Oil prices approached $70 per barrel Oil contracts remain a favorite investment vehicle for speculators, with oil prices hitting a new all-time high of $68 per barrel. As experts note, investment funds are actively purchasing futures contracts “just in case,” fearing storms in oil-producing regions and a possible reduction in raw material production.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov promised concrete assistance to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in equipping its security service, training personnel and establishing social and educational infrastructure. He announced this after yesterday's negotiations in Moscow with his Palestinian counterpart Nasser Qudwa.

Elections to the Moscow City Duma may become a battle between two parties in power Passions around the Moscow City Duma elections scheduled for December 4 have already begun to heat up, which has significantly revived the summer political hibernation. Elections to the capital's parliament are a fateful event in itself. And this time it's doubly so. The December battle for the Moscow Duma will also become a battle for Moscow. This battle has several plots.

Departments The Federal Atomic Energy Agency (Rosatom) expects to submit to the government by the end of September a draft technical specification for the development of a law on the transformation of FSUE Rosenergoatom into an OJSC and the concept of corporatizing the nuclear concern. Currently, the concept of corporatization of the concern and the draft terms of reference for the development of the relevant law are being coordinated with all interested departments, Rosatom noted.

Today, the head of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, one of the co-authors of the project to reduce the nuclear threat - the Nunn-Lugar Program (NLP), Republican Richard Lugar, is arriving in Russia for a two-day visit. Democratic Senator Barack Obama will come with him. In Moscow they will meet with the leadership of the Ministry of Defense. Then they will visit Sergiev Posad, Perm and a number of Russian facilities involved in the implementation of the PNL.

France to publish blacklist of airlines France next Monday will publish a list of airlines whose aircraft are prohibited from entering the country's airspace due to non-compliance with flight safety standards. The blacklist will appear on the website of the French Ministry of Transport. This was announced yesterday by the head of the department, Dominique Perben.

A light and sound show will be shown on Sparrow Hills City Day this year will really be one day - Moscow will celebrate its next birthday only on Sunday, September 4th. Usually the celebrations began on Saturday, but September 3 is the day of remembrance for the victims of Beslan, and nothing entertaining will happen on this day. But the Sunday program includes three thousand festive events and, in addition to traditional halls, 140 open areas will be used.

The airliner demanded closer attention from aviation authorities Russian aviation authorities were unable to formulate a program for returning the Il-96-300 airliner to service. As expected, yesterday the Federal Agency for Industry (Rosprom) was supposed to announce the date for the resumption of flights of this type of aircraft. However, the important decision was once again postponed - now to next Monday.

The election outcome will not change Japan's policy towards Russia In two weeks, on September 11, early parliamentary elections will be held in Japan. The decision to hold them was made by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. This is how he responded to the “revolt” in the ranks of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Let us recall that on August 8, the upper house of the Japanese Diet rejected a package of six bills to privatize the Japanese postal service system.

In the village of Borozdinovskaya, Shelkovsky district of Chechnya, yesterday it was again restless. At about three o'clock in the morning, unknown bandits fired at the local territorial police department (TOM). Two public security police officers from the Shelkovsky District Department of Internal Affairs were wounded.

This summer he took it easy for five weeks US President George W. Bush set two records this week. First of all, according to a survey by the Harris sociological service, the American leader's rating has dropped to the lowest point during his entire tenure in the White House - only 40% of the country's adult population assesses Bush's performance positively. Second, he surpassed former President Ronald Reagan in terms of time spent vacationing outside the Oval Office.

On Friday, UEFA Cup winner CSKA will try to win the second European trophy in its history. In the match for the European Super Cup, the army team meets the winner of the Champions League, Liverpool. On the eve of this meeting, Vremya Novostei correspondent Andrei VDOVIN met with CSKA leader, Brazilian midfielder Daniel CARVALHO, who in May was recognized as the best player in the final match of the UEFA Cup. - Daniel, do they know in Brazil that there is such a trophy - the UEFA Super Cup?

Latvia puts obstacles on the path to citizenship In the near future, the Latvian government will have to consider amendments to the citizenship law prepared by the Ministry of Justice. They will limit the opportunities to obtain citizenship of the country through naturalization for the so-called non-citizens - Russian-speaking residents who entered the territory of the republic after its inclusion in the USSR.

Capital schoolchildren will be spared evening classes In the capital's schools, soon only the first shift will remain. The authorities' intention to spare schoolchildren from evening classes was confirmed yesterday at a meeting of the city pedagogical council by the first deputy mayor of the capital, Lyudmila Shvetsova. “Not so long ago, Yuri Luzhkov ordered the development of measures to completely abandon evening education and the so-called second shift in secondary schools,” she explained.

German Constitutional Court approves parliamentary elections Yesterday the last barrier to holding elections to the Bundestag, which are scheduled for September 18, fell. The Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe rejected the challenge to new parliamentary elections by seven votes to one. And he stated that the procedure for calling elections took place in accordance with the constitutional order of the Federal Republic of Germany.