Twenty Colombian military died on Thursday as a result of a helicopter disaster in the Narigno Department in the west of Colombia. According to official springs, the Colombian military helicopter Black Hawk of American production performed a combat mission in the area of ​​the city of Tumako, about 800 km southwest of Bogota, ITAR-TASS reports. In this zone, illegal armed formations of both right and left -wing areas operate, as well as illegal crops of crops used for drug production.

The doctors of Vietnam on Thursday officially confirmed the death from the "bird flu" of an 18-year-old girl and the virus infection of this dangerous disease of another woman in the south of the country. According to the doctors of the Pasteur Institute in the city of Hoshchein, the girl’s “bird flu” H5N1 was discovered at the girl who died last Monday of the girl.

The European parliament on Thursday adopted a resolution in Ukraine, in which the EU Council calls for the EU and the European Commission to consider other forms of association with Ukraine. In this resolution, European deputies urge the executive bodies of the European Union to reconsider the Ukrainian-ES action plan and, taking into account the new situation in the country, hold negotiations on its addition, Interfax reports.

In Karelia, the police colonel was sentenced to the fact that he, using his official position, forced businessmen to provide financial assistance to the local Muslim community, the founder of which he was. The defendant received 4 years in prison. According to the press service of the prosecutor's office of the republic, on Thursday the Supreme Court of Karelia upheld the sentence issued earlier by the Petrozavodsky city court.

The United States may begin the withdrawal of troops from Iraq this year. This was stated by US Secretary of State Colin Powell. He emphasized that the withdrawal of troops will begin only if the Iraqi armed forces will take on more responsibilities to ensure security in the country. “If the Iraqis take on this burden, then the load on our soldiers will decrease, and we can begin to reduce the number of soldiers,” Powell said.

The Moscow Arbitration Court at his meeting on Thursday postponed a preliminary hearing in the Yuganskneftegaz claim for the Ministry of Taxes and Duties on the recognition of illegal decisions of October 29, 2004 on the payment of taxes for 2002. Yuganskneftegaz has been presented for an additional check for 2002 with a request to pay off tax debt in the amount of 29.6 billion rubles, Prime-Tass reports.

Imagine that you are erasing your clothes by walking in the rain. No laundry, no dry cleaning. A little water from the sky - and all the dirt from your coat, dress or trousers itself leaves. This idea has become a step closer to reality thanks to the new coating developed by the scientists of the University of Clemson in South Carolin. Being waterproof, such a coating does not allow dirt to collect, writes The Christian Science Monitor (translation on the website inopressa.ru ).

An unprecedented scandal ended the attempt by the Oryol Contract fighter to receive compensation through the court for health lost in Chechnya. The Russian Ministry of Defense refused to pay a participant in the storm of Grozny, the gentleman of the Order of Courage, the Guard to the ensign Gennady Uminsky. After a long judicial lawsuit, Gennady’s lawsuit was first satisfied, and then canceled the highest court by the court.

In Nizhny Novgorod, the exhibition was first opened for the first time, at which a collection of cartoons on Maxim Gorky is presented. This was announced by the head of the literary museum of Gorky Elena Agafonova. Previously, these cartoons and caricatures were published in satirical magazines - Satyricon, New Satyricon, Leshy, Beach. At the exhibition, they are first demonstrated together and, in addition, processed by modern artists using computer graphics, RIA Novosti reports.

In January, Russian President Bashar Assad is expected to visit Russia, and the deadlines for the visit of the Palestinian leader of Mahmoud Abbas, who won the Sunday elections of the head of the Palestinian National Administration, are specified. This was stated by the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a press conference in Thursday in Moscow. "The visit of the President of Syria is expected during this month," Lavrov said.

The owner of the largest Renova investment fund Victor Vekselberg acquired 12.77% of the shares of the Swiss Real Estate of Zublin Immobilien Holding AG. The publication gzt.ru believes that this transaction may be part of a larger one, which aims to withdraw assets from Russia. Representatives of the businessman estimate the Zublin Immobilien shares at $ 30-35 million.

A year and a half before the deadline of the current agreement, the leading Zenit midfielder Andrei Arshavin extended the contract with the club until January 1, 2008, reports UEFA.com . The pupil of the St. Petersburg Football School "Change" became the player of Zenit in 1999, and in the Premier League debuted next season at the age of 19. Since 2001, he has been a player of the main composition, having held 121 matches in the Russian Championship and scoring 19 goals.

In Liverpool, a shelter is closed, closely related to the name and work of John Lennon. The orphanage of the rescue army, created in the summer of 1936, was called "Strawberry Polyana" (Strawberry Field). Lennon's father left the family when the future musician was very young. Left alone, his mother sent him to live to the aunt. Lennon fell in love with playing with children from a shelter, located a stone's throw from his house.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon turned to the Russian leadership with a request to abandon the plans for the sale of Syrian Russian missiles Iskander-E (SS-26). “He sent a message in which he explains that such a sale jeopardizes Israel and that these missiles can fall into the hands of the Lebanese Hizballlah group and other terrorist organizations in Damascus,” the AFP said on an anonymity, a senior representative of the Chancellery of Israeli Prime Minister.

In the Vedensky district, employees of the security service of the President of Chechnya were fired, four people were killed. This was reported to RIA Novosti in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic. "On the eve of the outskirts of the village of Dyshne -Vedeno, during the drive of the UAZ car with employees of the Security Service of the President of the Republic, unknown people opened fire from automatic weapons on them.