his car and started walking towards the building. Two young men stood near a flower bed. As soon as he was level with them, one of the men took out a silenced Makarov pistol and fired four bullets at Balashov. The gun was found several dozen meters away from the scene of the crime. One of the building's employees saw two men of Slavic appearance fleeing.
- Oil prices have fallen to below $20 a barrel -- the lowest price in two years.
- Anthrax spores have been found in the mail-room of the American Embassy in Lithuania. All correspondence has been handed over to experts, the embassy staff is taking antibiotics as a precautionary measure.
- Russia's Chief Sanitary Inspector Gennady Onishchenko has warned about the threat of small-pox. Vaccination against this highly infectious disease were discontinued about 20 years ago.
- In Washington, preparations continue for the Russian-American summit that will begin on 13 November. For the first time in two months, the issue of the Antiballistic Missile treaty came up in official discussion.
- German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder will spend several hours in Moscow this evening on his way to Beijing. He will discuss the fight against international terrorism and the situation in Afghanistan with the Russian President.
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