Mikhail Kasyanov in St. Petersburg announced his intention to turn the country in a different direction Many times Mikhail Kasyanov visited St. Petersburg on duty - as an official and head of the Ministry of Finance, as Prime Minister. He did not meet with the opposition, but, within the framework of politeness, pursued the president’s line either at the economic forum, or at meetings on the construction of ports, etc.

For the first time, the Chinese military delegation observes the maneuvers of the US naval forces. The Chinese were invited to the Valiant Shield exercise, taking place in the Western Pacific on June 19-23, by the head of the US Pacific Command, Admiral William Fallon. The ten-member delegation that arrived in Guam yesterday included three generals representing three branches of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA). The guests visited the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan.

The Bolshoi Theater nurtures Brazilian talents The Bolshoi Theater School in Brazil has existed for six years. It's been six years now - the children recruited in the first year have grown up, learned a lot, and now they are being brought to Moscow for concerts for the first time (they have already performed at the Bolshoi, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow they are dancing at the Sats Children's Musical Theater).

Alexey Mordashov and Lakshmi Mittal will talk about the takeover of Arcelor Arcelor, it seems, is no longer so determined to resist the takeover by Mittal Steel. Late on Monday evening, the company announced the cancellation of an extraordinary meeting of shareholders scheduled for today, where it was planned to discuss the purchase of 24% of the company's shares from them for 6.5 billion euros.

George Bush meets with the European Union A one-day EU-US summit will be held today in Vienna with the participation of President George W. Bush. Europeans have a lot to ask the head of the White House about - from the secret flights that the CIA used to transport secret prisoners around Europe for several years to plans regarding Iran. And the distinguished American guest will be able to learn first-hand about the results of the European Union summit held last week in Brussels.

The Alliance is learning a planetary response A NATO amphibious landing is planned for tomorrow on the deserted Flamengo beach of the Sao Vicente island of the island nation of Cape Verde, located off the western tip of Africa. The operation will be the culmination of NATO's Exercise Resilient Jaguar, taking place in Cape Verde from 15 to 28 June. Here the West demonstrates its new military fist - the reaction force (RF).

Vladimir Resin proposes to resolve land issues in the mayor's office, not in court Against the backdrop of a growing scandal surrounding the confiscation of plots of land from Muscovites in the village of Butovo, the capital’s authorities decided to amend the city’s land legislation. At yesterday's meeting of the mayor's office, the draft of a new city law "On land use and development in the city of Moscow" was approved, which will now soon go to the Moscow City Duma.

Klose and Podolski showed the Poles how to beat Ecuador The teams playing in Group A have completed the first stage of the World Championship. Germany tried to prove that it was fully prepared for the upcoming playoff matches, and Poland apologized to its fans by winning against Costa Rica. The Ecuador-Germany match will probably be studied in detail by the head coaches of the England and Sweden national teams, who finished their face-to-face meeting late last night.

When we talk about the World Cup, we sometimes forget one more team - the referee team. This is probably a good thing. Refereeing at major tournaments differs from national championships in that the best referees are gathered here, who must show a high class of work. Now the fans are impressed by football, and not by refereeing errors. This is probably the best assessment for the referees. However, it cannot be done without mistakes. They are generally part of football.

Roger Waters will play for a long time Yes, Red Square as a concert venue is probably not the most successful find in Russian cultural life. But there is still something symbolic in the fact that the ex-leader of the legendary Pink Floyd Roger Waters will perform in this historical place, on Vasilyevsky Spusk, and not anywhere else. Because Waters is a socio-political symbol in himself, and not just a rock and roll clown.

Chronicle of sporting events Legendary American promoter Don King is taking the most active steps to organize the next fight with the participation of World Boxing Association (WBA) world heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev. King, who has recently shown a genuine interest in Russian boxers, has already reserved one day in September at Madison Square Garden (New York) for a fight with Valuev to defend his title. Presumably this event will take place on September 9.

Washington imposed “targeted financial sanctions against a number of members of the Belarusian government and others responsible for undermining the democratic process or institutions in Belarus, human rights violations or corruption.” In addition to President Alexander Lukashenko, nine more people are on the blacklist, including the deputy head of the presidential administration, the minister of justice, the chief of the KGB, the head of the Security Council, the minister of internal affairs

Yushchenko is in no hurry to choose a partner Yesterday's meeting of the Verkhovna Rada did not bring the long-awaited news about the creation of a parliamentary coalition empowered to form a government. The presidential bloc "Our Ukraine" continues to choose an ally - it could be the Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko plus the Socialist Party, or the Party of Regions of ex-Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.

Carolina Hurricanes win Stanley Cup for the first time For the fifth time in the last six playing seasons, all seven matches were needed to determine the winner of the National Hockey League's main trophy, the Stanley Cup. On Tuesday night, Moscow time, “Carolina” beat “Edmonton” on their ice in the city of Raleigh - 3:1 and won an honorary trophy for the first time in a very confusing club history.

Foreign spies exposed in Turkmenistan Turkmen special services have uncovered another conspiracy aimed at “overthrowing the government.” This was announced on June 19 by the Minister of National Security at a specially convened meeting of security officials, in which Turkmenbashi took part. This success, as the Turkmen officialdom indicates, was achieved “in the course of operational activities to identify criminal connections with criminals N. Khanamov, Kh. Orazov, S. Yklymov, A. Kuliev, A.