The number of rejected mortgages in the UK over the past six months increased by 60%. According to the MoneyExpert.com Internet portal, at the end of September 2007, a total of 738 thousand applications for a mortgage were rejected, compared with 463 thousand applications, rejected from October 2006 to this year. According to the analysts of the portal, this process is caused by increasing interest rates and tightening the conditions for the issuance of loans by mortgage lenderers.

Law enforcement officers of the Kaliningrad region detained a man suspected of killing a deputy of the city council of Zelenogradsk Viktor Kondratov. According to ITAR-TASS in the prosecutor's office, the detention of a suspect in a crime became possible thanks to the photobothic compiled on the basis of the testimony of witnesses of the murder.

In the UK and the USA, a scandal is brewing: the Nobel laureate is accused of racism. Nobel laureate, head of one of the leading US genetic laboratories, 79-year-old Dr. James Watson said the blacks are lagging behind the whites in their intellectual development.

On Wednesday, the Turkish parliament will begin consideration of the government’s request for permission to conduct a military operation in the north of a neighboring Iraq, the News Time newspaper reports. The request was officially transferred on Monday. The reason was that in two weeks of October in border regions, more than 30 Turkish troops were killed by militants from among the Turkish Kurds who seek autonomy for the Kurdish population of the southeast of Turkey.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Great Britain published data, from which it follows that last year the migrant workers brought 6 billion pounds to the British economy, and their salaries are higher than that of the British. Over the past year, the number of migrants increased by 189 thousand: 574 thousand profit, 385 thousand left the country.

Contained in April for the murder of a Muscovite, an Armenian by nationality of Karen Abramian , 17-year-old visiting from Yekaterinburg Arthur Ryn, told the investigation of new details of the accomplishment of crimes on national grounds. In the case of nationalists, who "in their free time" wandered in search of the victim, new accused also appeared. The detectives detained two more participants in these crimes, one of them is a resident of the capital Roman Kuzin, nicknamed Kirpich.

In Moscow, they are concerned about the practice of imposing a visa service in the European Union in Visa Centers, said the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation at the EU Vladimir Chizhov. According to him, this practice contradicts not only the agreement between Russia and the EU, but the EU rules in particular, Interfax reports.

In the center of Moscow, police officers stopped several attempts to organize clashes between Russian and English fans. About this, according to ITAR-TASS, said the deputy head of the Department of Information and Public Relations of the Moscow Central Internal Affairs Directorate of Moscow Yevgeny Gildeev. According to him, at about 22:20, a fight between fans in the Arbat area almost began.

Ireland headed the list of the most friendly countries in the world, compiled by the prestigious British series of Lonely Planet guide guides, which claims that the problems of this country have remained in the past, on the streets of North Ireland it is safe again, and the "islanders" (as the British call the Irish - approx. Ed.) They returned to the fact that they do the best - they drink good drinks, warmly, warm Accept guests and have fun.

France President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Cecilia submitted a divorce documents to the court. As Interfax reports with reference to the French weekly Le Nouvel Observateur , "Nicolas and Cecilia Sarcosi on October 15 in the evening visited the judge in order to give him documents about the divorce." A divorce report was published on her website TF1 . The press secretary of the Champs Elysees David Martinon refused to comment on this message in any way.

The universal national movement on the peaceful change of power in Georgia, which combined almost all opposition forces, accuses the head of the republic Mikhail Saakashvili of political terror, violation of human rights and impoverishing the population of the republic. This is stated in the manifesto of the United Georgian opposition, which includes ten political organizations of Georgia. On Wednesday, they accepted the manifesto with the main tasks of the political struggle, Interfax reports.

The United States Navy released a new naval strategy, where, however, there are not very many new things: the main task on the seas is the protection of the territory of the United States and American interests abroad. For this, the United States will, in particular, will still use its Navy to demonstrate military power and pressure on those states whose policy is not satisfied with Washington.

The Russian Ambassador to Belarus, Alexander Surikov, announced at the Belarusian Energy Forum on October 17 in Minsk that the price of Russian gas for Belarus in 2008 could reach $ 125 per thousand cubic meters, because "this is how the conjuncture is formed." The final price of gas for Belarus in 2008 will be determined in December. Gas price at the level of 150-170 dollars, the ambassador considers unreal.

Today, the spiritual leader of the Tibetan Buddhists on the Capitol Hill will be awarded the highest civilian award of the United States - the gold medal of Congress.

The American Minister of Finance Henry Paulson said on Tuesday that the decline in the residential real estate market poses the main threat to the US economy. He noted that the consequences of this decline will negatively affect the entire economy for some time. He also called a number of measures aimed at ensuring stability in the housing market.