Director of the United Humanitarian Publishing House (OGA) Dmitry Itskovich answered the New Year's questions Polit.ru. The publisher believes that next year we will see “decomposed corpses at the drained bottom” of the oil flood. In addition, he told the joke and invited readers “Polit.ru” to drink “For ours and your freedom!” What did you learn new about the country and the world over the past year? Nothing. What do you think was the most noticeable person in 2008? Patriarch Alexy Second.

The director of the analytical bureau "Consulting Mobile" Political scientist Roman Konoplev answered the New Year's questions Polit.ru. A gloomy expert’s forecast for 2009 is more than compensated by the image of the Russian financial crisis in bast shoes from a joke. What did you learn new in 2008?

Citizens of Ukraine will not feel any restrictions on gas and heat supply in this regard, the first deputy head of the Presidential Secretariat Alexander Shlapak reports. He noted that despite the course of intergovernmental negotiations on the supply of Russian gas, citizens of Ukraine will be subsequently provided with natural gas in the volumes necessary for their own consumption, UNIAN reports it.

Answering New Year's questions, the Polit.ru scientific observer Alexei Kupriyanov from noticeable people noted two scientists: Mikhail Gelfand and James Watson, and in 2009 made a forecast that cannot be challenged. What did you learn new about the country and the world in 2008? 2008 did not bring me radical revelations about everyday routine.

The historian, the head of the international historical, human rights and charitable society Memorial Arseniy Borisovich Roginsky did not notice new bright people in 2008, and next year he expects to see the irritated atmosphere, irritated power. What new have you learned about the country and the world over the past year? Yes, I didn’t recognize anything new.

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili on the last day of 2008 pardoned 250 prisoners with his decree, reports Georgia Online . The release of prisoners will begin a few hours later. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili ordered the release of prisoners a few hours ago. 61 The convicted person will be released by pardon, and 16 women will be released at the request of the Patriarchate. Recall that on December 17, Mikhail Saakashvili pardoned 1280 prisoners.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev strives to get rid of the pressure of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, the correspondent of The Financial Times Charles Clover believes. The journalist referred to a recent statement by Medvedev. “The final responsibility for everything that is happening in the country will only lie on me for a number of fateful decisions, and I will not be able to share this responsibility with anyone,” British edition of Medvedev quotes.

On the fact of the murder of the former mayor of Vladikavkaz, a criminal case was opened, according to the website of the Prosecutor General’s Office. At the moment, an investigative-operational group is working at the scene. The scene and other necessary investigative actions are examined, aimed at establishing all the circumstances of the crime and persons involved in its commission, the site said.

Murat Gasaev, who is accused of attacking the attacks and attacks on the building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ingushetia, the press service of the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation, is extradited to Russia from Spain. Gasayev, according to the investigation, in the summer of 2003 joined the ranks of the Caliphate gang. This gang was part of a large criminal community led by Arab Taufiko al-Jedani callsign Abu Dzeit.

In 2008, fewer journalists died than in 2007, calculated the international organization “Reporters without borders” . And this despite the "hostile climate and repression on the Internet." According to the organization, in 2008, 60 journalists were killed, while in 2007 - 87. 673 journalists were arrested in the past year (in 2007 - 887). 929 journalists were subjected to physical violence and threats in 2008 (in 2007 - 1511). There were 29 journalists (in 2007 - 67).

The military of Great Britain and Australia will remain on the territory of Iraq, the Iraq Ministry of Defense reports. On Tuesday, an agreement was signed on the deployment of troops, after the expiration of the UN mandate for the operations of multinational forces in Iraq. The official representative of the Ministry of Defense of Iraq, Muhammad Al-Askari, said that the agreements on military presence will enter into force on January 1 of the year.

The former editor -in -chief of Polit.ru, now the Russian Reporter, Vitaly Leibin, believes that in the coming 2009 we will learn which pleasures are better, expensive or cheap, and comprehend the real superidery of Russia. What did you learn new about the country and the world over the past year? That the world turned out to be really one, and our country, as always, does not allow us to get bored. Who do you consider the most noticeable persons of 2008?

Political scientist, head of the Mercator Group, leading researcher at the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences, candidate of geographical sciences Dmitry Oreshkin answered the New Year's questions Polit.ru: What did you learn new about the country and the world over the past year? I learned, on the one hand, a lot of new, on the other hand, did not know anything particularly new. What is happening in Russia was predicted repeatedly.

The 2008 contract for the supply of gas to Ukraine expires on January 1, 2009 at 10.00 Moscow time, said the official representative of Gazprom, Sergey Kupriyanov. Alexander Medvedev, Chairman of the Board of Gazprom, said that the company will not have a legal basis for gas supply to Ukraine if a contract for 2009 is not signed, UNIAN reports. Gazprom is 70% sure that the contract will not be signed before the New Year with Ukraine.

Neither Hamas nor Israel during the past Tuesday were ready to respond to the calls of Europeans to stop the armed confrontation. Some sources in the Israeli government made it clear in the morning that Israel would not have been against the humanitarian truce for 48 hours, however, the officially the so -called “narrow” office of Israel, which includes the power ministers, refused the proposal of such a truce, reports EURONEWS .