For the first time, a Russian heavyweight won the prestigious title Last Saturday in Berlin, Russian giant Nikolai Valuev, winning on points, took the WBA world heavyweight title from American John Ruiz.

The head of the Stupino Metallurgical Plant has been charged with murder The head of the Stupino Metallurgical Company (SMK), Alexander Shoror, as Vremya Novostei learned, was charged last week with organizing the murder. According to investigators, he “ordered” the director of the Sochi boarding house “Podmoskovye”, owned by the Stupino plant. Vladimir Efvryushkin was brutally murdered in 2002, beaten to death with baseball bats.

VOLLEYBALL. December 20--22. Champions League. Men. Women. 7th round. December 20-21. Top Teams Cup. Men. Women. Main stage. 6th round. December 24. "All-Star Game" of the Russian men's championship. December 24-25. Super League. Women. 8th round. In the men's Champions League, the capital's Dynamo are free from playing; the current winner of the gold medals of the national championship, Belgorod Lokomotiv-Belogorye, will meet in Sofia with the Bulgarian Levski on Wednesday.

The competitiveness of the economy is determined by the level of IT development The Russian League of Independent Experts in the Field of IT (LINEX) published the results of an interesting statistical study carried out on the example of 37 countries, including Russia. It turned out that the competitiveness of national economies depends on the level of maturity of IT services markets.

In the space of the former USSR, the new Iraqi authorities intend to establish economic ties not only with Russia, but also with Ukraine, the fashion for which is dictated by the European Union and the United States. The other day, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iraq Hamid AL-BAYATI visited Kyiv and answered questions from Vremya Novostey. - We are not against Russian or Ukrainian companies receiving oil contracts in Iraq.

Media Union noted the work of foreign journalists about Russia Media-Union named those with the “best view” of Russia from the outside, noting two works by foreign journalists about the tragic events in Beslan. The most objective approach to this topic and high professionalism, according to the jury of the new Golden Verb competition, were demonstrated by the American company CBS and the Norwegian TV2 and their employees Jonathan Sanders and Oystein Bogen.

Russia took the ROSNO Cup thanks to the goals of the top three The Russian national team won the third stage of the Eurotour - the traditional Moscow December tournament ROSNO Cup, previously known as the Izvestia Prize and the Baltic Cup. The return to the ice of the Luzhniki Sports Palace after five years turned out to be successful.

The European concern EADS has reached Irkut The European aerospace corporation EADS (which owns 80% of the Airbus concern) last Friday became a shareholder of one of the largest enterprises in the Russian aviation industry - the Irkut Research and Production Corporation. The purchase and sale agreement for a 10% stake in the Russian company was signed in Moscow by the President of Irkut, Oleg Demchenko, and the General Director of EADS LLC (the Russian subsidiary of EADS), Vadim Vlasov. As Mr.

Mikhail Kasyanov was not allowed to lead the Democratic Party Taking away the brand of a political party in these days of raging political technologies is not a difficult thing. The main thing is the availability of administrative resources and money. A clear example of how this is done is the story that happened to the Democratic Party of Russia (DPR) last Saturday.

Apple opens retail outlets in Russia The company has begun creating branded stores in Russia under the Apple Center brand. The first Russian Apple Center was located in one of the sections of the shopping complex on the Garden Ring. According to Apple IMC Russia CEO Evgeny Butman, this is a test step in the expansion of retail trade in Apple products. Attempts to expand the sales network are primarily caused by the high demand for Apple digital personal equipment - iPod digital players.

Today, members of the right-wing Likud party in Israel elect a chairman. Four are vying for the post. These are former Prime Minister and ex-Minister of Finance 56-year-old Benjamin Netanyahu, Minister of Foreign Affairs 48-year-old Silvan Shalom, Minister of Agriculture 50-year-old Israel Katz and member of the Likud Central Committee 43-year-old Moshe Feilin. Until recently, Likud was led by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Mikhail Fradkov blessed the construction of the Boguchanskaya hydroelectric power station and aluminum smelter Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov's two-day visit to the Krasnoyarsk Territory, which took place at the end of last week, passed calmly and without any fuss. The local police were able to organize traffic in Krasnoyarsk, a million-strong city, in such a way that traffic jams were no more than usual. When communicating with the press personally, Mikhail Fradkov did not make loud statements.

Sao Paulo won the tournament of the strongest clubs in the world Brazilian Sao Paulo won the title of the best club on the planet. The title is quite conditional. Despite the sonorous name of the tournament “Club World Championship”, the participation of representatives from six parts of the world and the prize fund of 15 million dollars, it still came down to a confrontation between the best clubs in Europe and South America.

Osama Bin Laden's envoy to the Caucasus was identified a month after his possible death The head of the Russian FSB, Nikolai Patrushev, on Friday, at a meeting with the heads of Russian media, officially announced that one of the prominent international terrorists from Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Abu Omar Al-Seif, had been killed in Dagestan.

The single candidate from the Belarusian opposition, Alexander MILINKEVICH, tells Vremya Novostey about the upcoming presidential elections. - Why do you think the elections were scheduled earlier than expected? - The authorities are nervous and are trying to reduce the time allotted for the campaign, believing that they will greatly hinder us. But the possibility of holding elections in the spring was included in our strategy, and we will calmly deal with this.