Blackburn head coach Sam Allardyce was sacked after the matchday 17 defeat to Bolton. The place of the sacked Englishman could be taken by Diego Armando Maradona. The owner of the club, head of the Indian company Venky's Anuradha Desai hopes that the figure of the legend of world football will increase interest in the club. After leaving the Argentina national team, Maradona remains unemployed. He stated several times that he would not mind working in England .

December 15, 2010, 00:27 Sports Kramnik drew with Carlsen The sixth round of the London Chess Classic super tournament took place in London (prize fund – €145 thousand). Russian Vladimir Kramnik played a draw with Norwegian Magnus Carlsen.

December 15, 2010, 15:57 News Germany is downsizing its army and ending compulsory conscription The largest military reform in 50 years was approved by the German cabinet: from July 1, 2011, universal conscription is abolished and the size of the army is reduced from 250 thousand to 185, reports the Associated Press. German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed on Wednesday to plans to cut military spending, as well as to form a voluntary army.

Sport “I’m not up for the holidays” Alan Dzagoev about the upcoming match against Sparta Artyom Kalinin (Prague) Midfielder of CSKA and the Russian national team Alan Dzagoev in an exclusive interview with Gazeta.Ru summed up the results of the season, noting both positive and negative aspects. The footballer also shared his plans for the upcoming vacation, noting that the upcoming holidays are not of great importance to him.

December 15, 2010, 14:29 News Tymoshenko's husband was hospitalized in serious condition In Ukraine, the deputy chairman of the Batkivshchyna party, former Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Turchynov confirmed that the husband of the leader of the Batkivshchyna party and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was hospitalized in serious condition, UNIAN reports . “In quite a difficult condition,” Turchynov said at a briefing in parliament.

December 15, 2010, 01:49 Business The price of oil on the New York Stock Exchange fell to $88.28 On the New York exchange NYMEX, the price of January futures for American light oil decreased by $0.33. Thus, its price was $88.28 per barrel.

December 15, 2010, 20:48 Politics Saturday stays with man There will be no sixty-hour work week, the president decided Elizaveta Surnacheva The President of Russia put an end to the discussion about the transition to a 60-hour work week. This will not happen, the guarantor said. Employers behind the initiative say the unions have misled the country's leadership. The president could not take an unpopular measure in an election year, the expert explained.

December 15, 2010, 13:18 Sports Anzhi Fan Club: we will try to ensure that everything goes peacefully at the Evropeisky shopping center A representative of the Anzhi fan club “Wild Division”, in a conversation with a Gazeta.Ru correspondent, said that on Wednesday in the center of Moscow near the Evropeysky shopping center there will indeed be a gathering of natives of the Caucasus in protest against Saturday’s pogrom on Manezhnaya Square, however, those who come will try to avoid disturbances.

December 15, 2010, 17:22 News Police conduct searches and arrests near Smolenskaya station When leaving the Smolenskaya metro station, police officers conduct inspections and arrests of young people heading towards the square near the Kievsky railway station. According to a law enforcement source, more than 50 people have been detained so far. They are currently being delivered to police station the Arbat .

In Irkutsk, on Naberezhnaya Street (Batareynaya station), an eight-apartment residential building burned down. The fire started in one of the apartments on the second floor. Her owner is now in serious condition in the hospital. The tenant, a 35-year-old man, died. Experts are currently working at the scene of the fire and will tell you what started the fire. So far, two versions are being considered - careless handling of fire and a short circuit in the wiring.

December 15, 2010, 01:02 News US stock markets closed higher At the end of trading, the Dow Jones index increased by 0.42%, amounting to 11,476.54 points. The NASDAQ index rose 0.11% to 2,627.72 points.

December 15, 2010, 19:05 Business Foreign investors entered the subsoil FAS attracts investments in subsoil and banks Olga Alekseeva , Igor Bakharev , Alexey Topalov Foreign investors will be able to buy blocking stakes in Russian mining companies and banks without the approval of the government commission on foreign investment. The government expects an influx of capital in 2011 in the amount of $10 billion. Large transactions will still have to be negotiated, experts are skeptical.

December 15, 2010, 14:05 News The Moscow City Duma decided to increase its composition to only 45 deputies A bill providing for an increase in the number of Moscow City Duma deputies from 35 to 45 people has been submitted to the Moscow City Duma. Earlier, at the proposal of President Dmitry Medvedev , a bill was introduced to the State Duma that would introduce a single criterion for establishing the number of deputies in the regions.

An audit of the Kizhi Museum-Reserve conducted by the Accounts Chamber revealed ineffective use of budget funds in the amount of 64 million rubles. According to auditors, only one object of the reserve - the construction of a cargo pier on the island - caused direct damage to the state in the amount of 16.2 million rubles.

December 15, 2010, 20:09 News Eyewitness: the sounds of gunfire are heard on Smolenskaya Square On Smolenskaya Square, pops were heard, similar to a series of single shots, an eyewitness to the events told Gazeta.Ru.