Forecast for the coming days In the next two days in the northwestern region and in the center of Russia, dry and sunny weather will be determined by an anticyclone, and there will be no rain. In the center of Russia there is no precipitation, temperature at night is +11...+16оС, during the day +23...+28оС. An area of ​​low pressure remains in the south of the European part. Here in the front zone there are thunderstorms, excluding the northern regions, in the Stavropol Territory.

Moscow and federal builders agreed to work together The Bank of Moscow yesterday entered into a cooperation agreement with the Federal Agency for Construction and Housing and Communal Services (formerly Gosstroy). We are talking about attracting investment in the modernization of the construction sector and public utilities. Considering that the Bank of Moscow belongs to the Moscow government, experts are talking about reconciliation between the capital and federal construction officials.

US Presidential Election Manifesto Last night (this morning Moscow time) US President George W. Bush was scheduled to deliver his annual State of the Union address to a joint meeting of both houses of Congress. This time, this official duty is a reason for Bush to make a bid for a second presidential term and respond to critics from the opposition democratic camp who have already begun the election campaign. The main topic is the justification of the war in Iraq.

In Brussels, portfolios worth 18 thousand euros are divided monthly The European Commission, like other governing bodies of the European Union, is on vacation. Most commissioners are on their last leave of absence in their position. The “second team” of vice-commissars churns out directives of secondary importance, and the press service has shrunk by half and every week gives out the mobile phone numbers of those on duty, who are tasked with monitoring affairs on a rotating basis.

Evrazholding is acquiring woodworking assets Evrazholding, controlled by Alexander Abramov, announced its intention to build a plant in the Krasnoyarsk Territory to produce medium- and high-density fiberboards (MDF). As Andrei Mirsky, adviser to the president of Evrazholding on investment policy, told Interfax yesterday, the cost of the project, which involves organizing a capacity to produce 200-250 thousand tons of slabs per year, is $100 million.

Palestinians hope for Moscow's help Yesterday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), 68-year-old Nabil Shaath, a close ally of Yasser Arafat, arrived in Russia on a working visit. Nabil Shaath, who has headed the Palestinian Foreign Ministry since April 2003, tours European countries and after Moscow goes to Switzerland for the World Economic Forum. Today Mr. Shaat is meeting with his Russian counterpart Igor Ivanov.

Valery Gazzaev won his first victory in the Champions League The army team continues its journey in the Champions League. With great difficulty, breaking the resistance of the Baku Neftchi, CSKA entered the third qualifying round of the tournament. And although the victory over the champion of Azerbaijan with a score of 2:0 is not a great reason for joy, for CSKA it is now the most important thing. And on August 7, on his 50th birthday, army head coach Valery Gazzaev can relax a little.

Alexey Miller denied Alexey Mordashov cheap gas The head of Severstal, Alexey Mordashov, unexpectedly came to Gazprom yesterday to see Alexey Miller. And also unexpectedly, the leaders of the metallurgical and gas holdings did not find mutual understanding.

Colombian drug lords were not allowed to expand in Moscow In the Presnensky Court of Moscow today the verdict will be announced in a criminal case, which will probably be included in textbooks for international intelligence services. For the first time in history, Russian law enforcement agencies managed to infiltrate the world's largest drug cartel, the Bogotin cartel (Bogota is the capital of Colombia).

Real Madrid has practically agreed with Arsenal on the purchase of French midfielder Patrick Vieira. The Royal Club is ready to pay the Gunners £23.1 million. All details of the personal contract have already been agreed upon with Vieira himself, but the footballer’s salary is kept secret. Arsenal has not yet given final consent to the transfer, and representatives of the English champion have not commented on this transfer in any way.

The West is frightening itself with a Soviet-style Korean missile British military analysis magazine Jane's Defense Weekly reported that North Korea is building a new ballistic missile that could “fundamentally” change the perception of threats to US security. Two versions of the missile are being developed - land with a range of 2.5 to 4 thousand km and sea with a range of about 2.5 thousand km.

Next summer, a double of the White Nights festival will be resurrected Next summer in St. Petersburg there will be two types of “White Nights” - for lovers of classical music (the already familiar Gergiev festival “Stars of the White Nights”) and for connoisseurs of popular music. The latter will be invited to a series of concerts and a competition of pop singers at the White Nights of St. Petersburg festival in June.

Bailiffs are in no hurry to sell the company's non-essential assets YUKOS continues to fight for Yuganskneftegaz. The company's lawyer, Dmitry Gololobov, yesterday accused the bailiffs conducting enforcement proceedings in the YUKOS case of preventing the sale of a stake in the Rospan gas production enterprise, through which the state could receive $357 million in tax debt from oil workers.

The season at the Moscow House of Photography is over. MDF director Olga SVIBLOVA tells newspaper columnist Sergei KHACHATUROV about some of its results and plans. — This year’s Photo Biennale was remembered not only for the high level of the exhibits presented, but also for the fact that at the end the organizers showered the participants with all sorts of awards and prizes as if from a cornucopia.

Mosgorteplo promises to reduce the time it takes to turn off hot water only in the next five years At the end of the traditional season of shutting off hot water in Moscow, the capital's authorities decided to do something pleasant for the citizens.