Colonel General Gennady Troshev, removed from the post of commander of the North Caucasian Military District, since Wednesday it has been in the planned business trips in parts of the district. About this agency Interfax reported at the headquarters of the North Caucasus Military District. "The general did not sign documents on the surrender of his post," - said a source at headquarters.

In Yemen, in the province of Hadhramaut, French and local archaeologists have found a city founded in the 8th century BC, RIA Novosti reports. The newspaper "As-Saura" writes that scientists, having just begun excavations, have already discovered the ruins of temples and large houses dating back to the 1st-2nd centuries AD, as well as about 17 thousand various objects.

In Rostov-on-Don On Thursday, the court hearing in the case of Colonel Yuri Budanov, accused of murdering Chechen girl Elza Kungaeva. Hearings at the North Caucasus District Military Court will continue behind closed doors. The defendant also present at the meeting, Interfax reports. Before the start of the meeting, the lawyer of the injured party, Abdullah Khamzaev asked the court to allow the press to attend the hearing.

A passenger ferry with 300 people on board capsized in the Para River, near the mouth of the Amazon. It is reported by the BBC. At least five people died, their bodies were found in the water. 206 passengers, most wearing life jackets, made it to the nearest island in the river. The fate of more than 80 people is unknown. Rescuers fear that they all drowned. According to representatives of the Brazilian authorities, the ferry sank due to the fact that it was overloaded.

Citizens who asked questions to the president live were trained by psychologists, reports the Novy Region agency . Thus, Denis Yelistratov, a resident of Asbest (a question about the reform of housing and communal services), found out on Wednesday that he would be given the opportunity to talk with the president. Of his two questions, one was chosen, since the organizers of the teleconference liked the wording (Denis was prompted to ask Putin questions by "innate sociability").

Head killed in Chechnya administration of the settlement Tsotsin-Yurt, Kurchaloi region. Deputy Prime Minister of Chechnya Movsar Khamidov Interfax that the crime was committed unknown armed men. They broke into the neighbors house heads of the village administration, who were visited by an official and opened fire from machine guns on the people who were in it. IN as a result, in addition to the head of the village administration, three more were killed person.

Biologists agree that a person needs to sleep from time to time: otherwise, a person gets tired, begins to lose control of himself and make mistakes. According to ABC News, the military cannot accept the status quo and cannot allow sleepy soldiers to lose battles and wars.

On December 20, a special operation "Spruce" will begin in Moscow to protect coniferous trees from poachers, Svetlana Glinkina, press secretary of the department of nature management and environmental protection of the government of the capital, said on the air of the Ekho Moskvy radio station.

The New York City Council voted by majority vote to ban all smoking in the workplace. It follows that smoking will not be allowed in bars, restaurants and nightclubs. clubs, as the smoking of visitors will make their employees passive smokers. 42 members of the council voted for such a decision, 7 against, and 2 abstained. The protests of the owners of these establishments and smokers do not taken into account, according to Interfax.

George Bush. Photo by ar President Bush believes that the passes in the Iraqi report on weapons are not an occasion for the beginning of the war, reports AP. According to sources in the Bush administration, at a meeting with representatives of foreign policy departments, the president decided that the prospect of the beginning of hostilities should be postponed until next year.

On Thursday, an explosion thundered near the base of the international peacekeeping forces in Afghanistan (ICEF). According to AP, the cause of the explosion is not yet completely clear. According to RIA Novosti, a suicide bomber tried to break into the base located in the suburbs of Kabul. According to the Kabul Security Department, during a conversation with the translators of the post, the terrorist blew up two grenades attached to the body. He himself died, two interpreters were wounded.

On Thursday, 11-year-old Palestinian girl Nada Madi was shot dead. This, according to Reuters, happened in the refugee camp in Rafah. According to the relatives of the victim, the bullet hit the girl when she opened the window. Almost daily skirmishes between Palestinian militants and Israeli soldiers take place in the area. According to the relatives of Nada Madi, this time they fired from the Israeli checkpoint on the border with Egypt, located about a kilometer from the scene.

The outstanding Armenian prose writer Hrant Matevosyan died in Yerevan on Wednesday evening at the age of 68. According to ITAR-TASS, he has been seriously ill for the past few years. Hrant Matevosyan was born in 1935 in Northern Armenia. From 1952 he lived and worked in Yerevan. He graduated from the Department of History and Linguistics of the Yerevan Pedagogical Institute, studied at the screenwriting courses in Moscow.

Vladimir Fedorov. Photo from Newsru.com The head of the traffic police of Russia, Lieutenant General Vladimir Fedorov is going to become a senator. In the Federation Council, he will represent Karelia. Recently, Fedorov wrote a report in the name of Boris Gryzlov, in which he asked to dismiss him from his post in connection with the transition to another job. The Ministry of Internal Affairs did not confirm this information, but did not refute.

At the Klaipeda oil terminal Klaipedos nafta on Thursday night, the unloading of the Argentinean tanker "Princess Pia", refloated on December 16, began. This was reported to Interfax by the press representative of the terminal, Ramune Wisockite. About 40 thousand tons of fuel oil will have to be unloaded from the tanker.