Europe has an affair with Central Asia Today a ministerial meeting “European Union - Central Asia” will take place in Astana. Europe will be represented by a trio: the Foreign Minister of Germany, which holds the EU presidency until July 1 of this year, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the EU Special Representative for Central Asia Pierre Morel, and the EU Commissioner for External Relations and Neighborhood Policy of the European Commission Benita Ferrero-Waldner.

Dairy producer did not succumb to blackmail The Khamovnichesky District Court of Moscow recently began considering a criminal case that is unique in Russian practice. Muscovite Marina Kozlova is in the dock, accused of extorting 300 thousand rubles. with Molochnoye Delo LLC, a large manufacturer of food products known under the Blagoda brand. According to investigators, the woman tried to blackmail the company by claiming that she had found a phalanx of a human finger in a package of curd mass.

Stable weather in the European territory of Russia is maintained due to the presence of an anticyclone here. The air in it warms up very intensely under the sun's rays. Moscow has every chance to update another absolute maximum, for the fifth time this March. For March 28, the absolute maximum temperature in Moscow is currently +13.7°C; it was set in 1999. Yesterday, March 27, was a special day for the capital in a meteorological sense.

Academicians did not agree to introduce an age limit for managers Russian academics continue to fight for the right to remain in leadership positions for life - both for themselves and for the directors of institutes included in the Academy of Sciences system.

The new president of Russia will be chosen by an old friend of Vladimir Putin On Tuesday, 13 out of 15 members of the Central Election Commission voted for the appointment of its new member, LDPR nominee Vladimir Churov, as head of the Central Election Commission. Mr. Churov has a thick beard (an unexpected attribute for current statesmen), a close acquaintance from working together with Vladimir Putin and no legal education (he majored in atmospheric physics).

Sergey Ivanov figured out railway transport First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov yesterday expressed deep concern about the way the production of carriages and locomotives is organized in Russia. He demanded a qualitative breakthrough in this matter, since, according to him, “there is no alternative to railway transport (in Russia. - Ed. ).” The Board of the Ministry of Industry and Energy, at which Mr.

The government may abandon the 50 percent market quota for local producers There are two and a half months left to completely change the system of retail markets in the country. There are now more than 5,200 markets in Russia, a quarter of which may have to be closed due to non-compliance with new legislation.

There are many candidates for the post of mayor of Volgograd and there is no clear favorite On Monday, the Volgograd city election commission issued the first certificate of a candidate for the post of head of the Volgograd administration to State Duma deputy Vasily Galushkin. And one of those who submitted an application, the director of the musical ensemble Mikhail Grebennikov, voluntarily withdrew his candidacy.

In Melbourne, Russian swimmers have not yet reached the medals The past day at the World Aquatics Championships in Australia was marked by four world records. Two were installed in the men's 200m freestyle and 100m backstroke finals, the other two in the women's heats - in the 200m freestyle semi-finals and the 100m backstroke final. Three out of four world achievements were chalked up by Americans and one by an Italian.

Mikhail Ulyanov died Mikhail Ulyanov was seriously ill for a long time, his death was not unexpected. What was unexpected was that everyone suddenly felt: there won’t be such actors anymore. To say that an entire era passed away with him is, of course, pathetic nonsense, but one cannot help but say: with the death of the artist Ulyanov, another piece of living historical memory was forever separated from us. Bright, quite large.

Rostechnadzor discovered 12 dangerous mines in Kuzbass A total inspection of coal industry enterprises, the start of which was announced by the management of Rostechnadzor only on March 26, already yielded the first results yesterday. Inspectors of this service reported the suspension of work at more than a dozen mines in the Kemerovo region. The main violations identified were the mines' non-compliance with the approved designs, which, according to inspectors, endangers the lives of miners.

The Belarusian opposition is quarreling and changing tactics On the eve of the 2008 parliamentary elections, the Belarusian opposition is changing tactics, relying on popularizing its political and economic program. Protests, which have been the focus of the last decade, are fading into the background. There are also changes in the actions of the authorities: the opposition demonstration on March 25 took place without serious clashes with the police.

Rosneft earned a billion dollars from the sale of the first asset of Yukos The active phase of the sale of Yukos property has begun . Yesterday, in exactly five minutes, representatives of TNK-BP's subsidiary Samotlorneftegaz made bids five times in the auction for the sale of 9.44% of Rosneft shares and 12 Yuganskneftegaz promissory notes, and Rosneft's granddaughter - RN-Development interrupted their proposal five times.

Siemens board member behind bars The corruption scandal at the oldest German electrical concern Siemens has entered a new dimension. Yesterday, during another search at the company's headquarters, the current member of the board, 50-year-old Johannes Feldmeier, was arrested and sent to pre-trial detention. He came under suspicion in connection with what is believed to be illegal payments of many millions of euros to one of the members of the company's labor council.

Today, the Czech government promises to respond to the US request to place a missile defense (BMD) radar in the Czech Republic. Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, unlike most of his fellow citizens, is a supporter of a positive answer, said that the decision should be approved by parliament, and not in a referendum.