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MS BULGARIA-OPERATION
MOSCOW/KAZAN – Specialists of the Ministry for Emergencies start pumping out water from the Bulgaria pleasure boat, brought to a shallow place at the Kirelsky boat-yard.
ELECTIONS IN NORTH KOREA
PYONGYANG – North Korea holds elections to local bodies of self-government. Preliminary results will be made public on Monday, final – on Tuesday. The composition of provincial legislative assemblies as well as city and district councils are to be determined by direct voting by secret ballot.
NATO AIR RAIDS ON TRIPOLI
CAIRO – NATO fighters made a bombing raid on the Libyan capital early on Sunday morning. According to eyewitnesses, billows of black smoke are rising over the place of blasts. Tripoli residents claimed that one of the missiles hit the building of the local intelligence service.
CULTURE
MOSCOW – Thirteen singers, including four Russians, participate in the finals of the Operalia contest along with the outstanding Spanish tenor Placido Domingo. The final stage of the prestigious show, being held in the Russian capital for the first time, is to be housed by Moscow’s Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre.
KALININGRAD – Nine films of young filmmakers from eight European countries participate in the contest programme of the eighth film festival Baltic Debut, opening in the city of Svetlogorsk, Itar-Tass learnt at the culture ministry of the Kaliningrad Region. According to the ministry, “a strict jury will assess debuts of directors, actors and cameramen from Poland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Finland and Russia, embarking on their career in cinema.
ST. PETERSBURG – The 19th International Festival “The Stars of the White Nights” rounds off its two-month marathon race. The main stage of the Mariisnky Theatre shows the opera “Madama Butterfly” by Giacomo Puccini, while outstanding Estonian conductor Neeme Jarvi performs at the Concert Hall of the same theatre.
SPORT
TYUMEN – The many-day bicycle marathon race between Khanty-Mansiisk and Prague is flagged off in the capital of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Republic.