Rodents attack residents of Chelyabinsk Chelyabinsk authorities have declared war on rats, whose population in the city has increased, according to various estimates, three to four times over the past three years. The most difficult situation is in the Kalininsky and Leninsky districts, where there are many private buildings. Here, disinfectants catch 15-20 rats in a house every day.

A Russian diplomat will chair the Security Council Yesterday, the chairmanship of the UN Security Council passed to Russia for a month. After the rotation of powers in the UN Security Council, power went to Moscow from Bucharest. Now 52-year-old Andrei Denisov has become the spokesman for Russian interests in New York. He was appointed Russia's permanent representative to the UN in mid-July by decree of Vladimir Putin.

The US Congress has launched an investigation into spending on the reconstruction of the main symbol of America The opening to visitors of one of New York's main attractions, the famous Statue of Liberty, scheduled for Tuesday, seems likely to be accompanied by a scandal.

Strange terrorist attacks on Tashkent continue Three explosions occurred in Tashkent on Friday from 16.45 to 17.00 local time near the Prosecutor General's Office, the American and Israeli embassies. The attacks were carried out by three suicide bombers, all of whom died. Three people became victims of the explosions - employees of the Prosecutor General's Office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the National Security Service, and eight more people were injured.

Another return of Iron Mike ends in failure On Friday evening in the American city of Louisville, 38-year-old Mike Tyson had the opportunity to experience what many boxers who had beaten him in his heyday had repeatedly experienced. Nine seconds before the end of the fourth round, having missed about a couple of dozen (!) blows to the head, a completely exhausted Tyson slid down the ropes onto the floor of the ring.

Abkhazia's demarche distracted Tbilisi from South Ossetia The Georgian authorities found themselves in time trouble last weekend - Tbilisi needs to put out fires in South Ossetia, and then Abkhazia announced its withdrawal from the negotiation process. Georgian State Minister Georgy Khaindrava is confident that “these are links in a single chain.” Tbilisi is convinced that this “chain” is forged in Moscow.

The former official was helped by former intelligence officers Former prosecutor, deputy defense minister and president of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution of Germany, Holger Pfals, will not protest against France extraditing him to Germany. Mr. Pfals was arrested in Paris on July 13. He was a fugitive for five years. According to him, during this time he suffered three heart attacks and wants to be home as soon as possible.

On Saturday, the Abkhazian authorities announced their withdrawal from peace negotiations in connection with the recent shelling of a Turkish cargo ship in the territorial waters of the unrecognized republic by a Georgian border boat. Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolution Georgiy KHAINDRAVA commented on the latest alarming events in a conversation with Vremya Novostei. — The Abkhaz prime minister’s statement about withdrawing from the negotiations defies any logic.

The program of the 61st Venice Festival has been announced The world's oldest international film festival (the first was held in the city of gondoliers back in 1932) has announced its program for this year. The competition of the show, which will be held from September 1 to 11, will feature 21 films, which selectors selected from 1,892 new titles.

Yuri Luzhkov does not yet know the cost of restoring the Manege Yuri Luzhkov outlined strict deadlines for completing work on the ruins of the burnt Manege to the builders. Having visited the construction site near the Kremlin walls last weekend, the mayor promised journalists that by mid-2005 the central hall of the exhibition complex would resume its work.

Louis de Funes was born 90 years ago This man's full name is Louis-Germain de Funes de Galarza. He was born into the family of an aristocratic lawyer, was married for some time to the granddaughter of Guy de Maupassant himself, and in the mid-seventies was awarded the Legion of Honor. But he entered the history of France, and indeed the whole world, not at all as the heir to a famous family and a socialite. Above all, Louis de Funes was the funniest man to ever appear on the silver screen.

People came from the Internet Echoes of the missed battle for Voentorg - a four-day picket near Polivanov’s house in Denezhny Lane completed its work on Saturday. It was organized by young people who had previously been in the virtual space of the site “Moscow that does not exist” - moskva.kotoroy.net. The site became famous after an event in memory of Voentorg - then people brought candles and flowers to the destroyed monument of Moscow Art Nouveau.

Gazprom is trying to close the chain in Turkey Chairman of the Board of Gazprom Alexey Miller continues active foreign economic activity. After concluding a strategic alliance with E.ON--Ruhrgas and solving the problem of long-term gas supplies to Ukraine, he went to Turkey, where, at a meeting with the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Mehmet Hilmi Güler, he launched work on preparing an agreement on cooperation in the gas sector. It is planned to be signed in September.

Tskhinvali states that mercenaries from the Pankisi Gorge have appeared in Georgian units stationed on the outskirts of South Ossetia. We are talking about ethnic Chechens - Kists who settled in Georgia back in the 19th century. The Kists helped their brothers during all the recent events in Chechnya. In an interview with Vremya Novostei, South Ossetian Interior Minister Robert Guliev shared his information about the mercenaries.

Aslan Maskhadov took responsibility for the attack on Ingushetia Yesterday, Aslan Maskhadov took responsibility for preparing and carrying out the capture of Nazran in June of this year. As follows from his statement posted on one of the websites, the militants are planning to carry out a number of similar attacks on other Russian cities.