Former President of Guinea-Bissau, 66-year-old João Bernardo Nino Vieira, won the election as head of this West African state. In the second round, 52.3% of voters voted for him. After the official declaration of independence of Guinea-Bissau in 1974, Nino Vieira, as one of the most active military leaders of the national liberation movement in the country, served as Chairman of Parliament and Minister of Defense.

The contractor scared the Ural neighbors with the “Supreme Sharia Court” The plot of the famous Russian "My Step Brother Frankenstein" is repeated in real life - in the Sverdlovsk region, a contract soldier who returned from Chechnya is accused of distributing militant propaganda literature.

Novosibirsk musicians in Arkhangelskoe Classical music concerts in ancient estates can be compared to “December Evenings” at the Pushkin Museum. Music within the pantheon of free arts is always a great challenge for the musicians, for the listener, and for herself. This is probably why the program of the December Evenings is becoming more complex and sophisticated year after year, and the line-up of invited musicians is traditionally stellar. And this is the right strategy.

During negotiations on the organization of a high-speed train between the capitals of Russia and Ukraine, Russian railway workers proposed to pass it across the state border without stopping to save time. In accordance with this idea, border inspection was supposed to be organized at the final destinations (Moscow and Kyiv), as is done on international air routes.

Quotes again exceed $60 per barrel Oil prices again exceed $60 per barrel. The quotes, which had recently decreased somewhat, returned to their previously gained positions after a fire occurred at one of BP's factories in Texas. And although the company assures that the incident will not affect production volumes, the market is again experiencing fears of a possible shortage of petroleum products in the coming winter. On Friday, oil on the New York Stock Exchange cost $60.57 per barrel.

How the US reacts to terrorists on television In recent years, the main on-air enemy for Washington has been the Qatari satellite TV channel Al Jazeera. This television company positions itself as the “Arab CNN”, broadcasting to the Gulf countries and the Arab world as a whole. The channel is technically a private, not state-owned enterprise, but it is closely associated with the ruling family of Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani in Qatar.

European cups suddenly crept up on Russian clubs. Last week, Lokomotiv already began playing in the Champions League, and Zenit and Krylya Sovetov found out their opponents in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Cup. The St. Petersburg team got the “Superfund” they knew well from last year, and the Samarans will have a date with the Belarusian BATE. The start of the European Cups, as always, took Russian clubs by surprise.

Government officials will be awarded a railway shoe for opposing business Khabarovsk businessmen have established a competition for government officials who create obstacles in business activities. According to its results, the most clumsy official will receive the not very honorable title - “Business Brake”. It is proposed that all business people in the region identify the obstacles to business in the Khabarovsk Territory.

Conclusions from the databases “Want alone is not enough,” is how Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov commented on the demand of the Moldovan leadership to withdraw Russian troops from Transnistria by the end of 2006. Before this, Moscow commented on statements about the withdrawal of Russian bases from Georgia in approximately the same style. However, now the process of eliminating Russian military bases from Georgia has begun, and it is irreversible.

Rosimushchestvo will take Gazprom shares from Rosgazifikatsiya The operation to collect a controlling stake in Gazprom for transfer into direct state ownership continues. After concluding deals to buy out 10.74% of the shares from the concern’s subsidiaries, officials began to develop a mechanism for obtaining 210 million shares of the monopolist (0.9%), which are held by OJSC Rosgazification.

Aquatic mammals in Moscow galleries Curator Alexander Petrovichev invited people to the exhibition in the Krokin Gallery with an intricate story about the origin and evolution of the most popular species of mammal in mythology and folklore - whales. And I, having read this electronic message-announcement, sinfully thought that the exhibition was dedicated specifically to them - often mustachioed, always tailed miracles - judas, archaeocetes, mystacocetes, odonocetes.

Red Baron lost only to Raikkonen Having won the Hungarian Grand Prize, Kimi Raikkonen closed the gap with championship leader Fernando Alonso, who did not score a single point this time. The lower steps of the podium, according to seniority, were occupied by the Schumacher brothers. Michael Schumacher had a great weekend. For the first time since the beginning of the season, Ferrari began to resemble itself like the last five years.

Yesterday in Damascus, the new Prime Minister of Lebanon, 63-year-old Fuad al-Siniora, met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the head of the Syrian government, Muhammad Naji al-Atari. The new Lebanese government is considered anti-Syrian, but building bridges with Damascus is one of the main tasks of the new prime minister. It is not surprising that his first foreign visit was to a neighboring country. On Saturday, the Lebanese parliament approved a government reform program.

Russia celebrated Navy Day Yesterday, Russian sailors celebrated their professional holiday - Navy Day. The holiday began with a naval parade in Vladivostok, in which seven surface ships of various classes and a submarine took part. The naval parade was hosted by Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov. He presented awards to distinguished officers and said pleasant words for the sailors.

State secretaries will again appear in ministries and departments Last Friday, Vladimir Putin signed a decree restoring the institution of state secretaries - deputy ministers - in ministries. They will be responsible for relations with the Federal Assembly. Moreover, apparently, secretaries of state will also appear in federal services and agencies.