The state does not have money to fight bureaucracy The Ministry of Economic Development does not lose hope that the federal target program “Administrative Reform” developed by it will still see the light of day. For this, the authors are ready to make do with the smallest financial resources. So, next year it is planned to allocate only 1 billion rubles for the program. In the future, the amount will be updated annually.

The headquarters of Ukrainian presidential candidates scare each other Political phobias have worsened in Ukraine as the second round of presidential elections scheduled for Sunday approaches. Viktor Yushchenko’s confidant, deputy Nikolai Tomenko, claims that the rival headquarters of Viktor Yanukovych is preparing “the use of police officers and military personnel by Yanukovych’s team to influence the voting process and prepare a counter-revolution.” The Blues respond with the same coin.

Torture of prisoners in Iraqi prisons continued after the scandal broke out in April 2004 around the Abu Ghraib prison, where prisoners were subjected to abuse. This is evidenced by documents published in the United States from the archives of American law enforcement agencies. Reports from FBI agents who witnessed the torture of Iraqi prisoners in June-July 2004 became public knowledge.

The current season for domestic bobsleigh is special. Just recently, representatives of Russia were on the sidelines in this Olympic sport, and in December our crew of four, piloted by Alexander Zubkov, won gold medals at the European Championship for the first time and won the World Cup stage. The bobsledder from Bratsk went on a short Christmas holiday as the absolute leader in the overall driver classification in winter Formula 1, as this discipline is also called.

FIFA named the best football player on the planet In Zurich, the International Federation of Association Football summed up the results of the outgoing year. At a colorful ceremony, which also celebrated FIFA's centenary, awards were presented to the main characters of the past season. This time, in the Swiss Opera House, where the awards were presented, the ghost of Brazilian football hovered - almost all the prizes went to Brazilians.

Another criminal case has been opened against Sodbiznesbank Yesterday, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs announced the initiation of another criminal case regarding the bankruptcy of Sodbiznesbank. According to the GUBEP, we are talking about the theft of securities worth 767 million rubles, transferred to the bank at one time by a number of insurance companies.

Iraq - at the insistence of the United States and against the backdrop of ongoing resistance, sabotage, banditry and terrorist attacks - is preparing for parliamentary elections on January 30. Vremya Novostey columnist Elena SUPONINA talks with the Iraqi Ambassador to Russia about this, as well as whether there is a place in the new Iraq not only for American but also for Russian companies. 45-year-old diplomat Abdel-Karim Hashim MUSTAFA has been working in Moscow since October.

Museum of Architecture ends year with exhibition and book Summing up the Year of Germany in Russia, the exhibition “Two Cities. Two capitals. The architecture of Moscow and Berlin in the period from 1950 to 2000” recalls the recent history of a pompous architectural project in Moscow or St. Petersburg.

The prime ministers of Russia and Belarus could not agree on any of the issues Yesterday in Minsk, the Council of Ministers of the Union State of Russia and Belarus once again (the fourth this year) resolved pressing integration problems. It didn't work out very well. It was not possible to reach fundamental agreements on the most significant issues.

Vladimir Putin agreed with Gerhard Schröder on early repayment of the debt The seventh Russian-German intergovernmental consultations, which began on Monday in Hamburg, continued yesterday in the North German city of Schleswig. This time the historic Gottorf Castle was chosen as their venue, on the square in front of which Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder were greeted with military honors.

Only the “blue and white” did not announce new players Today, the Russian Super League championship resumes with eight matches of the 36th round. The break for the traditional December tournament of national teams in Moscow coincided with the second additional application campaign in the elite clubs.

Watch from December 23 on Moscow screens “The Incredibles” (USA, 2004, Brad Bird).

The government doesn't like its economic program The country's leaders ordered the Russian economy to grow faster. In response, the country's Minister of Economic Development German Gref decisively lost his “magic watering can” so that he would not be forced to water political slogans on the economic flowerbed.

Odessa residents watched the Yushchenko-Yanukovych debate like a football match The owner of the Pobeda bar on Grecheskaya Street is known for his unconventional political orientation for Odessa. Unlike most Odessa residents, he supports the “orange”. But political preferences are one thing, and business, of course, is completely different.

The price for a government stake may be unexpectedly high Today at noon the state will give the go-ahead to bidding for the sale of a state-owned stake in the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works. This is the last large asset in the metallurgical industry that has not been fully privatized, which, as is known, is now in second place in terms of income after the fuel and energy complex.