In the gas sector, unknown people abducted two foreigners, reports the Al-Jazeera TV channel with reference to sources in the Palestinian security forces. The nationality of the stolen has not yet been reported. The incident occurred in the camp of Palestinian refugees Khan Unis in the south of the Gaza Sectors. According to the channel, unknown people stopped the car in which foreigners were located, transferred them to their car and took them in an unknown direction.

More than 150 events will be held this year in Austria as part of a half -year chairmanship of the country in the governing bodies of the European Union. The largest of them is a meeting at the highest level between the EU and the states of Latin America and the Caribbean, which will be held in May. It is possible that the Cuban leader Fidel Castro will arrive on this summit. “This question will be clear only at the last moment,” said a diplomatic source in the Austrian capital.

Russian President Vladimir Putin made a New Year's appeal to the country's citizens. In the appeal, the text of which was distributed by the press service of the head of state, it is said: “Dear citizens of Russia! Dear friends! In a few minutes we will meet a new, 2006th year. These minutes always unite the people of our vast country, because each of us recalls the past, thinks of the future and hopes, of course, for the best.

Official Kyiv deliberately disrupted the negotiation process with Moscow on the problem of supplying Russian gas to Ukraine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation said.

About 150 members of the Congress of Ukrainian nationalists and the Ukrainian Republican Party "Sobor" picked on Sunday the building of the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Lviv in protest against the gas policy of Russia in relation to Ukraine. The picketers held in their hands the state flags of Ukraine and the flags of parties, as well as the slogans, among which were the following: “Russia is not Putin, but Gazprom,“ Ukraine’s independence will not exchange for gas!

In Grozny, unknown people fired at the employees of the Chechen riot police. Two policemen died, two attackers were killed in a shootout. "The incident occurred at about 16:30 Moscow time Saturdays. A group of unknown people of three or four people armed with automatic weapons opened fire on employees of the Chechen riot police who served in the area of ​​the world of the world and red front -line soldiers in Grozny, where the central Christmas tree is located.

Gazprom began a decrease in gas pressure at the entrance to the Ukrainian gas transmission system, a spokeswoman for the head of Gazprom Sergey Kupriyanov told reporters on Sunday in Moscow. According to him, export gas to Europe is in full. The Russian Foreign Ministry accused Ukraine of conscious disruption of gas negotiations. SMS campaign in Ukraine is already calling for a boycott of Russian goods.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an order "On interdepartmental working groups under the Presidential Council for the implementation of priority national projects," the press service of the head of the Russian state said on Sunday.

The chairmanship of Russia in 2006 in the "Big Eight" is evidence of the growing authority of our country in the international arena, said Konstantin Kosachev, head of the International State Duma Committee of the Russian Federation.

Six categories of Russians: military personnel, parents of children under a year and a half, students of professional schools, graduate students and doctoral students of federal universities, heroes of Russia and the Soviet Union, as well as primary health workers will receive an increase in their income from the state. From today, federal laws and government decisions come into force, strengthening the social protection of millions of our compatriots.

The Italian Foreign Ministry confirmed the fact of the liberation of the Italian, stolen on Sunday morning in the camp of Palestinian refugees, Khan Unis in the south of the Gaza sector. Italian Foreign Minister Dzhanfranko Finni expressed satisfaction in connection with the rapid release of the compatriot and instructed the Italian Consulate General in Jerusalem to express gratitude for the assistance to the chairman of the Palestinian National Administration Mahmoud Abbas.

Investigative insulators previously subordinate to the Federal Security Service of Russia, from January 1, 2006, are completely transferred to the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation. As Interfax was informed in the Ministry of Justice of the Ministry of Justice, this step was taken in connection with the obligations that Russia took upon itself when joining the Council of Europe.

On the first New Year's day, the weather in the metropolitan region will be cloudy with a light frost. According to ITAR -TASS in Roshydromet, in the morning, thermometers in Moscow will show from 6 to 8 degrees below zero, in the region - from minus 5 to minus 10 degrees. By noon it will become warmer, but the temperature will not rise above zero - there will be 1-3 frost in the city, in the suburbs - from 1 to 6 degrees below zero.

National Joint -Stock Company (NAC) Naftogaz Ukraine states that Gazprom OJSC has reduced the volume of natural gas supplies to European countries “Gas is not supplied through a series of transit routes. This, in turn, can lead to a drop in pressure in gas pipelines, and therefore, before restricting gas supplies to Europe and partial restriction of consumers of Ukraine,” Naftogaz Ukraine emphasizes in a message widespread on Sunday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the Federal Law "On Amendments to Article 18 of the Federal Law" On the General Principles of the Organization of Legislative (representative) and executive bodies of state power of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation "and to the Federal Law" On Political Parties ", the press service of the head of the Russian state reports.