A series of traffic accidents caused by abundant snowfall occurred in Chechnya over the past day, Interfax was told on Sunday in the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic. So, at the Chechen section of the Caucasus federal highway, eight accidents occurred.

The British weekly Sunday Times has published an article that claims that Israel has prepared a secret plan for the destruction of Iran’s nuclear facilities using tactical nuclear weapons. With reference to the "several Israeli military sources", Sunday Times writes that two Israeli Air Force squadrons are preparing for the bombardment of Iran nuclear facilities using tactical atomic bombs designed to destroy underground bunks.

The chairman of the Russian Union Union of Christians of the Evangelical (Pentecostal), member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, Bishop Sergei Ryakhovsky sent a congratulation on the occasion of the Nativity of Christ .

The UN Secretary General Pan Hi Moon called on the Iraqi government on Saturday to suspend the execution of the verdict against the prisoners sentenced to death, the Air Force reports. "The General Secretary urgently asked the Iraqi government to suspend the death penalty of the sentences, which could take place in the near future," the UN report said.

Drivers of heavy vehicles carrying tangerines from Georgia to Russia blocked part of the Transcaucasian highway. As a source in the law enforcement agencies of North Ossetia told Interfax on Sunday, for three days in the area of ​​the customs and border checkpoint "Nizhny Zaramag" Transkavkazsky highway is blocked by heavy trucks.

The Vatican radio reported that Stanislav Velgus, who was supposed to become the new Archbishop of Warsaw on Sunday, decided to abandon this position. This became known less than an hour before the church service, during which Velgus was supposed to officially accept a dignity. According to the Vatican’s statement, the Pope Benedict XVI accepted his resignation, and now the duties of the archbishop will temporarily fulfill the retired Joseph Glep.

Since the summer of this year, almost all British subjects arriving in the United States will take prints of all ten fingers, which will then be stored in the database of the Federal Bureau of Investigations. According to Observer , this measure is an element of a large -scale American program to tighten the fight against terrorism. In addition to the British, the prints of all fingers will be taken from citizens of the rest of the European Union, as well as Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

The competitions of the first Tour de Ski racing in the history of the ski series ended. In her last discipline, men competed in the Italian Val-Di-Femm in the persecution race of 10 kilometers free style. The second place in it was managed to take the Russian skier Alexander Legkov, who started with a 2-minute behind 2 minutes and 13 seconds from Tobias Angerer (such was the Russian lag behind the German in the overall standings of the “tour”).

The date of executions of the two associates of Saddam Hussein - Barzan At -Chryti and Avad al -Bandar - has not been established. This was announced today by the adviser to Prime Minister Iraq al-Askari himself.

The celebration of Christmas in Moscow is calm and without incident. This was reported to ITAR-TASS today in the Department of Information and Public Relations of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate of the capital. They noted that festive services last night took place in 238 temples and churches of the city. About 120 thousand believers took part in them.

One of the main Christian holidays - Christmas - entered the Russian land. The day before, a festive service was performed in the Moscow Cathedral of Christ the Savior in the Moscow Cathedral of Christ. He was headed by the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II . About five thousand people gathered under the arches of the main Orthodox cathedral of the country.

The inter -district environmental prosecutor's office of Moscow intends to strengthen the struggle with the illegal cutting of green spaces in the capital in the new year.

On Sunday, nine fishermen who disappeared two days ago were discovered in the Caspian Sea, RIA Novosti was informed in the information department of the Ministry of Emergencies of the Russian Federation. "The Mi -8 of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation at 11.36 Moscow time discovered nine people in the northern part of the Caspian Sea. The fishermen disappeared on January 5," the agency’s interlocutor said.

One of the consequences of global warming is the spread of tropical diseases in Europe, which were previously present only in regions such as Africa. This is stated in the report of the Italian Environmental League ("Lembieent"). Her experts warn that certain cases of malaria, black fever and some types of encephalitis recorded in Europe are another evidence of climate change on the continent.

The lawyer of the ex-head of the Yukos Mikhail Khodorkovsky Yuri Schmidt intends to file a complaint with the court in the name of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, Yuri Chaika in connection with the transfer of his client of Chita in the pre-trial detention center.