Perfumes were removed from state alcohol control State Duma deputies tried to solve the alcohol problem in at least one of its components yesterday. The Lower House on Wednesday adopted in the first reading a United Russia bill on removing perfumes and cosmetics from the law on state regulation of the production of ethyl alcohol.

Confrontation between authorities and opposition in Kyrgyzstan ends with fireworks Yesterday at midnight, Ala-Too Square in Bishkek was lit up with fireworks. Thus, a week-long rally of the Kyrgyz opposition greeted the news that the parliament had adopted a new constitution for Kyrgyzstan. How this process took place will certainly be included in the history and jurisprudence textbooks, at least in this small Central Asian republic itself.

The heads of government of Russia and China will discuss the development of subsoil and the conquest of the Moon Today, Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov arrives in Beijing for the next - already the eleventh - meeting of the heads of government of Russia and China, as well as to participate in events within the framework of the Year of Russia in China.

French doctor hopes to restore hearing to Beslan bomb victims Overcoming the Beslan syndrome for children from North Ossetia, who survived the terrible tragedy of September 2004, will probably take years, but today it is already clear that help will continue to come to the city, where trouble has reached literally every home. This year, 90 schoolchildren from Beslan were awarded a royal vacation in the truest sense of the word - they were invited to Jordan by King Abdullah II.

At the stage of the Pro Tour series held in St. Petersburg, the most iconic figure among the Europeans was the Belgian Jean-Michel Sav - participant in five Olympics, former first racket of the world, European champion in 1994 and winner of the prestigious continental tournament "Top 12" of this year. same season, silver medalist at the 1993 Planet Championship. His career at the international level has lasted for 23 (!) years.

First Deputy Foreign Minister of the DPRK Kang Sek Chu is in Moscow on a private visit, this was confirmed to Vremya Novostei yesterday by Boris Malakhov, Deputy Director of the Department of Information and Press of the Russian Foreign Ministry. Kan's trip to the Russian capital was reported by Japanese journalists who saw him board a plane departing for Moscow. However, at the destination, media representatives did not find Kang Sek Choo among the arriving passengers.

Sergei Lavrov found two of the most pressing issues in Kyiv Yesterday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met in Kyiv with Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and Speaker Alexander Moroz. Sergei Lavrov and the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Boris Tarasyuk held the first meeting of the subcommittee on international cooperation within the framework of the Yushchenko-Putin commission, where they discussed more than two dozen issues.

Bush was reproached for discrediting his contacts The war in Iraq was not the only foreign policy problem of the White House that led to a defeat unprecedented in recent decades for the Republican Party in the midterm congressional elections. President Bush's opponents had other reasons for their harsh criticism of him.

Russia's increase in energy prices caused a political crisis in Georgia The news that Gazprom, in the absence of a contract for the purchase of gas, will stop supplying raw materials to Georgian companies from January 1, 2007, provoked another round of political debates in Tbilisi.

The Moscow Museum of Modern Art opened the exhibition “European Neo-Constructivism. 1930--2000". Its composition is multi-part. The first section includes works by classics of non-figurative art, adherents of completely different styles, methods and philosophical positions. Among them are Sonia Delaunay, Michel Sephor, Victor Vasarely, and Lucio Fontana.

Moscow and Minsk will solve the gas problem at the last moment The likelihood of repeated interruptions in Russian gas supplies during the New Year holidays is growing again. This time, history may repeat itself in the Belarusian direction. Moscow and Minsk fundamentally disagree on the key issue - the gas price for 2007. Moreover, the parties have not yet begun commercial negotiations, as they are awaiting the results of an independent assessment of Beltransgaz.

Deputies allowed citizens to pick mushrooms and register enterprises with the word "Russia" Yesterday the State Duma approved in final reading the Forestry Code, amendments to the law on compulsory motor liability insurance on maintaining preferential rates for accident-free driving, as well as the new IV part of the Civil Code on the protection of brand names. The new “anti-piracy” part of the Civil Code promises the harshest punishment for manufacturers of counterfeit products.

The President gave military intelligence new tasks in a new building Yesterday, President Vladimir Putin inspected the new building of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of the Russian General Staff, in recent years better known as the “Aquarium” - thanks to the former military intelligence officer and now traitorous writer Vladimir Rezun, who saw in the abundance of glass windows of the old building a vessel for fish The head of state landed on the roof of a nine-story building in an Air

A mistake by the Israeli military could blow up the situation in the Middle East At least 18 Palestinians, including eight children and four women, were killed yesterday in the Beit Hanoun settlement in the northern Gaza Strip, which was shelled by Israeli tanks. More than 30 more people were injured. The shell hit a residential building. The Israeli army is investigating why this happened.

Chronicle of sporting events The European Cup, held under the auspices of the continental branch of the International Basketball Federation, has started. This tournament is the third most important for club men's teams on the continent after the Euroleague and the ULEB Cup. At the first stage, participants perform in eight groups - seven quartets and one troika are formed. “Lokomotiv-Rostov” in the four “C” defeated the Hungarian “Atomeroma” on the road - 69:65.