An annual national morning prayer is carried out since 42 years old. This is a private event, however, in the capital, as a rule, the president, members of his office and members of Congress, as well as numerous foreign guests take part in it. This year, in addition to the diplomats accredited in the United States, five chapters of states and four foreign ministers prayed in the Washington Hilton Hotel. Participation in prayer is not limited by the confessional framework.

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov confirmed the position of Moscow, which considers it necessary to maintain an agreement on the PRO of 1972. Speaking today at a conference on disarmament in Geneva, Ivanov emphasized that this agreement is one of the “supporting elements in the field of control over weapons”. The minister announced the readiness of Russia to immediately begin negotiations with the United States to prepare the START-3 agreement.

Victoria Munblit, Tel Aviv: On the night of Wednesday to Thursday, the Supreme Court of Israel and the election commission made two decisions designed to reduce the intensity of Israeli election passions. The first solution is that the calculation of the so -called "white ballots" will not be conducted. Let me remind you that the "White Bulletin" laid out in the urn means that not one of the prime minister is satisfied with the voter in the presence of candidates.

Marina Timasheva, Moscow: Tonight in the Moscow Olympic sports complex the first and only concert of the legend of the new wave, the rock band "Duran Duran" will be held in Russia Duran Duran reached Russia in the early 80s (the group was formed in 1978) along with the first video recorders, thus, the concepts of video clip and the “new wave” were connected in the minds of time. A little later, Boris Grebenshchikov sang: "A new wave, where is it?

The General Prosecutor's Office of Russia turned to the Spanish authorities with a request to arrest the property of the head of the Media-Most holding Vladimir Gusinsky in Spain. The General Prosecutor's Office accuses Gusinsky of large fraud and achieves its issuance. The issue of the extraction of Gusinsky, who has been under house arrest, will consider the Spanish court since December.

The Chinese authorities organized mass rallies throughout the country today, whose participants condemn the activities of the religious movement of Falungun. The rallies were preceded by the same mass campaign in the Chinese press. The movement was prohibited two years ago as a undermining state foundations.

The former dictator Chili Augusto Pinochet on Wednesday was officially presented an arrest warrant. Representatives of the judicial authorities announced to Pinochet that he would be kept under house arrest in connection with the upcoming court on charges of involvement in the murder and abduction of people in the first weeks after the seizure of power in 1973. Pinochet came to power as a result of a military coup and overthrow of the government of Salvador Allende.

Yuri Bagrov, North Caucasus: Representatives of the UNICEF International Organization, during an introductory trip to the North Caucasus, visited the Chechen refugee camps and rehabilitation centers in Ingushetia and North Ossetia. Every day in Chechnya, people become victims of mines, and in the near future the situation is unlikely to change for the better. The representatives of UNICEF spoke about this during a trip to the North Caucasus. The head of the mission, Mrs.

The Union of Russian Journalists requires an investigation in the case of an attack in Kyiv on Yanina Sokolovskaya - Sobrik of the newspaper Izvestia. The appeal of the Union of Journalists emphasizes that the attack on the journalist is associated with her professional activities and the position of Izvestia in the coverage of events in Ukraine. On the eve of the incident from the Ukrainian issue of the newspaper, for an unknown reason, the next article by Sokolovskaya was seized.

The seventieth anniversary of Boris Yeltsin. Boris Paramonov, New York: Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin is forced to meet his seventieth anniversary in the hospital. More recently, the plot about his health was political and therefore caused a wide variety of comments and reactions. Now there can be only one reaction - not political, but human: friendly sympathy and wishes for a speedy recovery. Nevertheless, from a conversation about Yeltsin politics, one cannot refrain under any circumstances.

Kyrgyzstan continues to experience a lack of natural gas and electricity. Houses are not heated in a large part of the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek and in the second largest city of Osh. In Bishkek, Osh and Chui regions - interruptions with the supply of electricity. The situation is caused by the termination of gas from Uzbekistan. Kyrgyzstan, which has been in a lack of energy resources for several years, has been negotiating gas supplies from Kazakhstan and Russia.

In the city of Kosovsk-Mitrovitsa, divided into Serbian and Albanian units, a tense situation has been preserved for two days. Yesterday, 12 French troops from Keifor and several dozen local Albanians were injured in clashes with demonstrators. Hundreds of Albanian residents of the city, gathered for a demonstration of protest in connection with death on Monday of the Albanian teenager in skirmishes with Serbian residents of the city, tried to break into Serbian quarters.

The Central Bank of the United States lowered the discount rate by half a percent - up to five and a half percent. According to representatives of the bank, such a decision was made in order to stimulate the American economy and reduce inflation risks.

In a number of regions of Russia since today, on average, 25-30 percent increased tariffs for heat and electricity. According to energy, the increase is associated with the growth of gas and coal prices. According to the Radio Liberty correspondent, in the Ulyanovsk region, heating and hot water tariffs increased one and a half times. The debt of consumers of the region has reached two billion rubles to energy.

In the suburbs, from February 1, tariffs for telephone services increased: from 50 to 60 rubles in the forest -park protective zone of Moscow, and beyond - from 45 to 55 rubles per month. But official information about raising electricity tariffs will appear on February 5 after a meeting of the regional energy commission. Previously, the government and Mosenergo have already agreed on a 25 percent increase in electricity prices caused by a recent increase in gas prices.