Secretary General of the Military Alliance arrives in Moscow Late on Thursday evening, Dutch Secretary General of NATO Jaap de Hoop Scheffer will arrive in Moscow for a one-day working visit.

Saparmurat Niyazov is not satisfied with the negotiations with Ukraine In terms of emotionality, the Turkmen-Ukrainian conflict over the gas debt has greatly surpassed the dispute between Kiev and Moscow, which was similar in content.

Stalin's repression of Soviet intelligence helped Hitler launch a surprise attack on the USSR Why was Germany's attack on the USSR sudden? What did Soviet intelligence report about the concentration of German troops and the possible date of the attack? What happened during these years in intelligence itself? These questions still receive different, sometimes diametrically opposed, answers. Perhaps because some circumstances and events that preceded the war have not yet been taken into account.

Fellini Week has opened At the two venues dedicated to the Fellini Week, the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts on Volkhonka and the Gallery on Solyanka, you will see many variations on Federico Fellini’s favorite erotomaniac scenes. Reminiscent of the mountain landscape of the Apennines (majestic, but soft and plastic), belladonna impudently lies across the entire expanse of the white sheet. And a naked man is fussing about her butt or breasts of extraordinary size.

The state oil company is eyeing Bashkir refineries Rosneft is trying to solve the problem of a lack of refining capacity - after the purchase of Yuganskneftegaz, the company's production began to sharply exceed the capabilities of its refineries. The company does not have money to build new plants, so it is considering the possibility of acquiring an oil refinery in Bashkiria and, apparently, does not rule out acquiring part of YUKOS assets.

CLUBS Eve Cornelious (USA). The American vocalist will give two concerts in Moscow. Eve Cornelius stands out among the many jazz vocalists for her clear similarity with her great predecessor Ella Fitzgerald. She is also artistic and incredibly efficient. In addition, Yves masterfully uses scat - a technique when the vocalist turns his voice into an instrument and improvises, imitating a saxophonist, trumpeter or other musicians.

Government officials admit politics has taken the economy hostage The increased social obligations that the state has assumed due to poor-quality reform of the benefit system threaten the stability of the budget system. The increase in expenses that the state assumes “forever and ever”, solely due to temporary excess income from high oil prices, which can fall at any moment, worries not only analysts, but also high-ranking government officials.

Military communications satellite did not reach orbit Yesterday at dawn, the Molniya-M launch vehicle with the Molniya-3K military satellite fell into the Tyumen forests. The first thing the military loudly announced was that there is no threat to virgin nature, since the rocket runs on kerosene and liquid oxygen. These types of fuel are considered environmentally friendly by rocket scientists.

The railway to Sochi was again blocked by a landslide Last night there was a serious accident on the railway running along the Black Sea coast from Tuapse to Sochi. Not far from the Vodopadny crossing, about 20 kilometers from Tuapse, a landslide fell from the mountainside onto the roadbed along which an empty freight train was moving. The clayey mass with stones fell directly under the wheels of the train and caused 18 cars to derail.

Transneft proposes to create a new type of oil The head of Transneft, Semyon Vainshtok, came up with a new grade of Russian oil - it should be called either “Timan-Pechora oil” or “Komi oil”. Mr. Weinstock believes that “light” oil produced in the Timan-Pechora oil and gas province and Komi should not be mixed with other types of raw materials produced in Russia and should be exported in “pure” form via the Northern Oil Pipeline.

At Euro 2005, the Russian and the Dutchman fought for 171 moves In the third round of the individual European Chess Championship in Warsaw, an extraordinary event occurred. The game between our 31-year-old grandmaster Sergei Volkov and the Dutchman Friso Nijboer, who is nine years older than the Russian, ended on the 171st move. This is a record figure for the current time control at the tournament.

Moscow wants to get rid of ineffective enterprises Moscow mayors seem to have completely lost faith in the managerial abilities of mid-level officials and continue to try to remove city property from their control. At yesterday's meeting of the capital's government, the next privatization program for 2005-2007 of mostly ineffective Moscow state unitary enterprises (SUEs) was considered.

Chimpanzee paintings sold for record amount A fairly common opinion that great fame and public recognition often comes to an artist after his death, apparently, is true not only for humans, but also for primates. An African chimpanzee named Congo, who worked half a century ago, had to follow the path of many abstract artists - from complete rejection by skeptical contemporaries to the worldwide fame that the monkey brought to the auction held on Monday in London at the Bonhams auction house.

The authorities do not know how to dispose of the controlling stake in Gazprom The state's acquisition of an 11 percent stake in Gazprom, which these days is being formalized as a deal between the concern's subsidiaries and Rosneftegaz, has intensified the struggle over seats on the board of directors of the monopoly. On Friday, a meeting of Gazprom shareholders will elect a new composition of this body. However, who exactly and how will vote with the 11 percent package is still unclear.

Georgians are looking for uranium in Abkhazia The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is checking information emerging in Georgia that radioactive materials that could be used to produce a “dirty bomb” may have disappeared in the unrecognized republic of Abkhazia.