In the economy To take while they give February 5, 2007. Maxim Blan The former head of the Russian Pension Fund, and now the Minister of Health and Social Development, Mikhail Zurabov provoked another scandal last week.

Letter to Alexander Yuryevich Ryklin and Leonid Aleksandrovich Radzikhovsky Dear friends! Still, the Kremlin were right when they strangled freedom of speech in our country-from it only troubles. I did not have (and no) no desire to participate in your, roughly speaking, discussions regarding the necessary degree of whiteness of journalistic clothes. Moreover, in the discussion, accompanied by the characteristic questions of “who are you?”, As well as flapping doors.

Rosselkhoznadzor has another attack of “brotherly love” - from February 5, the number of border points allowing the passage of dairy products from Ukraine is limited. According to Rosselkhoznadzor press secretary Alexey Alekseenko, dairy products from Ukraine came to Russia with “inappropriate documents.” God be with them, with political motives, but here’s what’s not clear: if the products arrive “in violation of veterinary legislation,” then it’s the customs’ fault, isn’t it?

Mikhail Khodorkovsky is ready to testify in a new case if the violations of his rights stop and, in particular, if he is transferred to Moscow, said lawyer Yuri Shmidt, representing the interests of the former head of Yukos. According to the defense lawyer, his client is ready to refute all the charges brought against him “from the first to the last word.”

I always knew that Sergei Ivanov was not very highly of opinion about the moral qualities of subordinates. But, honestly, I could not imagine that he was thinking about the military so badly. Explaining the need to create a federal agency for arms deliveries, military, special equipment and material resources, he stated that it will be guaranteed from corruption. On the only basis that the agency will not be military, and it itself will not enter the Ministry of Defense.

“The passage of this law ... is a clear attack on religious freedom and fundamental human rights,” said institute President Joseph K. Grybowski. In his opinion, the law “differs little, if at all” from that in force under the communist regime. Only religious organizations with at least 0.1% of the country’s total population can now receive official status. Meanwhile, about a quarter of those registered under the old law do not reach this threshold.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) warns of the danger to free speech posed by 21st century dictators. Joel Simon, executive director of CPJ, called Putin and Chavez part of a new generation of slick dictators who use laws to control the media and impose harsh censorship. Simon even came up with a new term - “democrats”.

As the Versiya newspaper learned, the Kremlin recently made a decision regarding the future fate of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. They’re tired of Old Man: he’s always saying something, and God forbid, someone who is completely uncontrollable might block the pipe. Therefore, they decided to replace him with a loyal person.

If anyone else doubted that the government is not fighting chauvinism and nationalism, but is desperately flirting with it, now all doubts have certainly disappeared. "United Russia" is launching a public discussion "Russian Project", which will be led by ex-TV presenter Ivan Demidov, who is part of the leadership of another pro-Kremlin youth organization - "Young Guard".

The anniversary XV that ended last week Christmas readings showed that the format of this international conference has finally taken shape: two days of plenary sessions, when the hierarchs, officials, politicians, scientists and educators familiar to the public alternate on the podium (although surprises also happen: this year, such a surprise was the appearance of Mikhail Leontyev with a report “ New elite and new values”, in which he broadly repeated dreams Stanislav Belkovsky three years

They escalated, escalated, fueled the growing tensions and now: the Russian Prosecutor General's Office brought a new charge against the head of the MENATEP group, Platon Lebedev, ITAR-TASS reports. Lebedev has been charged with embezzlement of funds and property; he does not plead guilty and considers the charges unfounded. Meanwhile, Mikhail Khodorkovsky's lawyers are not answering phone calls; the court hearing continues.

The Russian poet, translator and book publisher Ilya Kormiltsev died in London at the age of 48. He arrived in the UK about three months ago. On the very first day, I fell at the station and injured my spine. After lying at home for two months, he, on the advice of friends, went to the hospital - they found out that his cancerous tumor was progressing. After a campaign to raise funds for Kormiltsev’s treatment announced in the media, about 1.7 million rubles were transferred to the account.