Buxam

Iraqi ministers have said they no longer want to use dollars and, apparently, pounds in commercial transactions. In return, Iraq is ready to contribute to the unification of Europe and put the euro or some other European currency into circulation. At the very beginning of the Kuwaiti adventure, Iraq banned the sale of any goods with American symbols - from cigarettes to children's toys. Now the Iraqi authorities have reached the last bastion of “Americanism” in their dying economy. A merciless battle is declared against the bucks, these weapons of “hostile nations.” Over the course of 10 years of sanctions, the once mighty Iraqi dinar has weakened by almost 3 thousand times and turned into a truly “priceless” paper reserve of the country.

There will be music in the rock cafe


(Photo: AP )

For its 30th anniversary, the famous Hard Rock Cafe chain is finally going to have live music. It's funny, but in 1971, when the first "hard rock" establishment opened, there was no talk of any music: the cafe almost immediately turned into a collection of musical relics, the first of which was Eric Clapton's guitar (now the company's collection is estimated at 32 million dollars). Despite the fact that since 1988 the number of restaurants has grown from 5 to 103 in 38 countries, two “Hard Rock Hotels” have appeared and two more will be built next year, concerts and weekly programs are organized on the popular American music channel VH-1 , the management of Hard Rock Cafe International is dissatisfied with the way the business is developing. With the advent of live music, restaurants will close not at 10 - 11 pm, as before, but much later. In addition, the owners are also going to expand the menu - 12 “serious dishes” will be added to the traditional hamburgers and chicken wings.

Van Damme with the face of a Hasid


(Photo: AP )

It's hard to believe, but Brussels hunk Jean-Claude Van Damme becomes an Orthodox Hasidic Jew. Van Damme makes such a transformation in the new film “Order,” which is currently being filmed in the eastern part of Jerusalem. Of course, this is not the actor’s main role in this thriller: he will have plenty of opportunities to show off his muscles and kickboxing techniques. According to the script of the film, Van Damme plays a roguish guy who trades in stolen works of art. He sets out in search of his archaeologist father, who disappeared in the Holy Land. It was there, having gone through a lot of dangers and adventures, that Van Damme’s hero at some point is forced to disguise himself as a Hasid in order to escape the clutches of the next “bad guys.”


Plague on both your houses


(Photo: AP )

After a three-year investigation, the US Department of Justice concluded that Sotheby's and Christie's - the largest auction houses, controlling 95% of the world auction market - colluded in a conspiracy to manipulate the prices of works of art since 1992. Now both houses must pay $512 million in compensation for years of deceiving 120 thousand of their clients. The Sotheby's board decided to pay its half as follows: 156 out of 256 million will be contributed by the former chairman of the board and owner of the largest share of the company, Alfred Taubman.


(Photo: AP )

Another 50 million will probably have to be paid to former Sotheby's executive director Diana Brooks. And the remaining 50 million will be transferred to clients in the form of special certificates that exempt them from paying commissions for future transactions. Alfred Taubman announced his readiness to pay the money in order to quickly end the scandal. Christie's plans are unclear. Official representatives of the auction house declined to comment on the Justice Department's decision.

The Ministry of Finance was bought cheaply

British pensioner Nora Knight sent a check for 75 pence ($1.09) to the country's Chancellor of the Exchequer (Minister of Finance) Gordon Brown. With this action she wanted to protest against the “insultingly insignificant” increase in the state pension, which this year is exactly 75 pence a week. Imagine her surprise when she discovered that her check had been cashed. “Of course, I don’t think Brown himself received the money, but someone in his ministry did,” Knight fumes. “So Labor won’t get my vote anymore.”

It's me, Diego

Argentine football legend 39-year-old Diego Maradona, who miraculously escaped death in a car accident in Cuba, returned to Buenos Aires, where his autobiography Yo Soy El Diego ("I, Diego") has just been published. The player's friend and manager Guillermo Coppola told reporters that the book, in the creation of which two Argentine journalists helped Maradona, contains "a lot of frank confessions." Working on it was a kind of attempt at psychoanalysis for Diego: he talks without embellishment about what he considers the most important in his life. Including, of course, the famous winning goal he scored against the English at the 1986 World Cup. Now Maradona does not hide the fact that for him it was also revenge on the British for the war in the Falkland Islands (Malvinas). At the book launch, there were questions about the recent car accident. “Anyone can get into an accident,” Maradona answered evasively, neither confirming nor denying rumors that he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the accident (for which, by the way, he has been undergoing treatment in Cuba since the beginning of this year) .

Scumbag in the hands of science


(Photo: EPA )

In the Italian city of Bolzano, scientists from different countries began to study the oldest surviving mummies on earth - the body of a man who lived in the Ötztal Alps 5,300 years ago. Etsty (as the find was called) was discovered by climbers in a glacier at an altitude of three thousand meters 9 years ago and since then has been stored in a special chamber at a constant temperature of minus 6 degrees Celsius. To take samples, it was defrosted to plus 2 degrees. It is believed that it was an Alpine shepherd who froze to death in a mountain crevice. Now pathologists will determine the cause of his death. For this purpose, the famous Scottish forensic medicine expert Peter Vanezis came to Italy. Meanwhile, a team of scientists in Rome will compare the mummy's DNA with DNA taken from other prehistoric remains found in the region, which should ultimately lead to the creation of a genetic bank of the area's inhabitants. And Wolfgang Müller from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology is most interested in Oetzta's teeth. In his opinion, enamel can tell a lot about where a person was born and spent his childhood.

70 tails - dollar


(Photo: Ruslan Yamalov )

This year, Hanoi residents caught 1.7 million mice. These are the statistics summing up the interim results of the campaign announced by the Vietnamese authorities to combat these rodents. According to Vietnam News, this is more than double the number of mice exterminated during the same period last year. The state paid 377 million dong (about 27 thousand dollars) as remuneration. For each mouse tail presented to local authorities, citizens receive 200 dong. Some particularly clever Hanoians managed to earn 2 - 3 million dong in this way.

According to Itogi, REUTER, AP