The Keston Institute (Oxford, England, president - Ksenia Dennen) and the Institute of Religion and Law (director - Roman Lunkin) organized a presentation at the Slavic Legal Center (co-chair of the center - Anatoly Pchelintsev) of the just published third book of the Atlas of Contemporary Religious Life in Russia. The first volume appeared back in 2005 (M.-SPb: Summer Garden, 2005).

"The Inhabited Island" was released. I am, of course, grateful to Bondarchuk for giving me a reason to write this article. But, to be honest, there is nothing more to thank him for. The film, in my opinion, is outright bullshit. In general, it takes a lot of effort to make such a mediocre film using SUCH material. (I would like to warn you: the article was written for those who have read and remember the novel.

At the beginning of January 1909, Sovereign Emperor Vladimir Vladimirovich with the Heir Tsarevich Dmitry, his wife and daughters unexpectedly returned by train from Tsarskoe Selo, where he spent his holidays, to the Winter Palace. As Count Witte recalled in 1924, already in exile, the Sovereign was forced to interrupt the traditional Christmas holiday by the consequences of the publication of the circular “On wooden carts (carts)” (S.Yu. Witte, “Memoirs of a Courtier.” Berlin, 1924, p. 76).

The gas saga will never end. The Chairman of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, has already threatened Russia and Ukraine with court, and they all nod at each other and say that, in principle, they are ready for court. Meanwhile, Moscow took the initiative to hold a summit on January 17 dedicated to the gas problem. Ukraine said it would take part in the summit only if it took place not in Moscow, but, for example, in Prague or Brussels.

The Israeli military fired at the UN school in Jabaliya. The Israelis said they were fired upon from the area adjacent to the school. UNRWA spokesman Christopher Guinness said he was "99.99% sure" no shots were fired from the school. The Israeli claim is at least plausible: Hamas terrorists are not just using their own women and children as human shields, they are not fighting any other way. Another thing is Christopher Guinness.

This work is a real feat; an information base has been created on the basis of which one can conduct analysis and make generalizations. The trouble is that this kind of research begins to become outdated after some time - the religious situation is very dynamic and changes quickly. So it is necessary to continue this work, constantly updating the publication with new information.

The cathedral is getting closer JANUARY 15, 2009 SVETLANA SOLDOVNIK The diocesan meeting of the clergy of the city of Moscow on Thursday completed the election of delegates to the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, which will take place on January 27-29. Each diocese (there are 157 of them today) nominated three people to the Council based on the results of diocesan meetings - a clergyman, a monastic and a layman living on its territory.

The year 2008 ends the eight-year period of Vladimir Putin's presidency. One of the gatekeepers at the door is the crisis that has befallen the world and us this year as unexpectedly as it is natural. Its scale, it is now becoming obvious, will exceed the scale of the 1998 crisis. Its expected duration will be abnormal. Expectations for outside help are untenable.