Of the 5 thousand people who will be fired for a year and a half, 1,400 will lose their jobs this week, the Radio Liberty correspondent in the United States Vladimir Morozov reports. The slowdown in the global economy and a reduction in computers sales led to the fact that Microsoft's income decreased in only one quarter by 11 percent. This caused great alarm among the residents of the city of Redmond, Washington, where the headquarters of the corporation is located.

The former shareholder of the Euroset company Evgeny Chichvarkin will not head the Moscow branch of the right business. According to the "Independent Gazeta", he left Russia due to an exacerbation of the situation around the criminal case about the smuggling of cell phones and extortion, excited against the company's management. Where the businessman went, is not reported. His assistant told the publication that Chichvarkin was on vacation abroad and it is not known when he returned.

Google is preparing a new service that allows you to create an image of a user hard drive on the company's servers. There was no official announcement of the start of testing, but the name of the service is already reported - Google Drive . According to experts, the service will be offered no later than 2009. Having created the image of his hard drive, the user can contact him from any computer connected to the Internet. Google is expected to offer a memory of more than 50 gigabytes.

Former American senator and experienced international intermediary George Mitchell was appointed special envoy of the US President in the Middle East. Barack Obama also appointed an experienced American diplomat Richard Holbruck his messenger in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Mitchell played a key role in the North Irish peaceful process, the Holbrook - the former US representative to the UN - was one of the architects of the Deyton agreements that ended the war in Bosnia.

US President Barack Obama repeatedly took the oath. According to the White House, pronouncing her words during the official ceremony on Tuesday Obama hesitated, so it was decided to repeat the procedure - as it is said, from an “excessive precaution”.

In Tver, a participant in the extremist organization Russian National Unity (RNE) Anton Tabachkov, who was wanted, was detained. According to the ITAR-TASS agency in the Investigative Committee, he was charged with the murder of two people based on national hatred. Currently, in the Tver Regional Court, consideration of the criminal case against 17 members of the RNE is ongoing. 58 people were recognized as victims.

Neither the authorities of Russia, nor Ossetia, nor Georgia will be happy to get acquainted with the report On Friday, the International Organization “Human Raits Watch” introduced a consolidated report “In war as in war?” About the armed conflict in the South Caucasus. The presentation of the document was held simultaneously in Moscow and in Tbilisi.

In the Moscow District Military Court, the case of the murder of the journalist of Novaya Gazeta, Anna Politkovskaya, continues. According to Radio Liberty correspondent, on Thursday the interrogation of one of the accused in the case, Jabrail Makhmudov, continued in court. During the meeting, it became known that the accused was placed in a pre -trial detention center in a punishment cell for 10 days.

Marina Timasheva: Dostoevsky, as you know, did not like Germany. But Germany fell in love with him. This love continues to this day. About one of the events of the “European season” (this is the name of the theater festival in Berlin) - about the performance based on Dostoevsky’s novel “Crime and Punishment,” says Yuri Veksler. Yuri Veksler: stage readings of “Crimes and Punishment” by Dostoevsky - arise in various countries.

The program is conducted by Mikhail Salenkov. The Radio Liberty correspondent in Kaliningrad is attended by Ekaterina Teiga. Mikhail Salenkov: One conscript died, hundreds are hospitalized in the Baltic Fleet. And in the Urals, the facts of the disease of military personnel pneumonia became known. The military prosecutor’s office conducts checks, and the fact of the Baltic Fleet does not recognize the fact of a flash of pneumonia.

According to one version, fascist groups were interested in the murder of Markelov. What happened in Novosibirsk confirms the validity of such a version The unauthorized procession of the anarchists in Novosibirsk, dedicated to the memory of the lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova, who were killed this week, were tried to disperse by adolescents similar to skinheads.

More than 20 militants were destroyed today during the operation of Afghan and international forces in the province of the host in the east of Afghanistan. The command of international forces reported the death of 22 extremists in the host, the Afghan Ministry of Defense announced the destruction of 8 militants. It is not clear whether it is about one or two different incidents. In the province of Zabul in a clash with NATO troops, 6 militants were killed.

The growth rate of the Chinese economy in the fourth quarter of 2008 decreased immediately by a quarter to the minimum level over the past 7 years-6.8% of the GDP volume for October-December 2007. Even in the third quarter of last year, China GDP growth was 9%. The growth of industrial production in China in December, according to the data presented today in Beijing, amounted to 5.7% - this is one of the lowest indicators over the past 10 years.

One person, according to updated data, was wounded upon shelling in the Dagestan city of Khasavyurt. According to Interfax with reference to law enforcement agencies, a local resident received fragmentation wounds when unknown people fired from a grenade launcher in the city department of the interior. Attacks on police officers took place on Wednesday also in the capital of Dagestan Makhachkala and the Ingush city of Number. No one was injured. The attackers are looking.

In the city of Peshavar, in the north-west of Pakistan, 7 people were arrested suspected of involvement in the Al-Qaeda terrorist network. One of them is Zubu Ul -Taufi, a native of Saudi Arabia - according to representatives of special services, is directly related to explosions in London on July 7, 2005, the victims of which were 52 people.