The level of the Dead Sea, which is the lowest point on the land surface, is falling by about 6.35 centimeters per year, The Jerusalem Post reports. The decrease in level was a consequence of the decrease in water resources around the sea associated with the intensive development of nearby lands.

President Bush, who choked on a pretzel and collapsed, may have saved his own life by falling. This conclusion was reached by Dr. Harry Heimlich, who is the author of the method of the same name for restoring breathing, used by doctors all over the world, reports United Press International. The essence of the method is sharp pressure with a fist or some object in the abdominal area between the navel and the pectoral cavity.

An Indonesian passenger plane crashed on Monday shortly after takeoff at an airport located near the city of Pekanbaru, 420 kilometers northwest of Jakarta, the Associated Press reported, citing the Indonesian state agency Antara news. There were 96 passengers and crew on board the crashed Boeing 737, which belonged to the private Indonesian company Lion Airlines.

The Czech government has decided to move Radio Liberty from its central office to a location further from the city center. Now the radio occupies a glass building on the central Wenceslas Square in Prague. At one time, Czech President Vaclav Havel leased this building to the radio station for one crown per year. Since then, the radio has been regularly paying for its office, and there are no formal reasons to kick it out.

At its meeting, the Moscow government approved the concept of integrated development of the Golden Ring of Moscow tourist and recreational zone, RBC reports . The project must be implemented before 2010, and this will require about 3 billion dollars of investment.

The Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs has launched a counter-terrorist special operation in the Pankisi Gorge, reports RIA Novosti .

The Danish Ministry of the Environment plans to lift the ban on the sale of beer and soft drinks in aluminum cans by January 23, reports the Associated Press. Official Copenhagen was forced to repeal the twenty-year-old law by pressure from the European Commission, the executive body of the European Union, which insisted that the ban adopted in 1982 violated EU norms.

Based on materials prepared by the tax police of the Russian Federation, the Khamovnichesky Court of the capital canceled the results of the check auction, at which 33 percent of the shares of the Russian secret defense plant Sapphire were sold in 1994, and decided to return them to federal ownership, Vremya Novostey reports.

State Duma deputy Vladimir Golovlev complains about the inaction of the Prosecutor General's Office, which "resulted in a violation of the deputy's rights." The parliamentarian sent a corresponding complaint to the Tverskoy Intermunicipal Court of Moscow, Interfax reports . The appeal concerns a criminal case initiated against Golovlev at the end of last year.

Vladimir Putin said that as president he would not mind meeting with Pope John Paul II, Interfax reports. In his interview with Polish media, Putin emphasized that the visit of the head of the Catholic Church to Russia cannot depend only on the president. “If we are talking about interstate relations, there are no problems here. I am ready to invite him at any moment.

The famous American cyclist Lance Armstrong took part in the torch relay of the Winter Olympic Games, AP reports. The three-time winner of the world-famous Tour de France cycling race was the last of sixty athletes to carry the Olympic flame through the streets of San Diego and its environs.

Gazprom-Media continues “intensive work” on pre-sale preparation and assessment of Gazprom’s media assets, including the NTV television company. Alexander Dybal, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Gazprom-Media, reported this to Strana.Ru on Tuesday, January 15. Previously, it was he who stated that pre-sale preparations for Gazprom's media would be completed just in time for this day.

The delegation of the Russian Ministry of Defense began two-day negotiations with representatives of the Pentagon, AP reports. The Russian delegation that arrived in the United States is headed by First Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Colonel General Yuri Baluevsky. The American delegation is headed by US Political Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith.

“Everything needs to work and have an effect,” Vladimir Putin said at the first meeting with government members after the new year. Indeed, the entire last year the cabinet was mainly engaged in composing correct reform bills. Government measures that directly affected the economy could mainly include collecting taxes and fighting inflation by sterilizing the ruble mass. Now the government has to not only finalize the legislative processes, but also actually implement laws.

A protest rally against the visit of the Russian president is taking place in France. According to Ekho Moskvy, Putin's visit to France is opposed by a group of media freedom defenders representing the organization Reporters Without Borders. The rally participants covered all the windows of the Aeroflot representative office on the Champs Elysees with posters depicting Putin in his youth.