Central Bank reserves increased to $100.1 billion Russia's gold and foreign exchange reserves exceeded a figure that seemed fantastic just two years ago - $100 billion. As the Central Bank reported yesterday, as of October 15, reserves amounted to $100.1 billion. Since August 1998, this important indicator has grown almost tenfold, pushed, like the entire Russian economy, by oil prices and foreign investment.

Business asks to be called to social responsibility Yesterday's conference “Corporate Responsibility of Companies: Technologies of Trust” showed that among large entrepreneurs there is still no understanding of what should be understood by the social responsibility of business.

Tension remains in the zone of the Ossetian-Ingush conflict A week before the 12th anniversary of the bloody conflict between Ossetians and Ingush in the Prigorodnaya region of North Ossetia and 50 days after the tragedy at school No. 1 in Beslan, experts continue to give very alarming assessments of the situation in the region. But they admit that the worst has so far been avoided.

Late in the evening of October 20, 45-year-old Belarusian journalist Veronika Cherkasova was found murdered in her own apartment in Minsk. The body was discovered by relatives. The main version of the investigation is domestic murder. The head of the information and public relations department of the Minsk City Internal Affairs Directorate, Oleg Slepchenko, told a Vremya Novostey correspondent that 13 stab wounds were found on Cherkasova’s body in the chest, back, face and neck.

Sunday marks the final race of the longest season in Formula 1 motor racing history. Never before has a championship consisted of 19 stages. Frankly speaking, the experiment was a failure. Marathons rarely end in an interesting finish. The favorites quickly move into the lead, the potential winner is determined even faster, and the spectators in the time remaining until the end of the race are entertained only by watching the crowd at the water and food distribution points.

FIRST OCTOBER 25 , MONDAY 6.00 Good morning 9.00, 12.00, 15.00, 18.00 News 9.20 “SEEKERS OF THE LOST ARK.” Hood. movie 11.30 Laughing panorama 12.10 “WOMEN IN LOVE”. Series 13.20 “WILD DOG BINGO”. Hood. movie 15.20 Guess the melody (S) 15.50 The Last Hero (S) 17.00 Five evenings 18.20 Boom or bust 19.00 “CLONE”. Series 20.00 Wait for me 21.00 Time 21.30 “MOSCOW SAGA”.

The Russian Foreign Ministry does not like American sanctions against Belarus “Lukashenko and his government are turning Belarus into a repressive regime in the heart of Europe. There is no place for such regimes in Europe,” US President George W. Bush said yesterday, signing the Belarus Democracy Act, which provides for the imposition of sanctions against this country. The draft of this document began to be developed more than a year ago.

Aeroflot demands a natural monopoly on kerosene The backwardness of Russian tax legislation poses the same threat to the development of the domestic air transportation market as the backwardness of the material and technical base of the industry. This was stated yesterday by Aeroflot General Director Valery Okulov.

The government is trying to figure out administrative reform Yesterday the cabinet of ministers discussed administrative reform. During the more than two-hour discussion, what experts warned about at the start - six months ago, when the transformation of the federal executive authorities began - was clearly revealed.

A devastating typhoon hits Japan The tenth typhoon Tokage, which means "lizard" in Japanese, to reach Japan this season was the most destructive in the last ten years. The wind speed during the passage of the typhoon, whose radius exceeded 800 km, reached 230 km per hour. In Tokyo, wind gusts reached 90 km per hour. 65 people were killed and at least 29 more were missing. More than 300 people were injured.

It has been proven that the cause of the explosion of a house in Arkhangelsk was gas Specialists from the Russian Federal Center for Forensic Expertise have completed an examination of the ruins of a 9-story residential building that exploded in March of this year in Arkhangelsk. According to the prosecutor of the Arkhangelsk region, Alexander Apanasenko, according to the expert opinion, the cause of the explosion was household gas. Experts did not find any traces of explosives.

Foreign shareholders of Gazprom have found a way to optimize profits Experts from the investment company Aton analyzed the activities of five new offshore funds that invest foreigners’ money in domestic shares of Gazprom.

South Korean President is not allowed to say goodbye to Seoul The Constitutional Court of South Korea seems to have put an end to the ambitious plans of the country's President Roh Moo-hyun. The judges announced that the head of state's plans to move the capital from Seoul, a population of ten million, to the province of Chucheongnam-do do not comply with the country's constitution.

Russians want to have opposition to the authorities, but do not see it In Russia today there is no real political opposition to the authorities, Russians believe. This opinion was expressed by the majority of those surveyed by the Yuri Levada Analytical Center. Moreover, the existing “pseudo-opposition,” according to the population, is not capable of exerting a serious influence on the life of the country. But Russians are not happy with this state of affairs.

The festival in memory of Alfred Schnittke has ended The voluminous, detailed, but not swollen festival, dedicated to the 70th anniversary of Alfred Schnittke and producer Tatyana Gudkova (she organized the Schnittke festivals ten and five years ago, and for the current one she only managed to develop the concept), ended with a weighty and dramatic performance of the First Cello Concerto with Natalia Gutman and Seventh Symphony.