George W. Bush said on Wednesday that he is against same-sex marriage. According to CNN, the American president said that, in his opinion, marriage is possible only "between a man and a woman." According to Bush, "it's important for society to welcome every individual," but still the lawyers in the presidential administration are looking for any way to legally leave the institution of marriage only for heterosexual couples. "I think we should codify it one way or another," Bush said.

Mikhail Avdyukov. Photo from the site www.lenta.ru Russian Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov satisfied the request for the resignation of Moscow prosecutor Mikhail Avdyukov. This was reported to Interfax on Thursday the Deputy Head of the Department of Information and Public Relations of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation Natalia Vishnyakova. According to her, Avdyukov was appointed adviser to the prosecutor general.

Four people died on Wednesday as a result of a light aircraft crash near the city of Royan in western France. According to RIA Novosti, referring to the message of the local police prefecture, the incident occurred in the middle of the day. A single-engine aircraft assigned to the Larochelle flying club and making a pleasure flight suddenly entered a dive and crashed right in the middle of a small village.

The defense of Platon Lebedev, chairman of the board of directors of MFO MENATEP, was ready to pay for him "any amount of bail that the court will appoint." As reported by "Gazeta.Ru", his lawyer Anton Drel stated this on Thursday. He noted that before the consideration on July 23 in the Moscow City Court of the question of the legality of Lebedev's arrest, the defense filed a motion with a request to release him from custody on bail, which the court deems necessary.

In the Amur Region, police lieutenant Andrey Vorobyov died while on duty. On Wednesday evening, he died without regaining consciousness in the Zeya regional hospital from a gunshot wound to the head. This was reported to RIA Novosti on Thursday by the press service of the main department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation for the Far Eastern Federal District. Andrei Vorobyov was seriously wounded four days ago in the village of Ovsyanka, Zeya region.

The crew of the Russian Mi-26T helicopter, consisting of 13 people, released by the Sudanese authorities, flew from Dubai to Moscow. This was announced in a telephone interview with RIA Novosti by the deputy general director of the airline "Vertical-T" Kirill Anosov. "The plane took off from Dubai at 8.30, shortly before that I talked with the crew. Everything is fine, we are expecting them today in Moscow," Anosov said.

Vladimir Putin arrived in Sarov on Thursday, where he will take part in the celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of the canonization of St. Seraphim of Sarov. According to RIA Novosti, the head of state will visit the church of St. Seraphim of Sarov, where he will meet with Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus', will attend the ceremony of blessing the procession by Alexy II, and will also take part in other events as part of the celebrations.

In the city of Kuibyshev in the Novosibirsk region, a local resident was detained for threatening to blow up a five-story residential building. ITAR-TASS was informed about this on Tuesday in the regional department for civil defense and emergency situations. On Wednesday night, a man barricaded himself in one of the apartments and started shouting out the window that he had a gas cylinder with which he would blow up the whole house.

On Friday, August 1, Rossiyskaya Gazeta publishes an order by the chairman of the State Customs Committee of the Russian Federation, Mikhail Vanin, approving the rules for customs clearance and customs control. The new rules will come into force one month after their official publication. After the introduction of new rules, exporters and importers will be able to choose the route of transport with the goods themselves.

Vladimir Putin and Alexy II. Photo by ar The celebration of the centenary of the canonization of St. Seraphim of Sarov, declared by the "main church-public triumph of the year", was conceived as a certain reconstruction of the event that took place in 1903.

In Germany, in protest against his expulsion from the country, the Turks attempted to set themselves on fire. According to local media, the incident occurred on Thursday at the Office for Foreigners of the town of Rheda-Wiedenbrück, RIA Novosti reports. The 32-year-old father of five was previously convicted of drug dealing. Therefore, the authorities refused to extend his visa to stay in Germany. On Thursday, the Turk came to the Office of Foreigners with his wife and children.

In such Chelny, ancient people moved to new lands. Photo by TASS New studies conducted by scientists of various specialties in the United States and Russia make them more and more inclined to the idea that the first people appeared in America not so long ago - about 15 thousand years ago, that is, much later than the resettlement of mankind in Europe. Experts have long been arguing about when people appeared in a new light.

The trial in the criminal case of Vladivostok scientist Vladimir Shchurov, accused of disclosing state secrets, resumed on Thursday in the Primorsky Regional Court. As RIA "Novosti" was informed in court, after the resolution of procedural issues, a break was announced in the process until August 18. The penultimate court session took place on 31 January.

The AN-70 aircraft will not be allowed to fly at the international aerospace salon "Max", which will be held in Zhukovsky from 19 to 24 August. As Interfax was told by a source in the Flight Safety Service of the air show, the AN-70 did not pass state flight tests, so it will not be allowed to fly.

On July 31, the Volyn Regional Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine filed a charge a German citizen whose last name has not yet been released. He is accused of taking human bones and military rarities. In a passenger car, he tried to take out more than eighty items from the Second World War. Including soldiers' helmets, binoculars, badges, uniforms and shoes, as well as 250 grams of human bones.