The General Director of Echo of Moscow, Yuri Fedutinov, was awarded the title of officer of the State Order of France "For Merit", the Echo of Moscow was told in the French embassy in Moscow. As noted in the diplomatic mission, the "merits of Fedutinov, which are fully consistent with this high award, and his work at the head of the highly professional radio station is recognized.

The presentation of the first in the history of translation into the Georgian language of the Holy Book of Muslims - the Koran will take place on Saturday in Tbilisi. The author of the translation is an orientalist, professor Georgy Lobzhanidze.

American President George Bush extended one -way US unilateral sanctions against President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko and a number of other Belarusian leaders. According to the White House press service, Bush signed an order that for another year “blocking the property” of these persons in the jurisdiction of the United States was extending, RIA Novosti reports.

Lieutenant General Robert Elder, commander of the 8th US Air Force, announced a new threat to the conflict between Washington and the growing capacities of Beijing.

The US Department of Finance, following the policy of economic pressure on Iran, announced by the White House, blocked Mohammad Cannadi and Ali Hadginia Leilabadi on Friday. All American citizens, in accordance with the law, are prohibited from maintaining financial relations with them, ITAR-TASS reports.

The visit of the chairman of the Palestinian National Administration of Mahmoud Abbas to Moscow is postponed in connection with the aggravation of the situation in the Palestinian autonomy, Interfax reports citing a source in Russian diplomatic circles. "The visit to the Abbas to Moscow previously planned on June 19-21 was postponed to a later date in connection with the exacerbation of the situation inside Palestine," the source said.

The famous Russian heavyweight Nikolai Valuev, even having lost the champion title, remained a very attractive figure not only in the boxing world, but also in circles remote from great sport. So, recently, the SIM-Simulator of Valuev appeared on the computer market of the CIS countries.

Experts continue to establish the cause of non -betrayals with computers on the Russian segment of the ISS. As the president of the Energy missile and space corporation Nikolai Sevastyanov told reporters, these problems occurred due to power failures, which in turn were caused by the connection of new solar panels on the American sector, Interfax reports. Recall that this version has already been put forward before. However, now the president of the RSC put forward it as the main thing.

The prospects for creating an Islamic investment bank in Russia were discussed at a meeting of the vice-speaker of the Federation Council Alexander Torshin with a delegation, which includes representatives of the political and financial circles of Jordan, Bahrain, Great Britain and Azerbaijan.

The provision of independence Kosovo is "inevitable." About this, as ITAR-TASS reports, the new president of France Nicolas Sarkozy said on Friday. With the help of a video from the General Staff of the army, he talked with the French General Eric Arno, who commands the northern zone of NATO forces in Kosovo. However, the French president admits that the provision of independence Kosovo "will take a little more time." It will be needed in order to avoid making a veto in the UN Security Council .

Opposition politicians, such as Eduard Limonov and Mikhail Kasyanov, need to hire additional security. So believes Andrei Lugovoi, whom the British special services are accused of the murder of Alexander Litvinenko in November 2006. Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun were given an interview with the newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda . They work in the office at Kievskaya at the Radisson-Slavyanskaya hotel. Lugovoi spoke about his career in the special services of the USSR and Russia.

After the reconstruction, the trading areas of the famous Moscow Mir Unverse will be increased from 19 thousand square meters to almost 40 thousand, the head of the Department of Public Relations of the System-Kals OJSC, which is responsible for the reconstruction of the building, was told by RIA Novosti , Rania Efimova.

Until 2025, 2 thousand kilometers will be built in Moscow, the chief engineer of the State Unitary Enterprise NIIPI General Plan of the capital, Yuri Korotkov, said on Friday at a scientific and practical conference dedicated to the strategy for sustainable development of large cities using the example of Moscow. "At present, we have 1300 km of highways and the road network, as well as 280 km of the metro lines," Korotkov said.

The remains of the Soviet officer, captain Alexei Bryantsev , exhumed in Tallinn during excavations on the Tynismgy hill, were sent on Friday to the Rostov region, accompanied by his son Viktor Bryantsev and granddaughters. Earlier, Viktor Bryantsev said that his father’s ashes will be buried in the city of the Gukovo of the Rostov region.

A collection of ancient bronze products, rare samples of Chinese painted ceramics and porcelain was presented by the Shanghai Museum in the Hermitage, the director of the St. Petersburg Museum Mikhail Piotrovsky on Friday told reporters. According to him, the exhibition is a gift from the KHR by the year announced by the year of China in Russia, Interfax reports.