The basketball player of the Moscow Dynamo Travis Hansen is granted Russian citizenship in accordance with the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation, the official website of the metropolitan club reports on Wednesday. Now the American will be able to play for the Russian team if he receives an invitation from the coaching staff of David Blatt.

Inflation in Russia from 1 to March 24 amounted to 0.9% compared with 0.5% for the same period in 2007, the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) said on Wednesday. During the period from March 18 to March 24, 2008, consumer prices amounted to 0.3%. In March 2007, inflation was 0.6%, recalls Interfax .

According to the VTsIOM survey conducted in early March, every fourth Russian (26%), who voted in the recent presidential election for Dmitry Medvedev, cannot formulate the motives of his act. Interestingly, among the respondents who voted against Medvedev, every fourth is also difficult to explain why he did this, writes the “Favorites” website.

At the joint of the Romanian-French Automobile Plant Dacia-Renault, located in Romania, in the city of Mioveni, a strike began on Monday? About 10,000 workers require them to double the salary and improve working conditions. Also, the striking insist on the introduction of a system of money bonuses and the provision of discounts on the purchase of cars manufactured at the factory. It is reported by RIA "Novosti" .

The Japanese Court of Appeal began the process in the case of a businessman accused of serial rape and murders of waitresses. On Tuesday, 55-year-old Joji Stara, a previously successful businessman in the field of construction, appeared to the court of Tokyo, AFP reports. The state prosecution intends to prove that the businessman is a dangerous serial killer who deserves more strict punishment. In April 2007, Stara was already sentenced by the District Court of Japan to life imprisonment.

The Sverdlovsk government began to discuss the draft regional law on the expansion of the concept of "municipal needs". As the New Region reports, the reason for this was the desire of local authorities to clear the sites for development.

The Chinese divers on Wednesday at night managed to penetrate inside the Ukrainian vessel "Neftegaz-67", which had sunken near the Hong Kong Island. While the bodies of two sailors have been discovered, the fate of the rest is 16 unknown. This was confirmed by the representative of the fire service of Hong Kong Eric NG. He clarified that the divers managed to penetrate the inverted vessel through the cabin. "Submariners are inside the vessel building.

Five children aged 5 to 13 years were killed as a result of a fire that broke out today in one of the houses of Bentonville (Arkansas) in the United States. This was announced today by the head of the fire department of the city Denn White. According to him, the fire broke out for about one in the morning in a two -story family of a family of phraseers. Parents woke up from the smell of smoke and immediately called rescuers.

In the central office of the network of perfume stores "L`Etual" the day before was a search. This was reported by Gazeta.Ru with reference to its sources. In this case, no details are given. It is only known that the central office is located on Sevastopolsky Prospekt in Moscow. RIA Novosti reports that a large chain of perfumes and cosmetics stores works as usual and does not comment on reports about the search.

The auction house Sotheby's put up for sale the most significant work of the outstanding expressionist Francis Bacon (1909-1992), located in the private collection, - "Triptih, 1976". The work is estimated at $ 70 million, ITAR-TASS reports. In this, one of the most beloved by the master of works, he conveys personal tragedies and experiences, in particular, through the image of Prometheus, who stole fire from Olympus and handed it over to people.

British detectives continue a multi -week study of the territory of the former children's shelter on the island of Jersey. There are already 4 secret "torture chambers", in which children were raped, tormented and killed. An investigation of crimes created in the middle of the last century in the Haut de la Garenne children's shelter in St. Martine on the island of Jersey has already turned into the largest process of pedophiles in the country's history, The Telegraph newspaper writes.

In Tyumen, the former head of the department for the disclosure of the murders of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Kalininsky Internal Affairs Directorate Anton Semenov was sentenced to three years in prison for a road accident that entailed the death of two pedestrians, Elena Melnikova, senior assistant to the Tyumen region and public interaction.

In the Japanese city of Iokogam in public transport, a campaign begins against passengers who do not comply with the rules of conduct in public places. For this purpose, a special "Police on compliance with etiquette" has been created, the Air Force reports. Its representatives will ask passengers to reduce the volume of the players and remind you that you need to give way to older people and women.

Iraqi government troops established control over Basra with the exception of the Al-Hussein and El Cubla regions, ITAR-TASS reports. On the approaches to them, military vehicles are burned out, wrapped in grenade launchers of the Mahdi Army. At the same time, supporters of the radical Shiite imam of Muktada al-Sadra captured two police sites. In the morning, Basra resembled a ghost city: life is paralyzed, the streets are empty, people hid in houses.

The official average salary of regional officials increased in 2007 by a quarter (with official annual inflation of 11.9%) and overcame the line of $ 1,000 per month. For comparison for the last year in all sectors of the economy, the salary in real terms increased by only 16.2% to 13.5 thousand rubles. That is, ordinary citizens receive an average of half as much officials, writes "News Time" .