OSCE logo The OSCE Bureau for Democratic Institutes and Human Rights refused to conduct monitoring in the parliamentary elections in Russia on December 2. As stated on the OSCE official website, the head of the Bureau Christian Stroha was notified by the Central Election Commission of Russia that the organization could not respond to the invitation due to delays and restrictions on the Russian side.

Vladimir Putin, Patriarch Alexy Second and Metropolitan Lavr. Photo from the site President.kremlin.ru On November 19, Vladimir Putin will meet with hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church. According to “Independent Gazeta” on Friday, the Russian Orthodox Church denies the election nature of the event, but the meeting will be about the upcoming elections to the State Duma.

The building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

Accident. Photo by ar The car of the Russian Embassy in Estonia on Friday fell into a serious accident. According to RIA Novosti with reference to the press service of the Estonian police, the car driver was injured. According to the police, the accident occurred at the 174th kilometer of the Tallinn-Narva highway. The Toyota Corolla car of the Russian embassy drove into the oncoming lane and collided with the Fiat Ducato minibus.

OSCE flags. Photo from the site Prognosis.ru The organization on security and cooperation in Europe refused to send its observers to the upcoming elections to the Russian parliament. Mikhail Kasyanov, Vladimir Ryzhkov, Boris Nemtsov, Stanislav Belkovsky, George Satarov and Dmitry Oreshkin are talking about the causes and consequences of this decision. Mikhail Kasyanov , leader of the Russian People's Democratic Union: The OSCE decision is quite reasonable.

Irakli Distribvili. NTV frame from Newsru.com The criminal board of the Tbilisi City Court began consideration of the case of the former Minister of Defense of Georgia Irakli Okhaashvili and the press-speaker and the parliamentary secretary of the country's president Dmitry Kitoshvili, RIA Novosti reports with reference to the press service of the city court.

TNT. Photo from the site www.kaliningradka.ru In the east of Moscow, a homemade explosive device with a capacity of about 50 grams in TNT equivalent worked. As RIA Novosti reports, a source in the capital’s law enforcement agencies reported. The explosion occurred near the cafe, located near the Izmailovsky Vernissage, when a random passer -by took place there. According to the source of the agency, the woman received burns of the third degree and hip britches and is hospitalized in shock.

State Duma. Frame NTV Before the last meeting of the State Duma of the fourth convocation, the United Russia faction lost the constitutional majority, which was held throughout the convocation, RIA Novosti reports. This is due to the fact that on November 9, Vice Speaker Vladimir Katrenko was appointed an auditor of the Accounts Chamber and his deputy powers were terminated. Now the United Russia faction includes 299 deputies.

Brain. Illustration from the site www.fu-tokyo.ac.jp/~taisuke/ American researchers from Boston University ( Boston University , Massachusetts) stated that they managed to close to solving the problem of translating the thoughts of a paralyzed person into articulate speech.

Chechnya, photo from the site http://ps.1september.ru/ The European Court of Human Rights ordered Russia to pay a resident of Chechnya Khanbatai Hamidov 172 thousand euros. According to Kommersant on Friday, the plaintiff proved that the Ministry of Internal Affairs unit practically destroyed his household and business. Hanbatai Khamidov and his brother Jabrail was engaged in a bakery business in the Naderechny district of Chechnya.

Mikhail Saakashvili The post of Prime Minister of Georgia is presented to the Lada Gurgenidze, who is currently chairman of the supervisory board of the Georgian Bank. According to News-Georgia, Zurab Nogaidi, who headed the government until recently, resigned. This was announced by Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili after an emergency meeting of the Georgian government on Friday evening.

Boris Sokolov. Photo from the site www.open-forum.ru The theme of the Holodomor in Ukraine of 1932-1933 these days sounds with particular force. During a visit to Jerusalem, President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko called on Israel to recognize the Holodomor with the genocide of the Ukrainian people.

Vladimir and Lyudmila Putin. Photo by RIA "News" The Public Organization "Woman of Vladivostok" offered Lyudmila Putin to become the President of Russia, reports Echo of Moscow. Representatives of the organization said they advocated the continuation of the policy of the current president and ensuring the continuity of the authorities, but they understand that the Constitution does not allow Putin to run for a third consecutive term.

Olympic future. Grani.ru collage The State Duma at a plenary session on Friday adopted in the second and third reading the law "On the organization and conduct of the XXII Olympic Games and XII Winter Paralympic Games in 2014 in the city of Sochi, the development of the city of Sochi at the Citylimatic Resort and amending individual legislative acts," ITAR-TASS reports.

Vasily Aleksanyan. NTV frame (archive) The Moscow City Court extended until March 2, 2008 the deadline for the arrest of Yukos Executive Vice President Vasily Aleksanyan, accused of assigning and legalizing funds. According to RIA Novosti, this was stated by the head of the press service of the court Anna Usacheva. "The court granted the prosecutor’s request to extend the period of detention for Aleksanyan for another three months," she said.