The military company of the US troops in Iraq is coming to an end, said US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, the Air Force television and radio corporation reports. Speaking to the military at the American air base in the city of a Balad near Baghdad, Gates noted that the process of reducing the number of American forces in Iraq has already begun. According to him, the goals of the American military presence in Iraq will "greatly change" by June 2009. "We are in the process of combat reduction.

In Turkmenistan, the composition of the fourth convocation is chosen today. According to ITAR-TASS, the chairman of the Central Election Commission of the Republic Murad Karryev, at the time of the closure of the plots in the country, 2 million 595 thousand people or 93.87% of voters took part in the country. In previous parliamentary elections held in 2004, the turnout amounted to 76, 88%.

A Serbian football player, known in the past, and now the mentor of the Italian Bologna Sinisha Mikhailovich sharply responded to criticism from the head of Inter, Jose Mourinho. The Portuguese reminded the public and condemned the spit in the face of Adrian Mutu, which the Serb allowed himself to do in 2003. “You won’t talk about football with Mourinh, because he never played and does not know what this is actually,” Sportbox.ru reports the words of Mikhailovich.

Deputies of the Lower Chamber of the Afghan Parliament (Wolesi Dzhirga) authorized the government to immediately decide the issue of evicting Afghan refugees from the territory of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Kabul, the Afghan State Information Agency Bakhtar said.

The male team of Russia in Biathlon celebrated the victory in the first relay of the Cup of the World of the season 2008/09. On Sunday, at the stage in the Austrian Hochfilzen, Russians Ivan Cherezov, Maxim Chudov, Maxim Maximov and Nikolai Kruglov overcame the distance of 4x7.5 km in 1 hour 24 minutes 22.9 seconds. In total, they allowed 9 misses, and Miracles ran one penalty circle.

The Hamas movement does not intend to extend the truce with Israel in the gas sector, which expires the duration of five days later. This is stated in the statement of the chairman of the Politburo Islamists Khaleda Mashaal, who was widespread today in Damascus. On June 19, under Egyptian mediation between Israel and Palestinian groups, an agreement was concluded on the ceasefire.

In Grozny, police officers detained a participant in illegal armed groups (NVF), a law enforcement source told Interfax on Sunday. “In the period from January to October 1996, he was in the gang of Shamil Basayev,” the agency’s interlocutor said. In addition, according to him, in the Oktyabrsky district of Grozny, an accomplice of militants who lived there was detained.

On the eve of Christmas holidays, the US corporations announce new mass reductions, falls of sales and cancellations of bonuses and traditional rewards. Nevertheless, the business community does not intend to abandon the tradition of gifts, although they may be more modest than usual this year. "Usually we send to Christmas to our employees, friends and customers of elegantly decorated baskets with holiday treats. This year they will not. I will gather everyone in one table for a common holiday.

As a result of the explosion in the village of Zubcheninovka near Samara, one person died. “This morning, an unidentified explosive device worked in one of the apartments. The man who was in this apartment died on the spot. All the circumstances of the case are being clarified. According to the preliminary version, the man exploded himself,” the press service of the Investigative Department of the SCP of the Russian Federation for the Samara region told Interfax .

The 2008 Olympic champion in boxing in the weight category up to 57 kg Ukrainian Vasily Lomachenko remains the owner of the Cup of Vala Barker to the most technical game boxer. The honorary prize is still not awarded to him because of the conducted re-design. And Lomachenko’s non -recognition by the best boxer of the year is indeed connected with non -participation without explanation of the reasons for the World Cup in the world, which ended in Moscow.

In Germany, a new loud scandal is flared up associated with a violation of the secrets of bank deposits. In one of the German newspapers, unknown people sent detailed information about credit cards of several tens of thousands of people who are clients of the LBB Berlin Land Bank. The data obtained has information about the owners of credit cards, including their address, as well as detailed messages about the operations and purchases they performed this year.

In Moscow, the rally of retired generals is dispersed, organized by the Union of Soviet Officers. The action took place on Pushkinskaya Square. According to the Kasparov.RU website, riot police detained the military who gathered for the action extremely tough. The rally participants were dragged into the auto -zaks by the arms and by the legs, dragged on the ground.

The riots in the Greek cities ceased, the police reported. On Sunday, protest and procession shares are not planned, normal road traffic was restored in Athens and Thessalonics, RIA Novosti reports. During the night, several small clashes of the anarchists and the police took place in Athens, participants in the riots set fire to three banks and the building of the Greek ministry, attacked the police department in the Central District of Exarchy.

The Brazilian striker of Inter Adriano left the location of the Jose Mourinho team on the eve of the Sunday match with Kiev. The 26-year-old striker left for his homeland, promising to return to Italy on January 2. According to official information provided by the club, the absence of Adriano is associated with a knee injury.

Flavio Briator, the sports director of the Renault team, is going to leave it two years later, when the Fernando Alonso contract expires. It was this date of his departure that Briator called in response to the question whether he would work in Ferrari. “I like to win“ Ferrari ”, but when my team does not win, I support the Ferrari, because I am Italian. I don’t think I will go to work in Maranello. Especially over the next two years,” the Soviet Sports Briator reports.