The President of Peru, 57-year-old Alan Garcia, issued a decree on a sharp reduction in the salaries of government officials, including his own. Now the presidential salary will be $5,000, which is 60% less than the previous level. The salaries of parliamentary deputies are being cut by 40% - they will be equal to the presidential salary. The salaries of regional leaders, mayors, members of municipal councils and their deputies are also being reduced.

Israel prepares Lebanon for peacekeepers and warns Syria Israel is not stopping the fighting, but, on the contrary, is expanding its ground operation in Southern Lebanon. Israeli troops intend to advance deep into Lebanon to the Litani River (approximately 30 km from the border with Israel). This decision was made yesterday at a meeting of the narrow cabinet of ministers.

The Hermitage still hopes to find the missing exhibits in other funds The leaders of the St. Petersburg Hermitage, having recognized the fact of the unprecedented disappearance of more than 200 exhibits of the jewelry collection from the museum’s storerooms, are doomedly preparing for an unprecedented influx of biased visitors. Today, a special commission of the St.

At the beginning of the First World War, two sons of the Russian princess Kurakina studied at the French Sorbonne. They both married Cuban women. Both did not return to Russia after the 1917 revolution, but went to Cuba. The Kurakins' grandson Alexis de BERNARD now lives in Havana. He is 77 years old. He told Vremya Novostey how in his youth he played baseball with Fidel Castro. — We met Fidel in the early 40s at a baseball competition.

The Gorno-Altai Nature Reserve is fighting against the invasion of private owners One of the most beautiful places in Russia - Lake Teletskoye and the Altai State Nature Reserve, included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List - was on the verge of plunder.

Severstal may raise $1.5 billion from placement of 10% shares Severstal plans to hold an IPO on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) in October-November and hopes to raise up to $1.5 billion, Reuters reported, citing a source in banking circles. UBS, Citibank and Deutsche Bank were chosen as the organizers of the placement. Severstal refused to comment on this information. The banks could not be reached for comment.

The leadership of the German military department, in order to maintain the high moral level of Bundeswehr soldiers going on business trips, is studying the streets of large cities where “puffs” - brothels - are concentrated. We are talking about “intensified verification of the situation” when making recommendations on the choice of hotels for military personnel.

Chronicle of sporting events The US Open Series tournament with a prize fund of $600,000 on the Washington hard court began with the Russian Derby. In the first round match, Marat Safin defeated his less titled compatriot, Vladivostok native Igor Kunitsyn - 6:3, 7:6 (8:6). Safin, who has been in a serious gaming crisis for the past few months, is now in 92nd place in the world rankings, and Kunitsyn is next door, being 99th. But Marat’s skill is still enough to defeat opponents of this level.

CLUBS I Moscow festival of alternative animation Linoleum. Over five days, the festival will show all the most interesting things that are at the forefront of domestic and foreign animation, the work of the stars of the world animation alternative, as well as films from the programs of other festivals.

Don King accused of new sins The paths of Russian professional boxers again crossed with the notorious promoter Don King. Several months have passed since the Russian boxer Dmitry Kirillov declared King’s guilt in his defeat in the fight for the world title, the same weighty accusation against the scandalous promoter was made by the entourage of the Russian heavyweight Sultan Ibragimov.

The Russians replenished their treasury with two gold awards Russian swimmers won two gold medals yesterday at the European Aquatics Championships in Budapest. Arkady Vyatchanin excelled in the 100m backstroke, his golden initiative was supported by ex-world record holder Roman Sludnov in the 100m breaststroke.

Border guards close part of Primorye Almost 15% of the territory of Primorsky Krai will soon be closed to the public. According to the order of FSB Director Nikolai Patrushev, signed back in the spring of this year, 15 districts and two urban districts of Primorye were declared border zones. Russian citizens can enter these territories only with special passes.

Watch from August 3 in Moscow cinemas “Miami Vice: Vice Squad” (USA, 2006, Michael Mann). The film is based on the most popular crime television series of the 80s, several episodes of which were directed and produced by Michael Mann himself (Red Dragon, Heat, Collateral), who for many years did not give up the idea of ​​making a full-length feature film based on it.

The Kaliningrad region does not want to become a special tourist zone For several months, Kaliningrad officials have been racking their brains over how to ensure that the westernmost region of the country receives the status of a special economic zone of a tourist and recreational type. After all, there are all the conditions for this: the ice-free Baltic Sea (sometimes, like this summer, it is warm), sandy beaches, unique dunes on the Curonian Spit, beautiful forests and proximity to Europe.

Paratroopers are ready to help South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the Airborne Forces commander assures The Airborne Forces today celebrate another, already 76th anniversary since its creation. Moreover, for the first time in the last 25 years (from 1979, with the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan, until the withdrawal from Chechnya in the spring of 2006), paratroopers celebrate their professional holiday without fighting.