The Ministry of Transport promises to protect the passengers of Gazelles One of the first measures to improve safety on public transport will be the mandatory introduction of licensing of minibus taxis. The head of the department of state policy in the field of road infrastructure, automobile and urban passenger transport of the Ministry of Transport, Evgeny Moskvichev, announced this yesterday at a press conference.

German consulates tighten entry rules German Interior Minister Otto Schily, a well-known supporter of the most stringent measures in the fight against international terrorism, is seeking to expand departmental powers in the decision-making process on issuing entry visas to Germany. On this basis, as reported by the Munich weekly Focus, the German Ministry of the Interior has had friction with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr.

Before the elections, it was almost impossible to talk with the leader of the Labor Party of Lithuania, businessman Viktor USPASKIKH - he was constantly on the road. It was only on Monday night that Vremya Novostei correspondent Vladimir SKRIPOV was able to ask Mr. Uspskikh several questions at his election headquarters. - The Labor Party does not live up to the predictions of sociologists. What do you think about the results of the parliamentary elections?

English billionaire creates world's largest steel holding The founder and head of the international holding LNM Group, which ranks second in the global steel production rankings, Lakshmi Mittal intends to displace the European steel giant Arcelor from its leading position. Having united his steel assets, he plans to merge them with the largest American company International Steel Group. As a result, the world's largest steel company, Mittal Steel Company NV, will be created.

The former head of the Uyarsky district tried to disrupt the election of his successor An unprecedented process for the Krasnoyarsk Territory began in the Uyarsky Regional Court. Vasily Masalsky, the former head of the administration of the Uyarsky district, (about 200 km west of Krasnoyarsk) is on trial for “obstructing the exercise of citizens’ voting rights.” The mildest punishment under this article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is 200 thousand rubles.

YUKOS does not intend to resume oil supplies to CNPC China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) apparently won't see any more Yukos oil this year. Yesterday, Yukos-RM Vice President Alexander Sapronov said that the company is finally abandoning the use of one of the routes for transporting raw materials to China as economically ineffective. Now oil will be supplied only to another Chinese holding - Sinopec.

The mood of life changes in the “Pyotr Fomenko Workshop” The premiere of “Three Sisters” at the “P. Fomenko Workshop” took place, as theatergoers remember, on September 14; criticism accepted it without enthusiasm. The general tone of the reviews is respectful and sour. Overall verdict: good, but not very good. “More often, unfortunately, it is more interesting to follow the virtuoso acting work than the director’s thought” (“Newspaper”).

The current head of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, would very much like the new European Commission to be formed tomorrow. He, in his words, is “convinced that this will happen.” Then on October 30 he will be able to resign. Mr Prodi's mind is already at home in Italy, battling his longtime rival, current Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, as head of the centre-left opposition. In parting, Mr. Prodi noisily slammed the European political door.

President Batdyev will not pay for his son-in-law Five million rubles, announced by the President of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic Mustafa Batdyev as a reward for information about the whereabouts of his son-in-law Ali Kaitov, who is suspected of killing seven people, ultimately did not go to anyone. Yesterday morning in Cherkessk, Kaitov himself appeared at the local FSB office with his lawyers.

The Moscow Union of Cinematographers proposed its candidate Yesterday at the House of Cinema there was a meeting of Moscow delegates of the VI Congress of Cinematographers, which will open on October 27. The agenda of the congress includes a report on the work done, including on the issue of the union's property, a discussion of the state of affairs in domestic cinema, the problems of the Cinema Museum and the re-election of the chairman of the Investigative Committee.

Construction of the new hotel will take a year On the site formerly occupied by the demolished Intourist Hotel, a five-star deluxe hotel of the international Ritz Carlton chain will be built. The development company Capital Partners Limited, which in May of this year leased a plot of land on Tverskaya Street for 49 years, yesterday announced the main features of the construction project it is implementing.

Departments Only two of the 89 regions of Russia, Rostov and Leningrad regions , as of mid-October, had adopted regional legislative acts defining the form and amount of payments to preferential categories of citizens, which since 2005 have been assigned to regional budgets. As part of the division of powers, since 2005, in particular, funding for benefits for labor veterans and home front workers has been transferred to the regional level.

Inna Lisnyanskaya’s selection “Above the Salt of the Waters” ( New World , No. 10) was taken from the same “Jerusalem Notebook” (February-March 2003) as the publication in “Znamya” (No. 9), mentioned in the previous review ( see “News Time” of October 12) . Holy land. The indomitable luxury of nature. The power of ancient legends.

Tax officials intend to actively bankrupt enterprises Tax authorities threaten debtor enterprises with a forced change of managers and owners. As Sergei Khursevich, head of the department for debt settlement and ensuring bankruptcy procedures of the Federal Tax Service (FTS), said yesterday, the state must intensify efforts to initiate bankruptcy procedures.

The owners of Transvaal Park were obliged to provide a pension to the mother of one of the victims The second claim of relatives of people crushed by the Transvaal Park dome has already been satisfied. Yesterday, the Cheryomushkinsky Court of Moscow decided the case in favor of Olga Milogorodskaya, whose son Andrei was among the victims of the tragedy. The court recovered 150 thousand rubles in favor of the victim.