The cost of living in the third quarter of 2008 in Moscow decreased by as much as 62 rubles compared to the second quarter, the city administration told Interfax on November 13.

President Dmitry Medvedev gave an extensive interview to the French newspaper Le Figaro, in which he answered a number of key questions raised by Russia's actions in Georgia and the president's recent address to the Federal Assembly. In particular, Medvedev clarified that his proposal to extend the presidential term to six years does not apply to his current presidency.

The Moscow City Court sentenced banker Alexei Frenkel, found guilty of organizing the murder of the first deputy chairman of the Central Bank Andrei Kozlov, to 19 years in a maximum security colony. The prosecution sought life imprisonment. Alexei Polovinkin, one of those who, as the court found, shot at Kozlov and his driver, received a life sentence.

The Orthodox Church in America has a new head NOVEMBER 13, 2008 SVETLANA SOLODOVNIK The 15th All-American Council of the Orthodox Church in America, which opened on November 10 in Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), elected a new head of the autocephalous church. This was Bishop Jonah of Fort Worth (James Paffhausen), who was ordained bishop only in September of this year.

The election of the head of the Orthodox Church in America, the youngest by consecration, Bishop Jonah, who became a bishop just a few days before the council, I think, seemed to the participants of the council the best way out of the crisis situation in which the church found itself. It is clear that when two metropolitans in a row are accused of financial abuse, the church needs a person who cannot be suspected of such fraud.

In Moscow on November 14 from 18.30 to 20.00 at the monument to Griboyedov (Chistye Prudy metro station) there will be a picket against changes to the Constitution and the extension of the powers of the President and Parliament of Russia. The picket is organized by the Moscow branch of the United Front.

There was such a film. In our country it was shown as the film epic “The Great Patriotic War,” and in America with the host, the famous Burt Lancaster, it was shown under the title “The Unknown War.” The war, which is everything to us, which is the main event of our entire history, the cornerstone of patriotism and pride, the memory of ancestors, the veneration of heroes, our epic and self-identification code - for “them” was “unknown”. This is how it happened. But we also have the Unknown War.

Another accident, the culprit of which was a car with special signals, no longer surprises anyone. How many people, I wonder, must die on Russian roads for the survivors to think: is it worth delegating any powers to their own potential murderers? An attempt to comply with the traffic police’s demands and pull to the side of the road ended in death for 26-year-old Vladimir resident Alexei Mayorov. The roads are bad, of course.