Sport Lenin, cold and colorful ice A stage of the World Cup in cross-country skiing took place in Moscow Artem Kalinin close Nikita Kryukov Anton Gafarov Skiers warmed themselves as best they could Olga Tsareva The track was laid on the territory of the Luzhniki sports complex You can view the full gallery in a separate report See photos The Moscow stage of the World Cup in cross-country skiing, held in Luzhniki, left a double impression.

The Federal Tax Service began arguing less with taxpayers in the courts, but winning cases more often. The number of tax disputes considered by the courts in 2011 decreased by 18% compared to the previous year and amounted to 61 thousand cases. “We see that disputes are being reduced annually by 15-20%,” said Deputy Head of the Federal Tax Service Sergei Arakelov on the sidelines of the International Tax Congress on Thursday.

Business Oil futures price in New York fell to $97.47 On the New York Exchange NYMEX, the cost of March futures for American light oil decreased by $1.01. Thus, its price was $97.47 per barrel.

Egypt's main stock index fell almost 5% amid stadium riots that killed more than 70 people, Reuters reports . Due to the fall in the index, trading on several exchanges in the country was suspended. Shares of such world leaders as Orascom Telecom and Palm Hills are traded on Egyptian exchanges. Unrest in Egypt, which resulted in bloody clashes between fans of the Al-Masry team and the Cairo club Al-Ahly, occurred last Tuesday .

Swiss mining company Xstrata and Swiss trading company Glencore International announced the start of merger negotiations, the BBC reports, citing a statement from Xstrata. As the mining company clarifies in its statement, the transaction is expected to be an equal deal (that is, none of the shareholders receives more than 60%). Earlier, there were media reports that the deal could create a company worth $83.5 billion.

In a policy article published Thursday, presidential candidate Vladimir Zhirinovsky flirts with a nationalist idea, calls rallies against election fraud the “Orange Revolution” and proposes starting changes by renaming the position of president to “head of Russia” because “president” is perceived “clumsily” in Russia " “The non-Russian word immediately catches your eye - president. Why are we so disrespected? Why should we call the highest position in our country in a foreign language?

Media mogul and billionaire Donald Trump will support Vice Speaker of the US House of Representatives Newt Gingrich in the presidential race, Reuters reports . Trump will announce his choice on Thursday, two days before the GOP caucus in Nevada, where the frontrunner in the race will be determined. Previously, Trump personally wanted to participate in the presidential race from the Republican Party, but last December he left the party due to disagreements.

Thanks to Google's approval of a new privacy policy, the Google+ social network has the opportunity to delete public messages if they contradict the country's laws, Russia Today reports . The new Google policy, the TV channel explains, will allow you to link the blog address to the domain zone of the country in which it was published. Thus, at the request of local authorities, Google+ will be able to delete certain entries.

More than 200 people have been rescued at sea off the northern coast of Papua New Guinea after the MV Rabaul Queen sank 16km offshore. The causes of the crash are still unknown. reports this The BBC . State water safety department official Capt. Noorur Rahman said most of the 350 passengers had been rescued. Rescuers tried to work as quickly as possible to find more people before sunset. In total, 8 ships and three helicopters are participating in the rescue operation.

Rostelecom acquired 75% of the largest independent backbone Internet operator in Armenia, reports a Gazeta.Ru correspondent in Yerevan. OJSC Rostelecom acquired 75% minus one share of Armenia's largest backbone Internet and data transmission operator GNC-Alfa for $22.5 million, as reported by the company's press service on Thursday. This is the first acquisition outside of Russia within the framework of Rostelecom’s international development policy.

02 February 2012, 22:47 Sports Sidorenko: for the first time with me they scored five goals from the game The head coach of Spartak Moscow, Andrei Sidorenko , shared his impressions of the match with Dynamo Minsk in the KHL championship ( 5:2 ). “Spartak” scored five goals from the game for the first time in my presence, this is very pleasing,” the Gazeta.Ru correspondent reports the words of Sidorenko.

The Russian research and production corporation Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) has signed an agreement with the Canadian engineering company Bombardier, providing for the creation of a joint venture (JV) in Russia to produce trams, UVZ General Director Oleg Sienko told reporters on the sidelines of the Russia-2012 forum organized by Sberbank and Troika Dialog. “We signed an agreement of intent. Most likely, the joint venture will be created on a parity basis,” Interfax quotes the general director .

02 February 2012, 10:45 Business China makes a hard landing China's economy could see a 'hard landing' Ekaterina Mereminskaya close 100% Chinese economy begins a 'hard landing' Reuters China's economy is entering a "hard landing," says economist Gary Shilling, who correctly predicted the 2007 recession. Already in 2012, the real estate sector will experience problems, then they will spread to construction and lending. Growth rates could fall from 10% to 6%.

François Hollande , the French presidential candidate from the Socialist Party , was sprinkled with flour during his speech in Paris, the BBC reports. The main rival of the current French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Hollande, was attacked by a woman who approached him during the candidate’s speech and threw a bag of flour at him. The guards pulled the woman away and led her out of the premises, while Hollande himself remained calm during the incident.

Bank The President of VTB , which will provide a loan to save the bankrupt Lanta Tour, Andrei Kostin , on the sidelines of the Russia 2012 Forum, laughed it off when answering a question about the bank’s possible entry into the capital of the travel company. Previously, several media outlets wrote that the bank could help the tour operator and take control of it.