#4 - JRL 7140
TV1 Review
www.1tv.ru
Compiled by Luba Schwartzman (luba_sch@hotmail.com)
Research Analyst, Center for Defense Information, Moscow office
HEADLINES,
Wednesday, April 9, 2003
- Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with British Prime Minister Tony Blair over the telephone. They discussed the "Peace, Security and International Law" Seminar, which will take place in St. Petersburg on April 12th. They also discussed Russian- British relations and Blair told Putin about the main results of the British-American meeting in Belfast.
- French President Jacque Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder will visit St. Petersburg on April 11-12. Both leaders believe that the UN should play a central role in the political and economic restoration of Iraq after the war.
- President Putin met with Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov to discuss the payment of compensations to Chechen residents who lost their homes and preparations for the next stage of the tax reform.
- Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov is in South Korea to discuss nuclear affairs.
- A day of mourning has been announced in the Republic of Yakutia for the 22 children who died and 39 who were injured in the fire at the school in Sydybyl.
- State Duma deputies began their meeting with a moment of silence for the children who died in the Sydybyl school fire. General Prosecutor Vladimir Ustinov attended the meeting and spoke about safety measures in Russian schools. The deputies also accepted amendments to the law "On the Foundations of the Federal Housing Policy" in the third reading.
- Chairwoman of the Presidential Commission for Human Rights Elena Bonner supported Leonid Roshal's appeal for a "green corridor" to evacuate Iraqi children out of areas of military operations.
- The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service has refuted claims that Russian representatives have shipped out Saddam Hussein's secret archives.
- A demonstration protesting US military operations in Iraq, organized by the United Russia party and the Moscow Labor Union Association, was held in front of the US Embassy in Moscow. Several thousand people attended.
- Russian Ambassador to Iraq Vladimir Titorenko, his driver, and another consulate employee have arrived in Damask, Syria.
- About 60 settlements in the Volgograd Oblast have been affected by spring flooding. The situation is serious in many of Russia's regions.
- Nine prisoners escaped from a detention center in Sukhumi, Abkhazia. Four of the men, former members of Chechen field commander Ruslan Gelaev's band, have been sentenced to death for murder.
- An exhibit of photos taken by Russian military journalists in Chechnya opened in Copenhagen.
- Human Rights Envoy Oleg Mironov and President of the Russian Cultural Foundation Nikita Mikhalkov signed a cooperation protocol. The primary goal of the document is to protect the right of Russian citizens to have access to the arts. Mironov believes that museums should be free at least one day a week, and that prices to children's plays must be reasonable.
- Almost a thousand people attended the memorial service for theater and film actor Aleksandr Fatyushin, held at Moscow's Mayakovsky Theater.
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