Thanks to the foreign policy of the Italian government, "a new cold war was prevented" in the world. This was announced on Friday at a press conference in Rome by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, RIA Novosti reports. According to Berlusconi, taking an active part in the settlement of Russian-Georgian relations, Italy contributed to the fact that in August last year, Russian tanks stopped on the outskirts of Tbilisi.

The prosecutor's office of the LenVO has completed an investigation into the fact that military band musicians performed at a private St. Petersburg party dressed as bunnies, the symbol of Playboy magazine, Fontanka.Ru reports. As stated in the district prosecutor's office, the result of the check was a presentation to the chief of staff of the LenVO Andrey Tretyak.

Moscow's Zelenograd court convicted two entrepreneurs accused of smuggling military equipment - aircraft tires for military MiG aircraft - and sentenced them to more than four years in prison, Interfax reports, citing Anna Usacheva, head of the press service of the Moscow City Court .

In the schools of Ulyanovsk, a new subject may appear - "the basics of combating corruption." According to Kommersant, this proposal was made by Alexander Pavlov, Commissioner for Combating Corruption in the Ulyanovsk Region. He suggested adjusting the curriculum of the region's schools to include a new subject. According to Pavlov's idea, the educational process should consist of educational work on the rejection of corruption and teaching legal literacy.

Servicemen from 12 countries, including Russia, Venezuela and the United States, will arrive in Nicaragua at the end of August to take part in the celebrations dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the formation of the Nicaraguan army, RIA Novosti reports. September 2, 1979 is considered the date of creation of the Nicaraguan army.

From the new academic year, a mandatory course "Fundamentals of Religious Studies" is being introduced in the senior grades of Kazakh schools, the Kazakhstan Today news agency reports . This was announced on Friday at a briefing in the Ministry of Education and Science of Kazakhstan by the official representative of this department, Serik Irsaliev.

In the Ingush city of Karabulak, a local market was shelled from grenade launchers, RIA Novosti reports. The shelling took place around 01:00 Moscow time. As told in the republican Ministry of Internal Affairs, unknown people fired several times from an underbarrel grenade launcher at the trade pavilions and fled the scene. The shelling was carried out on the market "Gifts of Nature", which is located in the city center.

Five citizens of Georgia were detained in South Ossetia, Interfax reports citing Defense Minister of the unrecognized republic Yuri Tanaev. According to him, they were detained "for illegally crossing the border near the Ossetian village of Disev, located opposite the Georgian village of Koshka." According to Tanaev, these persons illegally crossed the border and walked through the territory of South Ossetia for a kilometer and a half. According to them, they were looking for their cows.

The decline in US unemployment may be an indication that the worst of the crisis for the US economy is behind us. According to Reuters, this was stated by President Barack Obama. The President noted that the rise in unemployment has declined significantly since his team came to the White House. According to him, and this is an "encouraging" signal. On Friday, the US Department of Labor released new data on unemployment rates in the US economy.

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' on Saturday, on the first anniversary of the outbreak of the armed conflict in South Ossetia, performed a memorial service for the victims of this war. According to ITAR-TASS, the patriarch called these events "a tragedy of three fraternal Orthodox peoples." “A year ago, as a result of aggression unleashed by an evil political will, a huge number of people in South Ossetia, Russia and Georgia lost their sons and daughters.

Three Suvorov military schools of the Ministry of Internal Affairs will open in Astrakhan, Yelabuga and Chita. According to Interfax, the corresponding order was signed by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The total number of cadets of the three schools will be 525 people, the largest school will open in Astrakhan - 225 people will study there. In 2009, 156.3 million rubles will be allocated from the budget of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to finance projects.

In Grozny, police officers shot dead an alleged militant, who offered armed resistance during the arrest, RIA Novosti reports, citing a source in the law enforcement agencies of Chechnya. According to him, in the course of operational-search activities at 21.30 Friday in the Staropromyslovsky district of Grozny, in a private house on Neftyanaya Street, police officers blocked an alleged member of illegal armed groups.

Georgia's existence as an independent state casts doubt on Vladimir Putin's reputation as a "strong leader," and only support from the United States and Europe can prevent the Russian authorities from installing a puppet regime in Tbilisi. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili stated this in an interview with the Times on the anniversary of the start of the war in South Ossetia.

The statement of the Azerbaijani Ambassador to Russia, Polad Bul-Bul oglu, about the possible "forcing Armenia to peace" is a "verbal attempt at intimidation" and a typical manifestation of the "anti-Armenianism" virus. According to Regnum, Armenian Ambassador to Russia Armen Smbatyan stated this.

An investigator of the Federal Drug Control Service was detained while receiving a bribe, Interfax reports citing a representative of the UPC.