From January 1, 2008, the Ministry of Regional Development, as part of the implementation of the law “On the Fund for Assistance to Housing and Public Utilities Reform,” will begin to consider applications from regions to receive funds for the overhaul of houses and the resettlement of citizens from dilapidated housing, Kommersant reports . Until December 25, the ministry will approve limits for the provision of financial support for each region.

The new game featuring the famous tomb raider Lara Croft will be Tomb Raider: Underworld, according to the 1up website. The plot of Underworld will follow the events described in Tomb Raider: Legend, the previous standalone game in the series. One of the main locations that Lara Croft will visit will be Southern Mexico. It is already known that the ancient Mayan calendar will play an important role in the plot.

If the Ukrainian authorities do not curb Russian businessmen who continue to illegally buy land in Crimea, then a “second Chechnya” may arise on the peninsula. Such a statement, as reported by Deutsche Welle , was made in Lviv by the leader of the Crimean Tatar Majlis (unofficial parliament) Mustafa Dzhemilev. According to him, Russians have been buying up Crimean lands en masse for the second year now, handing out bribes to local officials.

The new head coach of the England national football team, Fabio Capello, said that this team will be the last of his professional career. The 61-year-old Italian specialist noted that the ideal option for him would be to win the 2010 World Cup with the British and retire from football, reports BBC News. Capello's appointment as head coach of the England national team became known on Thursday, December 13, but it will be officially announced on Monday at 16:00 Moscow time.

was temporarily suspended from office The mayor of Vladivostok, Vladimir Nikolaev, who , admitted his guilt in one of the episodes, RIA Novosti reports . Nikolaev is accused of illegally using state security and moving around the city with a traffic police escort, although this is not his status. In addition, he transferred four plots of land for use to private individuals, which he did not have the authority to dispose of (they were in federal ownership).

This week, Queen Elizabeth II will become the oldest monarch in British history, writes The Daily Telegraph . One of Elizabeth II's most famous predecessors, Queen Victoria died in 1901, aged 81 years, seven months, four weeks and one day. King George III, who died in 1820, lived to be 81 years and 239 days old. Queen Elizabeth will turn 82 on April 21. On the list of longest reigning monarchs, Elizabeth II is still in fourth place.

As part of the investigation into the case of Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak , accused of attempting to steal $43.4 million from the budget, former president and currently member of the board of directors of the Interregional Investment Bank (IIB) Igor Kruglyakov was arrested , the Gazeta newspaper wrote on Monday. The bank’s official website says that Kruglyakov also holds the position of president of Vneshtorgbiznes, which owns about 20 percent of the financial organization.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has included Ratatouille and Beowulf on its long list of Oscar contenders in the Visual Effects category. As The Hollywood Reporter notes, this is the first time that animated films have entered the category intended for live-action projects. The only exception was Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, which was nominated for an Oscar for special effects, but that was in 1994, when there was no Best Animation category yet.

17.12.2007, 19:20:17 version Print | PDA/PDA VIII Congress of United Russia. Photo from the party's official website Russian parties have made their choice Dmitry Medvedev became the presidential candidate from United Russia A week before the deadline for registering candidates for deputies, the main political parties in Russia decided on their choice.

17.12.2007, 20:01:10 version Print | PDA/PDA Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation. Photo by Lenta.Ru The fourth one is not superfluous Why was Igor Kruglyakov detained in the case of Sergei Storchak? In mid-December, Russian media reported the arrest of a fourth suspect in an attempt to steal funds from the Russian budget, which was allegedly prepared by Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak.

The Ukrainian army has completely switched to a new supply system with the involvement of private business structures. As reported by the UNIAN agency, Acting Head of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Anatoly Gritsenko announced this on Monday .

reports On the evening of December 17, at the congress of the Union of Right Forces held in Moscow, a new Federal Political Council of the party was elected, RIA Novosti . Earlier on Monday, the entire leadership of the Union of Right Forces resigned due to the party's loss in the parliamentary elections on December 2. Let us recall that the Union of Right Forces was unable to overcome the seven percent barrier to entry into the Duma, gaining only 0.96 percent of the votes.

On Sunday evening, the Central Election Commission of Kyrgyzstan announced that it would not be able to announce the first results of early elections to the parliament of the republic until at least noon on Monday, reports IA REGNUM . According to the agency's correspondent, the delay is due to the fact that not all precinct election commissions submitted voting data on time, despite the fact that the polling stations closed at 20:00 local time (17:00 Moscow time).

17.12.2007, 14:25:42 version Print | PDA/PDA FOR ADVERTISING RIGHTS There will be no diaries There will be fewer corporate diaries, and more cured children The budget for social programs and charity in Russia is about one and a half billion dollars a year, and this figure tends to increase. For comparison, the budget for similar purposes in the United States is 100 times larger.

The Central Bank of Russia set the official dollar exchange rate for Tuesday, December 18, at 24.7060 rubles. Thus, during the day the American currency rose in price by 19.68 kopecks. This happened after the euro fell to $1.44 on the international market. The euro exchange rate in Russia dropped by 23.6 kopecks to 35.6038 rubles. On the international market by 13.40 the European currency costs $1.4348. Just a week ago, the euro was more expensive than $1.46.