Ten centers of the Church of Scientology in the south of California received envelopes with letters, which contained suspicious white powder. The centers immediately closed and conducted a hasty evacuation of staff, Interfax reports with reference to today's publication in the Los Angeles Times. The letters were sent to the addresses of Scientologists in Hollywood, Santa Monica, Glendeil, San Fernando Walley and Tastine.

The mentor of the England football team Fabio Capello did not include David Beckham in the team for a friendly match with Switzerland, thereby delaying the anniversary 100th game of Beckham in the national team, RIA Novosti reports with reference to the Air Force.

The crisis in Kenya, covered by bloody clashes between the supporters of the President of Mva Kibaki and his opposition from the opposition Rail Odoga, became the dominant topic of the three -day summit of the African Union in the Ethiopian capital, BBC reports. Kenyan President is among the invited more than 40 chapters of African states. While one, who claims to win the presidential election last month, did not receive an invitation to the summit.

The updated building of the Bolshoi Theater will be opened on November 1, 2009 by the performance "Ruslan and Lyudmila", ITAR-TASS reports. The main and most difficult part of the reconstruction of the Bolshoi Theater is the strengthening of the building - completed, the head of Roskulture Mikhail Shvydka said at a press conference in Moscow. According to him, "when restoration work began in 2005, 15 cracks were discovered, piercing the supporting walls of the theater.

As previously expected, Republican Rudolf Juliani officially announced the rejection of the further struggle for the post of US president. Speaking on Wednesday in the Ronald Reagan library in the city of Simi-Walley (California), the former mayor of New York thanked his supporters and, in this case, called them to vote for the senator from Arizona John McCain.

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbian, as part of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIG), Milorad Dodik warned the EU leaders from the danger of "creating the Islamic state in Europe as a result of the EU provided by Kosovo’s desire for independence. “If the West supports the proclamation of Kosovo’s independence, then he should know that it will be an Islamic state,” the local press said.

After a series of explosions on board, the Peruvian Navy ship sank near the American oil producing platform in the territorial waters of Peru. This was reported on Wednesday by sources in the naval forces of this South American country. According to official figures, on board the Supe tanker, which provided assistance in the operation of the BPZ Energy oil platform, at least three explosions thundered, after which the ship sank. As a result of the incident, at least 15 crew members were injured.

The writer Vladimir Sorokin believes that Russia is returning to the Middle Ages, and the process experienced by the country can be compared with feudalization. “We are moving towards feudal Russia, where power again becomes something absolute and incomprehensible to the people, and is not considered the people at all,” he said in an interview with El Pais in honor of the release of his last novel “The Day of the Basket” (full text on the website inopressa.ru ).

Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov is concerned that inflation threatens to negate large-scale plans to increase social benefits dedicated to the presidential elections. Zubkov criticized the economic departments and the Central Bank for the lack of specific proposals for holding inflation.

The Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) proposed creating a non-state agency in Russia to form a positive image of the country, ITAR-TASS reports. Both business and authorities are interested in Russia perceived as a dynamically developing country where a favorable business climate has been created, the head of the RSPP Alexander Shokhin said today at the forum of industrialists and entrepreneurs in Krasnodar.

The federal judge rejected the court lawsuit against the leadership of the engineering corps of the United States, accused of the fact that the engineers committed serious violations in the construction of dams around the new Orleans, who suffered from the Hurricane "Catherine" . District Judge Stanwood Dustyl decided that the leadership is not responsible for refusals in the channels of drainage systems, due to which the city was flooded in August 2005, AP reports.

The coordinator of the Eurasian energy diplomacy of the US Foreign Department, Stephen Mann, came to Turkmenistan to meet with the country's president Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov, writes Independent Gazeta . On the eve of the State Department announced priority activities for 2008. The main one is the laying of alternative pipelines. Washington will continue the lobbying of the Nabucco gas pipeline, which is being developed for fuel supply to Europe bypassing Russia.

A seriously ill Vice-President of the NK Yukos Vasily Aleksanyan, accused of embezzlement of property, was today taken to the Simonovsky court of Moscow , where the court continues in his case, Interfax reports. There he informed reporters about his deadly diagnosis - he has cancer of the lymph glands, lymphoma. “To be honest, I still can’t even understand what next ...” ”says Aleksanyan. He entered the courtroom staggering, during the meeting he became ill again.

A resident of the Dutch city of Schidam Keis Skyurmans received a fine of 75 euros for not going to the green light of a traffic light, when a cat crossed the road in front of his car. The driver waited, letting the animal pass, RIA Novosti reports. Behind his car there were no other vehicles, so the driver did not bother anyone. However, the police wrote out a fine.

Russia is preparing a draft resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe regarding the "black lists" of the Schengen zone. It is reported by ITAR-TASS with reference to the chairman of the Committee on International Affairs Konstantin Kosachev. Already at the April session PACE, Russia plans to achieve an appropriate decision of the Assembly Bureau and begin to prepare a separate report on this issue.