July 16, 2009. Shooting by Dmitry Zykov for Grani-TV. Other comments of the picket participants ("Caucasian Knot" video)

A court in Italy has sentenced 49 members of the Sicilian crime cartel, some of whom received up to 20 years in prison, for extorting local businessmen, reports the BBC. According to investigators, the mafiosi demanded money from shop owners in exchange for protection from criminals. If businessmen refused to pay, they were beaten, their shops set on fire or killed.

The Lithuanian Seimas at a meeting on July 17 almost unanimously approved a bill that involves reducing the base part of the salaries of civil servants, judges and politicians, the Delfi.Lv website reports. All but one of the deputies voted for the adoption of the bill. Salaries in Lithuania will be reduced for the period from August 1 to December 31, 2009. If earlier the base part of the salary was 475 litas (about 6,180 Russian rubles), now it will be 450 litas (about 5,850 rubles).

On Saturday, an American F-15E Strike Eagle fighter-bomber crashed in eastern Afghanistan under unclear circumstances, the Associated Press reported, citing a US Army spokesman. As a result of the crash, which occurred at 02.45 Moscow time, both pilots of the car died. The exact crash site is not yet known. According to the crew of the aircraft escorting the downed fighter-bomber, the F-15E did not crash as a result of shelling.

A Russian has been arrested in Belarus for organizing a network to supply women to Moscow for prostitution, Interfax reports with reference to the First Channel of Belarusian Television. A Russian citizen, a native of Armenia, whose name has not been released, was detained in the city of Mozyr, Gomel region, where he came to pick up another batch of three girls on his own. According to law enforcement agencies, the supply chain has existed for 13 years.

In one of the settlements of the Malgobek district of Ingushetia, on Friday, unidentified persons planted an improvised explosive device on the route of the head of the district administration Abdul-Vagap Dambulatov, Interfax reports citing a law enforcement source. Explosives were found the day before at about 21.00 on the side of the road 30 meters from the official's household.

Shuttle Endeavor has successfully docked with the ISS, RIA Novosti reports with reference to NASA. "The docking took place at 13.47 ET (21.47 Moscow time). The operation was successful. After checking for leaks at 15.43 (23.43 Moscow time), the hatches of the shuttle and the station will be opened, after which the Endeavor team will be able to board the ISS," a spokesman for the space station said by phone. departments.

The budget of the project for the alluvial territory "Federation Island" in Sochi has been reduced by 15 percent to six billion dollars during the crisis, RBC reports citing a statement by the project manager company M-Industriya. Previously, eight billion dollars were supposed to be invested in the project (210 billion rubles at the exchange rate of the period when the calculation was made).

The political prisoner Tatyana Kharlamova, who was in the fourth month of pregnancy, lost her child. According to the press service of the National Academy of Sciences, this happened during the transfer from Smolensk to Khabarovsk. The transfer of Kharlamova and the one in the criminal case of Igor Schuki passed with her lasted a month and a half.

Members of the Moscow city branch of the Just Cause party issued a statement saying that the unwillingness of the federal political council to decide on the format of the party's participation in the elections to the Moscow City Duma poses a threat to its existence. This is stated in a press release from the Moscow branch of the Right Cause. The Moscow party members are sure that the party is in a crisis. They put the responsibility for it on the federal government.

Famed CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite died Friday night at his New York home, BBC reported. According to the vice-president of the television company Linda Mason, he died after a long illness surrounded by his family. Cronkite was 92 years old. He was the face of CBS from 1962 to 1981 and covered events such as the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the Watergate scandal, the Iran hostage crisis, the fall of Saigon, and the manned trip to the moon.

The Ministry of Culture of Russia terminated the contract with the general director of the Tretyakov Gallery, Valentin Rodionov. According to Interfax, citing adviser to the minister Natalia Uvarova, the corresponding order was signed by the head of the department, Alexander Avdeev, on Saturday. The gallery will be headed by Irina Lebedeva, who worked as deputy general director, and since June 1, she has been acting as general director due to Rodionov's illness.

Oil prices on the world's leading oil exchanges rose sharply following the results of trading on Friday. In London, they exceeded $65 per barrel of Brent oil, RBC reports. The official prices for oil futures for the next month of delivery in London at the InterContinental Exchange Futures Europe were $65.38 per barrel of IPE Brent Crude oil. In New York, on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Light, Sweet Crude Oil rose to $63.56 per barrel.

In Moscow, the first concession for the construction of a paid exit to the Moscow Ring Road was concluded. According to RBC, the concession agreement on financing, construction and operation on a toll basis of "a new exit to the Moscow ring road from the federal highway M-1" Belarus "Moscow-Minsk" was signed by the Federal Road Agency of the Ministry of Transport and the consortium OJSC "Main Road" , established by the management company "Leader".

Russian billionaire and former State Duma deputy Alexander Lebedev is being treated for mercury poisoning. The entrepreneur himself spoke about this in an interview with the British newspaper Daily Telegraph. According to him, medical tests unexpectedly showed that the level of mercury in his blood exceeded the norm by 14 times. According to Lebedev's personal endocrinologist, the level of mercury in his patient's blood is quite high.