The British company Land Rover announced that the famous Land Rover G4 Challenge competition will no longer be held in the context of the economic crisis. The automaker will direct all efforts to launch new cars on the market in 2009. The company would like to thank all the suppliers and sponsors who played a vital role in the Land Rover G4 Challenge.

Russia must win the Baltic countries, according to the scandalously famous journalist Mikhail Leontyev, the leader of the Modern - Great Rus' movement. “The state independence of the Baltic republics turned out to be insolvent,” he said on December 15 at a meeting of the Nizhny Novgorod Expert Club dedicated to the development of patriotic movements in Russia.

The Federation Council on Monday approved changes to the legislation of the Russian Federation in connection with the ratification of the UN Convention against Corruption and the Convention on Criminal Liability for Corruption. These amendments are also determined by the approval of the law "On Combating Corruption".

At the Vnukovo Moscow airport, passengers got the opportunity to independently register on flights via the Internet - the service is available on the airport’s official website . However, so far the system is not available to everyone. To register yourself - both with electronic and paper air tickets - now you can only without baggage and only on the flights of the Rusline airline, ITAR -TASS indicates.

The case of Iraqi journalist Montazer Az-Zaddy, who launched his US President George Bush, will begin to be considered on December 31. “The investigation stage has come to an end, a new stage began, at which the case will be referred to the Central Criminal Court of Iraq,” said Judge Dia al -Kenani, the leading investigation. The hearings will be held in the presence of media representatives. The incident occurred on December 14 at a press conference in Baghdad.

By December 25, when the Catholic world meets Christmas, economists promise gifts: a small increase in the dollar and stabilizing prices in the energy market. The main news of the last week was the decision of the US Federal Reserve to fix the base rate in the range of 0.00-0.25%. The market did not expect such radical actions to meet with large -scale purchases of the European currency, which over the next two days (from December 16 to 18) increased against the dollar by 7.6%.

About 50% of the shares of the Mining and Metallurgical Holding (GMC) Norilsk Nickel returned to state control, the Vedomosti write. Another 25% of the company's shares are pledged in Vnesheconombank, and 20% of VTB recalls the publication and adds with reference to its source that the state does not intend to take the shares for itself.

The state will co -financing 8% of the credit rate, under which Russians will buy Russian -made cars in 2009. According to Interfax , Prime Minister Vladimir Putin stated this at a government meeting. However, he emphasized that we are talking about cars worth no more than 350 thousand rubles. According to Putin, the state will co -finance two -thirds from the Central Bank refinancing rate. “Today, the rate is 13%.

The elected US President Barack Obama, President of the PRC Hu Jintao and French President Nicolas Sarkozi headed the list of the most influential people in the world according to Newsweek magazine. The weekly, the last one this year of which will go on sale on Monday, made a list, which included 50 famous politicians, economists and other leaders of our time. This material appeared the day before on the website.

The holidays at AvtoVAZ can last from December 29 to February 2, the company extends the term for stopping the conveyor, reports Finmarket . "AvtoVAZ OJSC decided to extend non -working days for two weeks - until January 30, 2009 inclusive. Earlier, it was announced the introduction of non -working days on December 29 and 30, 2008, as well as on January 11, 12, 13, 14, and 16, 2009," the car factory said.

In the Australian city of Brisben, an operation was first underwent to remove a cancerous tumor, which, under the supervision of a doctor, successfully performed a robot. DA Vinci Surgical System coped with the task of himself, and doctors did not even have to approach the operating table. Only sometimes the car resorted to the help of a remote operator, says CyberSecurity.ru .

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Gazprom, the First Deputy Prime Minister, Viktor Zubkov assured the European partners of Russia that Gazprom will fulfill its gas supply contracts, but did not rule out that Ukraine can destabilize these deliveries, Interfax reports.

Shirshov proposes to make an exception only for the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations Sergei Shoigu, who “will have to restore the destroyed economy and not only,” as well as for the Minister of Finance Alexei Kudrin, who “will be judged by the people.” Let us note that on the eve of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s direct line , on December 3, deputy from the Krasnodar Territory Shirshov submitted a protocol order to the Legality Committee with a request to check the legality of this

President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko insists that the price of oil prices be taken into account in the price of Russian gas, the first deputy head of the Presidential Secretariat Alexander Shlapak said today at a press conference. “This is exactly what the president insists in directives for the relevant negotiations,” he emphasized.

Interest in real estate as a means of preserving savings is falling, this is said by the results of the survey conducted by the All -Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion. According to Domostroy with reference to the press service of the VTsIOM, 41% of respondents consider the most reliable way to invest in money. True, over the past month its popularity has fallen from 48% . In second place? Buying gold and jewelry (17%)?