In Paris, the artist Valentina Kropyvnitskaya died. She was born in 1924 in the family of a poet, artist and composer Evgeny Kropyvnitsky, who founded an informal Lianozovo school in the 50s. Valentina Kropyvnytskaya married another Lianozovian Oscar Rabin. Like her husband, she could not exhibit in official Soviet halls. Together with Rabin, she emigrated in the 70s and settled in Paris. After the collapse of the USSR, Valentina Kropyvnitskaya came recognition in his homeland.

The seventh, the last round of local elections was held in the Indian part of Kashmir. Hundreds of thousands of Indian soldiers were deployed in the state to protect polling stations from the likely attacks of Islamic militants. According to police, three people were arrested in Jammu, planning to undermine themselves on the voting day. Separatist groups called for a boycott of the elections.

Elsa Kungaeva's father - a Chechen girl killed by the former Colonel of the Russian Army Yuri Budanov, - intends Contact Yuri Chaika Prosecutor General for Russia achieve a review of a decision on parole Budanova. Visa Kungaev reported this in an interview with Radio Liberty. The decision to release Budanov made a city court on Wednesday Dimitrovgrad (Ulyanovsk region). As explained in court, Budanov May be released on January 11.

Andrey Shary: And now I will present you the final section of the program “Time of Freedom” - “Today's Fact”. The oldest Moscow Gallery XL celebrates its fifteenth anniversary with the vernissage of the exhibition "XL -Text" and the release of a prefabricated catalog.

Christmas story Trumen Kapote. Boris Paramonov’s essay “Do not love Blok”. "Jazz at large" Dmitry Savitsky: Christmas issue

The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs warns that the deterioration of the socio-economic situation in the country can lead to mass protests. In Russia, “a significant increase in marginal elements that do not have existence,” said the First Deputy Minister of the Interior Mikhail Sukhodolsky at a meeting of the Government Commission for the prevention of offenses.

In Ingushetia on Wednesday night, a cafe was fired and burned at the Caucasus federal highway. In the Gazi-Yurt Nazran district, unknown people hacked the gate in two cars and opened the shooting of machine guns in the courtyard of the Vaine cafe, after which they doused the building with gasoline, set fire and disappeared. The republic who reported this did not specify whether there were victims.

The program is conducted by Evgenia Nazaret. The analyst of the Swiss bank UBS Ilya Makarov takes part . Evgenia Nazareta: Ford plant in Vsevolzhsk and Toyota in Shushara - this is not the first assembly production of foreign cars in Russia closed due to the crisis. To the present day, a manufacturer of Renault Moskovsky "Autofmos" and a Volkswagen car assembly plant in Kaluga have been sent for temporary New Year holidays. But Ford was last year the leader in the sale of foreign cars in Russia.

The Constitutional Court of Azerbaijan approved amendments to the Constitution, canceling restrictions on the election of the same person by the president for more than 2 consecutive periods. The corresponding bill will be submitted to the referendum. The opposition opposing amendments tried to hold an unauthorized picket near the building of the Constitutional Court in Baku. The action was suppressed by the police. Several activists were detained.

The program is maintained by Andrei Sharogradsky. The board of the Russian Human Rights Society "Memorial" Alexander Cherkasov takes part. Andrei Sharogradsky: former colonel of the Russian army Yuri Budanov, convicted of the murder of the Chechen girl, Elsa Kungaeva, is released on parole, the decision of the city of Dimitrovgrad in the Ulyanovsk region made the decision. Prior to this, Budanov was refused a parole 4 times, in 2003 he was sentenced to kill Elsa Kungaeva to 10 years in prison.

Israel did not open the checkpoints on the border with the gas sector in connection with the new shelling committed by Palestinian militants. According to the Ministry of Defense, a motorcade with products and medicines collected by international non -governmental organizations was not allowed to go to gas. At night and in the morning, according to the military, the Palestinian militants launched at least 12 missiles and mortar shells through the territory of Israel.

In the car accident in Egypt - according to updated data - 6 Russians (residents of St. Petersburg) and a citizen of Ukraine were killed. The names of all the dead are established. 17 people were injured. According to the ITAR-TASS agency at the Russian Consulate in Cairo, four Russians are among the wounded in the most serious condition. Three Russians have already been discharged from the hospital.

Serbia President Boris Tadich arrives today in Moscow to sign cooperation agreements with Russia in the oil and gas field. The total transaction value is estimated at almost 2 billion euros. According to the project, Serbia sells Gazprom a control package of shares of its oil monopolist - NIS company (Oil Industry of Serbia) - in exchange for laying on the Serbian territory of the South Stream gas pipeline.

Romania will continue to fulfill the military mission in Iraq in 2009. Such a decision approved on Tuesday the Romanian parliament. In Iraq, there are about five hundred servants of Romania. On Tuesday, Salvador decided to withdraw his troops from Iraq until the end of 2008. Now 200 Salvador military are deployed there.

The Chita Regional Court on Wednesday limited Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his lawyers the deadline for familiarizing themselves with the materials of the new criminal case against the ex-head of the Yukos until January 26. Thus, the court changed the decision of the lower court, which demanded that Khodorkovsky’s lawyers are completing to study the case until December 15. The ex-head of the Yukos himself then did not limit the deadline for familiarization with the case.