The Czech midfielder Irji Yaroshik admitted that he was waiting for a “amazing test” to Chelsea, where the football player will soon move from the Moscow CSKA. On Wednesday, the player will undergo a medical examination, but he has already agreed with the Londoners on the terms of the contract for a period of two and a half years, and at the request of the leader of the English football Premier League, the agreement can be terminated in six months.

The US State Department in its annual report on anti -Semitism in the world called Russia and Belarus countries where this phenomenon is a "serious problem." The state of affairs in Russia in the publication Report on Global Anti-Semitism is devoted to the largest section. The number of crimes on this basis is growing year from year to year, experts note with anxiety.

Rostov journalist Irina Aroyan accepted the public apology of singer Philip Kirokorova. “I accept Kirkorov’s apologies,” Aroyan told Interfax. According to the journalist, "Kirkorov at the Golden Gramophone concert publicly asked for forgiveness and apologized." Earlier, the Oktyabrsky District Court of Rostov-on-Don decided to recover a fine of 60 thousand rubles from Kirkorov. This money has not yet been paid. "As for the money, this does not concern me at all.

Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated on Merry Christmas Orthodox Christians, all citizens who meet this holiday today, the press service of the head of state said. "I cordially congratulate the Orthodox Christians, the followers of other Christian denominations in Russia with Christmas," the president said in a congratulation. "The Christmas holiday gives millions of Russians joy, hope, strengthens traditional moral values.

In Chita, unknown hooligans disfigure slides in the ice town where children come to ride. Every evening, after the little Chitinists diverge home, the hooligans crush the slides. Vandals bring pieces of razor with them and pour them with water, fusing in ice slopes. RSN recalls that such acts of vandalism were registered last year. Then cruel jokers stuck razors into the hill for adults, and many Chitins complained about broken boots and sheepskin coats.

The Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II headed the festive Christmas service in the main Orthodox Cathedral of Russia - the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. About 5 thousand people gathered under his arches. The service of the Russian government, Mikhail Fradkov, chairman of the Federation Council Sergey Mironov and State Duma Chairman Boris Gryzlov, heads of the Moscow City Hall, are present. The chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Volodymyr Litvin also arrived here.

The decrease in the position of ultraliberal adviser to the President of Russia in economics Andrei Illarionov forced journalists to reconsider the attitude towards him. For his frankness, Illarionov paid his position to the representative of Russia in the "Big Eight". However, as the American The Wall Street Journal notes, little will change for Illarionov.

At the emergency summit, ASEAN in Jakarta decided to establish an early warning system about the tsunami in the Indian Ocean. This is stated in the declaration adopted on Thursday in the Indonesian capital by a special meeting of leaders of the Member States of the Association of Southeast Asia according to the consequences of the earthquake and tsunami.

Italian capital has not lost interest in the former assets of Yukos, said the Minister of production of Italy Antonio Martsano. According to the Italian agency Ansa, the minister informed reporters about this in the United Arab Emirates, on the way to India, where he arrived on Thursday on a visit. "I do not exclude that at the second stage of the development of events around Yukos, Italian companies can take part in this matter," said Antonio Martsyano.

In the Federal Court of Bankruptcy Affairs of the Southern District of Texas in Houston, on Thursday evening, the next hearings in the Yukos case were held. They lasted about two hours and consisted of actually two parts. According to the consul of the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Houston, Kirill Mikhailov, who was present at the meeting, the first part was directly related to the Yukos bankruptcy case and was procedural, ITAR-TASS reports.

Petersburg Evgeny Plushenko seized leadership in the loneliness competitions at the Russian figure skating championship, which started on Wednesday in the city on the Neva. The top three of the best after the first day of the competition also include Muscovites Alexander Uspensky and Andrei Gryazev. Competitions in an arbitrary program in men will be held on January 7.

The head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope , John Paul II, congratulated the Orthodox Christians, noting Christmas in the Julian calendar . Dad led today a solemn service on St. Peter Square in Rome on the occasion of the Epiphany Feast (Epiphania) , celebrated by the Catholic Church on January 6 according to the Gregorian calendar .

As already reported , together with the Russian Orthodox Church on the night of January 6 to 7, the holiday of the Nativity of Christ will be celebrated by Georgian , Jerusalem and Serbian Orthodox churches, as well as Athos monasteries living according to the old, Julian calendar . Meanwhile, the secretary of the department of external church relations of the Moscow Patriarchate (MPC MP), Nikolai Balashov, told RIA Novosti calendars today RIA Novosti .

The Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II congratulated believers on the upcoming holiday of the Nativity of Christ , who should bring people light and warmth. "The coming of Christ the Savior in the world has fundamentally changed human life and our nature. We are no longer slaves to sin, but free ministers of God. We are not afraid of the stormy elements of the worldly Sea, for we have a reliable marina in the kingdom of Christ.

American astronomers recorded an space explosion of unprecedented power. It occurred as a result of the absorption of a giant “black hole” of the equivalent of 300 million stars the size of our Sun. Now this "black hole" continues to allocate a huge amount of gas with a mass equal to the trillion of the suns, the National Aeronautics Directorate and the study of the US space space said, the Space.com website reports.