A group of Russian peacekeepers on Tuesday cordoned off a youth patriotic camp in the village of Ganmukhuri, Zugdidi region, near the administrative border with Abkhazia. As reported by the Novosti-Georgia agency, this was announced by the Deputy Minister for Emergency Instructions of the “Government of the Abkhaz Autonomous Republic in Exile” Georgiy Lomiya.

In the last fiscal year, which ended on September 30, US budget expenditures on the maintenance of intelligence services amounted to $43.5 billion. This information was made public under the new law by US Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell, reports the Associated Press. The last time such expenses were disclosed by the CIA was ten years ago: in 1997 and 1998, the agency's budget was $26.6 and $26.7 billion, respectively.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili on Tuesday personally took part in resolving the conflict surrounding the blockade by Russian peacekeepers of a youth patriotic camp in the village of Ganmukhuri, Zugdidi region, near the administrative border with Abkhazia.

On Monday evening, the Zugdidi District Court sentenced to administrative punishment a group of young people who attacked opposition members of the Georgian parliament on October 28 in Zugdidi. As reported by Novosti-Georgia news agency , the accused Goga Gurtskaya and Georgy Samushiya were sentenced to 20 days of arrest and a fine of 400 lari (about $250) each. In addition, a fine of 400 lari was imposed on Viktor Mikiya, Irakli Mikiya, Giorgi Mania, Akaki Rogava and Manuchar Putkaradze.

Samsung has announced a series of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays, DailyTech reports. The series includes screens with diagonals from 14 to 42 inches. Recall that Sony announced the first 11-inch TV with organic LED screens in May 2007. Sony's development will go on sale in December 2007. A 30-inch OLED display was also announced by Toshiba. Analysts estimate that the OLED market will reach $3.7 billion by 2010.

The Basic Element holding, owned by Oleg Deripaska, will build housing for residents of the Imereti Valley who are being resettled from the territory where Basic Element intends to build an Olympic village and a sports palace. reports this RIA Novosti with reference to a statement by Yuri Relyan, head of the managing directorate of the Sochi-2014 Project within the holding. The start of work is scheduled for 2008.

The largest Chinese life insurance company, China Life Insurance, surpassed the American telecommunications corporation AT&T in market capitalization on October 29, Bloomberg reports. The first is worth 259.1 billion dollars, and the second - 254.1 billion. Thus, the list of ten largest Chinese companies now includes five - China Life, China Mobile, Industrial Bank of China, Commercial Bank of China and China Petroleum & Chemical.

Moscow airports Vnukovo and Domodedovo do not accept planes due to fog, landing only at Sheremetyevo, RIA Novosti reported on Tuesday morning with reference to the Unified Air Traffic Management Systems of Russia. From 19:00 on Monday until Tuesday morning, about two dozen flights left Domodedovo for alternate airfields - visibility there was the worst, the agency reports. The landing took place both at Vnukovo and Sheremetyevo, as well as in St. Petersburg, Voronezh and Nizhny Novgorod.

On October 27, the final of the III All-Russian beauty contest "Miss Financial World 2007", organized by the Financial World company with the support of the OTKRITIE Financial Corporation, took place in Novinsky Passage. By decision of the jury, the winner of the title “Miss Financial World 2007” was Irina Malova, a representative of Russian Standard Bank.

China's Social Security Fund (SSF), which has $61.5 billion in assets, began talks over the summer to buy small stakes in three of the largest private equity firms in the United States - Carlyle, KKR and TPG. The fund, which received the right to invest in foreign assets in May 2006, intends to acquire up to 9.9 percent in one of these companies, writes The Financial Times. The stage at which the negotiations are currently unknown.

The Moscow Investigation Department, which has resumed the investigation into the death of State Duma deputy and journalist Yuri Shchekochikhin , will consider the version of his death from exposure to radioactive materials, the Kommersant newspaper writes .

Romans being evicted from their rental properties by the Catholic Church because their leases had expired have accused the Vatican of indulging in a “speculative frenzy,” The Guardian reports. From October 31, tenants in four thousand homes may be unable to re-sign due to rising rents. A letter from the tenants' committee sent to Archbishop Angelo Bagnasco said tenants have always met their obligations to pay rent and maintain their apartments.

RAO UES of Russia, the Russian energy monopoly, will cease to exist in less than a year, on July 1, 2008. This was the decision of the shareholders, who on October 26 voted for the “final stage of reorganization” of the company. Now the holding faces the most difficult thing - to come to an agreement with those who did not join the ranks of the liquidators. There is nothing unexpected in the voting results.

On Monday, at least 20 people became victims of tropical storm Noel in the Dominican Republic, the Associated Press reports, citing government data. About the same number are still missing on the island of Hispaniola, which is divided between the Dominican Republic and Haiti. According to forecasts, a total of up to 50 centimeters of rain could fall on Hispaniola. In the Dominican Republic, schools and shops are closed, and transport links between many cities and the capital are interrupted.

The government intends to spend five billion rubles annually on the modernization of education in 2008 and 2009, that is, a billion rubles more than in 2007, RIA Novosti reports . The basis of the modernization project will be an increase in the income of teachers, whose salaries have increased by 25-30 percent this year, Interfax reports , citing First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev .