The United States sent forensics to Sudan to investigate the murder of an American diplomat who was mortally wounded during an armed attack. The decision of the State Department of the United States to take a direct part in the investigation of this crime on Wednesday was announced by the official representative of the State Department, Sean McCormak, the BBC television company reports.

The Vanessa Bulgarian dry cargo, on board of which there were 11 people, sank on Thursday at the entrance to the Kerch Strait in the Sea of ​​Azov, where a storm warning was announced the day before. So far, only one sailor managed to save. Also, from two to four bodies of the dead were found, according to various sources. With the onset of darkness, search and rescue work at the scene of the vessel was suspended until the morning of Friday.

Russian tourists who suffered on Wednesday in a road accident in the Turkish resort of Antalya are returning to their homeland. The victims will fly to Russia by the Aeroflot regular flight, since they did not have any complications after the accident, RIA Novosti reports with reference to the Vice Consul of the Russian Federation in Antalya Sergei Koritsky. “After the provision of the necessary medical care, they returned to the hotel on the same day,” the Russian diplomat explained.

In Sweden on Thursday, a bus with Russian tourists collided with a regular bus. According to the Swedish police, 18 people were injured in total as a result of the incident, 14 of them are citizens of the Russian Federation. Five Russians received serious injuries. The car accident occurred in the province of Dalarn in the central part of Sweden at 13:30 Moscow time. The Russian bus was heading from St. Petersburg to the city of Mura through the capital of the Kingdom of Stockholm.

In the Slobodo-Turinsky district of the Sverdlovsk region on the night of Thursday there was a shooting at the New Year's disco. As a result of the incident, four girls were injured. According to Interfax, the head of the press service of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate of the Sverdlovsk Region Valery Gorelykh, the incident occurred at 1:45 Thursday local time in the village of Kuminovskoye.

The Government of Estonia at a meeting on Thursday considered the issue of expanding the grounds for sending people from the country. As the Minister of Justice Rain Lang, at the end of the meeting, said, at the end of the person, to whom it would be planned to apply expulsion from the country as a punishment, it is planned to include foreigners who deliberately committed crimes of the second or easier severity.

The famous Georgian businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili will nevertheless take part in the presidential election on January 5, the candidate said on Thursday in the election headquarters. Earlier, his representatives stated that Patarkatsishvili would take off his candidacy the day before the election. According to the headquarters, the decision to participate in the elections Patarkatsishvili made after a telephone conversation with the Patriarch-Catalikos Ilya Second, Interfax reports.

In the United States, an investigation began in the case of suspects of terrorism destroyed in the CIA . “We have every reason to start the investigation of this criminal case, and I took steps to start this investigation,” said Minister of Justice Michael Mukasey, adding that the FBI will be involved in the investigation, Rueters reports. Recall that at the end of December the Ministry of Justice began a preliminary proceeding of the circumstances of the destruction of the CIA videos.

In the United States, meetings of activists of the republican and democratic parties are held, on which a candidate for the presidential post will have to be determined. The first in the current election season of the meeting of activists of the Republican and Democratic Parties, as a result of which candidates for the US President will be nominated, will be held on Thursday in Iowa, ITAR-TASS reports with reference to the local newspaper Des Moines Register .

In the Gaza Strip, Israeli troops struck several aviation and artillery strikes on the proposed positions of the militants. As a result of shelling, 5 people died and 16 were injured. The shelling was led in the Khan-Junis area. Moreover, two of the dead are civilians, ITAR -TASS reports with reference to Palestinian doctors.

The spiritual leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that he was ready to approve the renewal of relations between his country and the United States in the future, if this would benefit the Islamic Republic. At the same time, he noted that the time had not yet arrived for this, a convenient case has not yet been presented, and the resumption of diplomatic relations interrupted in 1979 does not stand on the agenda of Tehran.

In Athens, a pedestrian was charged with damaging property after he literally walked over a car parked on the sidewalk. In his defense, the pedestrian states that he was forced to do this because he could not find any other way to get around the car. However, it seems that a resident of the Greek capital, Thassos Pouliasis, simply followed the principle.

The Spanish court sentenced the former member of the Basque terrorist group this . For organizing the murder of the prosecutor, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison. The National Judicial Chamber (NSP) of Spain on Thursday sentenced to 30 years in prison the former member of the leadership of the Basque terrorist group this Juan Antonio Olar Guridi, ITAR-TASS reports.

The British Council Branch in St. Petersburg will continue to work despite Russia's requirements. “At the end of 2007, the entire composition of the council went on vacation. We plan to return to work on January 14, when all our events will continue,” a representative of this organization told Interfax on Thursday. He added that the Council employees are familiar with all the statements of the Russian Foreign Ministry, however, despite this, they plan to continue their work in the same mode.

The Russians in the unrest in Kenya, who broke out after holding universal elections in this country, were not injured, the Russian Foreign Ministry reports. "According to the Russian Embassy in Nairobi, none of the Russian citizens during the latest events in Kenya was injured," the ministry, widespread on Thursday, said in a statement. "In Moscow, they continue to carefully monitor the development of the situation in Kenya.