Rescuers pulled four dead passengers from a train that derailed on the island of Honshu in northern Japan on Monday night. In total there were 46 people in six carriages. 33 passengers were taken to hospitals with injuries of varying severity. The express, traveling from Akita to Niigata at a speed of 105 km/h, was lifted into the air by a headwind with snow charges, the speed of which reached 80 km/h. The carriages collapsed onto the building of an agricultural farm.

Alexey Ulyukaev promises “The main thing we failed to do was to keep inflation within the parameters set by the budget,” admitted First Deputy Chairman of the Bank of Russia Alexei Ulyukaev, summing up the results of his department’s monetary policy in 2005 yesterday. But in other matters, be it managing the exchange rate or simplifying the bank refinancing system, the Central Bank has nothing to blame, he believes.

Veterinarians announced two more verdicts The criminal epic of Russian veterinarians and narcologists, regularly accused by employees of the Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN) of illegal storage and sale of psychotropic substances, has received a new continuation. Yesterday, the Presidium of the Moscow City Court confirmed the conviction of veterinarian Alexander Duca, who was sentenced to a suspended sentence of one year by the Zamoskvoretsky District Court back in September 2004.

Details of national projects are still being finalized Widely announced national projects in the areas of healthcare, education, housing and agriculture, which should start at the beginning of 2006, still cannot be called thoroughly developed. At the last meeting of the year with government officials, President Vladimir Putin once again recalled that national projects should not result in the social upheavals that accompanied the monetization of benefits at the beginning of 2005.

Mikhail Gutseriev wants to become the first The owner of RussNeft, Mikhail Gutseriev, who recently managed to complete the creation of a vertically integrated holding with the purchase of three small refineries, is making grandiose plans for the future. Yesterday he told reporters about the ambitious goals he sets for his company. First of all, Mr. Gutseriev plans to make it international, and already in the new year.

Palestinians will receive Russian gift in a year Russia will realize its intention to supply the Palestinian Authority, free of charge, with 50 armored personnel carriers and two specially equipped Mi-17 transport helicopters (the leader of the autonomy can use them) only, at best, next year. The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed to Vremya Novostei that the Israelis, who had previously sharply objected to the supply of armored personnel carriers, have somewhat softened their position.

The budget of the Rostov region pushes Don producers online The administration of the Rostov region has decided, starting next year, to subsidize interest rates on loans to those local companies that are “breaking into” international and national retail chains.

Volleyball. Super League. Women. 8th round. "Uralochka" - "Stinol" - 2:3, "Dynamo" M - "Fakel" - 3:0, "Balakovo NPP" - "Dynamo" MO - 3:0, "Zarechye-Odintsovo" -- "Nugget" -- 3:0. The leaders are: Zarechye-Odintsovo - 15 points (8 games), Dynamo M - 14 points (7), Stinol - 14 (8). The current and permanent champion of Russia, Uralochka-NTMK (Ekaterinburg), suffered its seventh defeat in the regular season.

Authors and producers in film and television When the first “Russian blockbusters” came out on screens this year, I experienced considerable relief. But not because “domestic cinema is being revived” - my feeling was of an exclusively egoistic nature. The fact is that the very existence of all post-Soviet film production posed before people writing about cinema a complex moral problem that fits into the simple question: “What, in fact, should we do with it?” There is nothing to praise for.

The benzene spot does not want to leave Khabarovsk Yesterday, the concentration of nitrobenzene near Khabarovsk water intakes dropped to 0.11 of the maximum permissible concentration of this dangerous substance. The front of the pollution zone has descended 115 km below Khabarovsk and is now located near the Amur village of Malyshevo.

Ukraine tightens gas belt Five days before the new year, Ukraine and Russia are not one step closer to resolving the gas conflict. The public squabble between the parties is increasingly acquiring the features of the absurd.

National projects will replace doubling GDP by 2010 The economic results of 2005 can hardly give government officials a reason for triumphant reports.

Yuri Luzhkov moved his meeting with Santa Claus closer to the Kremlin The approaching New Year is traditionally considered one of the most magical holidays of the year. And yesterday, during the solemn meeting of Father Frost in Moscow, a miracle really happened - for the first time in the last few years, the capital’s authorities managed to hold such a large event without blocking traffic in the city center for many hours.

According to the old tradition, consumer protection societies are accustomed to considering citizens who have suffered from unscrupulous sellers at the household level as intercessors. However, the Society for the Protection of Consumer Rights "Public Control" understands its purpose in a broader sense.

Personnel changes in the upper echelons of power in the Tyumen region have been completed By the end of the year, all personnel changes were completed in the Tyumen region - at the end of last week, Sergei Smetanyuk, who had recently served as the region’s governor, was elected head of the Tyumen city administration. Career changes in the life of Mr.