In a year Yesterday, President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov signed the law “On the ratification of the Protocol on the restoration of membership of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the CIS Collective Security Treaty Organization .” This step by Tashkent was immediately welcomed by CSTO Secretary General Nikolai Bordyuzha. “Since the law came into force, the legislative basis for Uzbekistan’s activities in the organization has been increased,” General Bordyuzha said yesterday.

A strange time 15 years ago was mid-December. The Soviet Union, as they told us, had already died , and the CIS was still suffering in childbirth. The period between the end of the Soviet empire and the birth of what is called the Commonwealth of Independent States lasted almost two weeks - from December 8 to 21, 1991.

Special economic zones should finally get a new boss The Federal Agency for the Management of Special Economic Zones (RosSEZ), which has been without a head for four months, will soon have a “new broom”. Last week, Minister of Economic Development German Gref, who is in charge of this department, announced that he had nominated a new head of RosSEZ to the government. True, he refused to give the name of the person whose search took an entire block.

To control the Black Sea and Transnistria In April 2007, 1,500 American troops will arrive in Romania at the Mihail Kogalniceanu military airfield, located north of the Black Sea port of Constanta.

CLUBS Malcolm McLaren. The creator, producer and director of the Sex Pistols, founder of punk, stylist and fashion designer will come to Moscow with the only multimedia video/DJ show. McLaren will perform both his own compositions and dance remakes of the hits of the artists with whom he worked - New York Dolls, The Sex Pistols, etc.

Inter continues the traditions of Corinthians and Sao Paulo Inter have proven that they are serious about maintaining the tradition that only Brazilian teams have won all the world club championships. Having beaten the Egyptian Al Ahly - 2:1, the current winner of the Libertadores Cup reached the final of the tournament, which is taking place these days in Japan. Inter's opponent in the fight for the title of the best club in the world will be determined today.

The concern is urgently creating a new internal control system The reputational problems of the German concern Siemens related to the activities of its former top managers are becoming more and more serious. On Tuesday evening, Thomas Hanswindt, the former chairman of the board of the concern, was arrested, and thus an unprecedented corruption scam grew to the very top of the executive vertical.

In the story surrounding the mysterious death of ex-KGB officer Litvinenko, much today seems inexplicable. According to Sebastian PFLÜGBEIL, president of the German Society for Radiation Protection, much of it will forever remain undisclosed. Nevertheless, Mr. Pflugbeil considers the version of a “conspiracy between Putin and the KGB” against the emigrant security officer incredible. The expert expressed his opinion in a conversation with the Berlin correspondent of Vremya Novostei.

“Just as the USSR disappeared, the Zionist regime will also soon disappear,” Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said yesterday at a meeting with participants in the “Holocaust Review - Global Vision” conference and to their applause. “The Almighty promised this, and all nations want this,” the Iranian added. The conference in Tehran brought together up to 150 participants. 67 researchers with far-right positions came from 30 countries.

Yushchenko and Yanukovych fight for power Yesterday, Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych made it clear that the government may ignore President Viktor Yushchenko's amendments to the 2007 budget, since he “practically sees no” opportunity for compromise. “We are being offered to find 10 billion hryvnia (about $2 billion) on paper,” but “money doesn’t fall from the sky,” the prime minister was indignant.

Foreign military diplomats obtained information from the Russian General Staff For foreign military attaches accredited in Russia, the end of the year is a fertile time. If at other times information for a report to the center (the attaché, as a rule, is a military intelligence structure) has to be obtained by the sweat of its brow, then in December information flows like a river from officials of the Russian military establishment.

The new head of Adygea will introduce Russians into the government On Wednesday, at a session of the State Council - Khase (parliament) of the Republic of Adygea, Aslancheriy Tkhakushinov was vested with presidential powers. 50 out of 54 parliament members voted for this candidacy. The new head of the republic will be able to begin his duties only after the expiration of the term of office of the current president, Khazret Sovmen, on January 13, 2007.

The consulate has stopped bus tours The French consulate in Moscow was overwhelmed by the flow of Russians wanting to celebrate the New Year in France. On Tuesday, the consulate temporarily stopped accepting new applications for tourist visas. According to diplomats, this was necessary to process previously submitted requests. Yesterday the consuls partially resumed their work.

The National Reserve Corporation intends to enter the oil market A new player may appear on the Russian oil market. As Vremya Novostei learned, the National Reserve Corporation, which has small assets in the oil sector, plans to seriously expand this line of business. A division, NRK-Oil, is being formed within the corporation's structure, which will acquire licenses for subsoil development.

Russian troops leave the Georgian capital Georgia has taken another significant step towards pushing out the Russian military from its territory . Today, the last, fourth in a month, train with weapons and equipment from the Tbilisi garrison of the Group of Russian Forces in Transcaucasia (GRVZ) will leave the country.