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.

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.

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.

BIN Bank accuses Olimpiysky of stealing monopoly shares The Association of Russian Banks (ARB) yesterday announced searches in the central office of one of its members - Olimpiysky Bank, whose board member Sergei Drozdov is accused of involvement in the theft of Transneft shares from one of the clients of BIN Bank (also a member EPIRB). There were indeed searches, but the management of Olimpiyskiy stated that they were not involved in this case and accused BIN of conspiring with Mr.

Spain protests 300th anniversary of the conquest of Gibraltar Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos called the arrival of British Defense Minister Geoffrey Hoon to Gibraltar an “unfriendly gesture” and accused London of being committed to the imperial past. Mr Hong arrived in the south of the Iberian Peninsula yesterday to attend celebrations marking the 300th anniversary of the conquest of Gibraltar by the Anglo-Dutch fleet during the War of the Spanish Succession.

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.

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.

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.

Vyacheslav Fetisov summed up the preparations for the Olympics Yesterday, the head of the Russian Federal Agency for Physical Education, Sports and Tourism, Vyacheslav Fetisov, met informally with Russian and foreign journalists to talk about the preparation of the Russian team for the Olympics in Athens, as well as to touch upon a number of other important issues. According to Fetisov, most of the costs associated with the preparation of our Olympic team fell on the shoulders of the state.

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.

Chechnya has a new concept for spending federal funds The payment of compensation to residents of Chechnya for lost housing and property has finally been streamlined: the federal government has adopted an additional resolution that describes this mechanism in detail. By November, a final list of housing that cannot be restored will be drawn up, and then, as it is approved, local authorities will begin to open accounts for specific dispossessed people and transfer money there.

IOC members suspected of corruption Last night, the British television channel BBC was supposed to show a film about a journalistic investigation that “exposed corruption” in the International Olympic Committee. The BBC's Panorama program has decided to tempt Olympic officials who have a say in choosing the venue for the next Olympics. The process of determining the city that will host the 2012 Summer Games is now in full swing, and London is one of the main candidates.

The “New Poet's Library” has grown with the works of Ivan Barkov The reaction to the green volume with gold letters of the “author’s” name - I.S.