#4 - JRL 7224
TV1 Review
www.1tv.ru
Compiled by Luba Schwartzman (luba_sch@hotmail.com)
Research Analyst, Center for Defense Information, Moscow office

WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS,
Saturday, June 14, 2003

- A forum for United Russia Party supporters was held in Kaliningrad. Several thousand young people attended a special concert in the city's central park. Some forum participants will get to travel through the Russian regions in the near future.

- Russia is withdrawing the last of its peacekeeping forces from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The peacekeepers were there since 1996. In that time, they built a cathedral, laid down roads, and de-mined fields.

- Budennovsk residents commemorated the 8-year anniversary of the seizure of the city by terrorists. Over 1,500 people were held hostage in the city's hospital for 6 days. The terrorists killed 147 people, including civilians, as well as soldiers and policemen,

- Border troops and fishery inspectors are battling poachers in the Kaliningrad Oblast. Eel and Baltic salmon are the main prey of the local and foreign poachers.

- The San Francisco court released former Ukrainian prime minister Pavel Lazarenko on bail. US authorities accuse Lazarenko of laundering $114 million through American banks.

- Forest fires have come dangerously close to the suburbs of Irkutsk. About 37,000 hectares of forest are on fire. Emergency Ministry workers evacuated children and medical workers from a local hospital.

- Operations at the Irkutsk airport were suspended for three days, due to heavy smoke over the city. Several hundred people are now waiting for their chance to fly out.

- Meteorologists warn Daghestan's residents about the danger of flooding. Emergency Ministry teams are on high alert.

- In Rostov-on-the-Don, Aleksandr Zaporozhets fixes antique Russian samovars.

Sunday, June 15, 2003

- Russian President Vladimir Putin begins a working trip to St. Petersburg. He will travel to the "northern capital" by train, accompanied by Railways Minister Gennady Fadeev. Putin will arrive at Ladoga train station, which was built for the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg and opened a month ago. Putin will get a tour of the station and see the equipment that makes it the most modern train station in Russia.

- In St. Petersburg, Putin presented the Global Energy awards to three scientists from Russia and the U.S.

- Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov begins his tour of the Asian region. He arrived in Islamabad, Pakistan, where he will meet with the President and Prime Minister to discuss the fight against terrorism, the situation in Afghanistan, and relations between India and Pakistan. From Pakistan, Ivanov will fly to India.

- A fire broke out at a garage in the northwestern region of Moscow. Several firefighters were injured by a gas explosion while they were putting out the fire. They have been hospitalized.

- A 24-hour crisis control center was created in Yakutia. Rescue workers will now be able to communicate with any location in the republic.

- An All-Russian contest for young traffic inspectors is underway in Togliatti.

- A team of Russian and foreign bicyclists will ride from St. Petersburg to Moscow in 6 days.

- Yevgenii Kolobov, the director of the Novaya Opera Theater passed away in Moscow.

- Orthodox Christians celebrate the Day of the Holy Trinity.