17:17 // 12/18/2007 Strengthening the positions of the Russian language in the world is one of the priority tasks of Russian diplomacy. This was stated by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Alexander Yakovenko at the closure of the year of the Russian language, ITAR-TASS reports.

17:04 // 12/18/2007 The CEC of Russia is waiting for the receipt of documents from "United Russia" for registration with a presidential candidate Dmitry Medvedev on December 19-20. This was announced at a press conference by a member of the Central Election Commission Elvira Ermakova, ITAR-TASS reports. She said that the Central Election Commission will show the promptness for registration of candidates from political parties.

14:11 // 12/18/2007 The structure of the State Duma will fully form at the first meeting on December 24, the changes can affect the industry committees. This point of view was expressed by ITAR-TASS, chairman of the Committee on Economic Policy of the State Duma of the Fourth convocation, deputy of the fifth convocation Yevgeny Fedorov. Already in the next minutes, a meeting of the Presidium of the United Russia faction will begin in the State Duma, the deputy recalled.

14:23 // 12/18/2007 The First Deputy Prime Minister, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Gazprom OJSC Dmitry Medvedev is dissatisfied with the work of nine Russian gasification regions. "Some regions call some numbers in the number of consumers, but when the networks are summed up, they declare the number of consumers by almost 2 times, there should not be such a picture, you need to take care of planning carefully," Medvedev said at a meeting in 2007.

The list of detainees in the Nevsky Express case has expanded for the fourth time. Two suspects of involvement in the undermining of the Nevsky Express train in August this year were detained today in Ingushetia, says a high -ranking source in the power structures of the Southern Federal District.

14:52 // 12/18/2007 The crew of the disaster of the Russian vessel Viktor Koryakin, a storm thrown out onto the stones at the northern tip of the fishing peninsula, is evacuated. At 12.52 Moscow time, the Norwegian rescuers with the help of a coast guard helicopter evacuated sailors. All thirteen crew members were safely delivered to Kirkenes, ITAR-TASS reported in the rescue and coordination center of the Murmansk port.

11:54 // 12/18/2007 The metropolitan police eliminated a large underground workshop on sewing outerwear in the Cherkizov market. This was reported to ITAR-TASS in the press service of the Department of Economic Security (Deb) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. "The employees of the Department conducted a large -scale operation to suppress large production and wholesale sales of falsified light industry goods in the Cherkizovsky market," the press service said.

14:39 // 12/18/2007 The faction of the block of ex-speaker of the parliament Vladimir Litvin in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine does not intend to go to the opposition. Litvin himself said about this. "We will not enter any opposition associations. We are a separate political force, we did not vote for us for the opposition," he said.

11:32 // 12/18/2007 The Moscow authorities decided to restore and ecologically rehabilitate the pond at the beginning of the road street in the south of Moscow, an employee of the city administration told RIA Novosti . According to the order of the Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, the work will be carried out over the next year, after which the reservoir will be transferred to the balance of the State Unitary Enterprise "Mosvodostok".

16:05 // 12/18/2007 In the capital of Mordovia, the apartments of debtors for payment for housing and communal services are disconnected from electricity, the press service of the administration of the city district of Saransk said. "In connection with the growth of the number of malicious non -payers, it is necessary to take extreme measures, up to the eviction of debtors from the apartments. Currently in the Proletarsky district of Saransk, 1032 apartments have been disabled from electricity.

15:30 // 12/18/2007 The New Year's performance "The Adventures of the Mult and the Pullets in New Year's Moscow" and the solemn meeting of Santa Claus and the Snow Maiden will be held in Moscow on Manezhnaya Square on December 24, an employee of the capital of the capital Department told RIA Novosti . "The mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov, who will make a welcoming speech to the guys and meet Santa Claus and the Snow Maiden, will take part in a colorful view," said the department employee.

15:48 // 12/18/2007 The Russian fishing trawler “Perle” (port of the Murmansk postscript), leading in the area of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, wrapped it on a screw and lost its move, the representative of the security service of the murmansk basin emergency rescue department (MBASU) told RIA Novosti . According to him, while the crew of the ship does not threaten anything, since the storm raging in the western part of the Barents Sea, until he reached the districts of the New Earth.

State Duma deputies distributed committees and places in the hall by representatives of United Russia will not lead only six committees of the Duma. The LDPR will go to the CIS committees and on youth affairs, "fair Russia" - for women, families and children, as well as education, the Communist Party - in industry, plus on science and high -tech technologies. In total, there will be 32 committees in the new Duma, that is, 4 more than in the past.

13:59 // 12/18/2007 The police are looking for unknown people who, on Tuesday night, committed a robbery on the country house of the famous tennis player Anna Chakvetadze in the suburbs of the Aprelevka near Moscow, a representative of the Main Directorate of the Moscow Region told RIA Novosti . "Four unknown in masks at about 04.00 Moscow time climbed over the fence of the cottages of Anna Chakvetadze and, entering the house, tied her and parents.

11:07 // 12/18/2007 The entire space industry of Russia acts only as a global technology donor. Such a conclusion was made by the board of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation, having considered the results of verification of the legality and efficiency of the use of federal property that determines the competitiveness of Russian technologies in priority industry sectors, ITAR-TASS reports in the implementation of programs of international production and technical cooperation.