Last year's visitors came to German Gref The latest meeting of Economic Development Minister German Gref with the population in the White House reception revealed an indicative trend: citizens are becoming less and less concerned about global problems and are increasingly interested in their own well-being. In addition, it turned out that the effectiveness of the minister’s meetings with citizens leaves much to be desired.

Alexei Ratmansky became a laureate of the Shostakovich Prize The prize that will be awarded to the artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet was established by the Yuri Bashmet Foundation. This foundation has existed since 1994, and outstanding musicians have become laureates of the award - for example, Gidon Kremer, Valery Gergiev, Anne-Sophie Mutter and Olga Borodina. There were no ballet people on this list yet, so Ratmansky, as they say, opens the topic.

Harry O'Connor's goal decided the fate of the protracted Russian Cup final One of the most famous active Russian coaches, Anatoly Byshovets, won his first serious trophy since 1988, when he headed the USSR Olympic team. Almost two decades later, his Lokomotiv, beating Moscow 1:0 in extra time, won the 2007 Russian Cup.

Communication and news, sociologists say, are the main reasons why people use the Internet. Sports, in turn, are one of the main topics that people discuss and news about which they want to know the most. And Rambler, as you know, is one of the largest network resources on the Russian Internet. Combining all these facts, it is easy to guess that one of the largest sporting events on the Internet was the project created by Rambler, dedicated to the World Hockey Championship held in Moscow.

The budget passed the first reading State Duma deputies adopted on Friday in the first reading the draft law on the federal budget for 2008-2010 . They accepted it despite all the reproaches: both private ones - regarding the weak development of social aspects, and global ones, questioning the need for three-year budget planning. The document was supported by 319 deputies, 81 were against it, and 27 abstained.

Nazarbayev kicked his eldest son-in-law out of politics In Kazakhstan, a serious crisis is growing in relations between financial and industrial groups, one of which is close to President Nazarbayev. Last Saturday, the head of state dismissed the ambassador to Austria and the OSCE, the husband of his eldest daughter Dariga, Rakhat Aliyev. Moreover, this was done on the proposal of the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan, claiming that “Aliev R.M.

British Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, who will replace Tony Blair as prime minister on June 27, said yesterday that the main reason for the allies' failures in Iraq is economic: "Iraq is stricken with mass unemployment and poverty." The next most important tasks are ensuring security and “streamlining the political system so that democracy in Iraq finally works.” Meanwhile, the US administration is relying on a forceful solution to the problem.

Chronicle of sporting events At the All-Russian athletics competition that started in Sochi, hammer thrower Tatyana Lysenko set a new world record. The Russian woman threw the hammer 78 m 61 cm. Thus, she improved her world achievement by 81 cm.

McLaren drivers dominated the Monaco Grand Prix For the first time in the history of the Monaco Grand Prix, the top three were completely identical to the top three. McLaren drivers Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton finished the race in first and second place, while Ferrari driver Felipe Massa finished third. In the Drivers' Championship, reigning world champion Alonso caught up with his teammate. The Spaniard ranks top in the personal classification for the most wins this season.

BASKETBALL. 28.05 -- 3.06. Russian Championship. Men. Super League A. Play-offs. Today in Moscow the second meeting of the finals of CSKA - Khimki, and on May 31 and, if necessary, June 1, the teams will continue to sort things out in the Kazan Basket Hall. In case of equality, the decisive match is scheduled for June 3 and will take place in the capital's USC CSKA. FOOTBALL. June 2. Euro 2008 qualifying match. The Russian team is the Andorran team.

The state again did not approve a mechanism for monitoring the implementation of energy investment programs The Board of Directors of RAO UES of Russia has once again failed to approve a mechanism for monitoring the implementation of investment programs of its subsidiaries, which will become the property of private investors.

April 25 -- May 25, 2007 “Politicians Through the Eyes of the Media,” a joint project of Vremya Novostei and the Medialogia company, are ratings of the political figures most actively discussed in the Russian media.

“The military operation of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in the Gaza Strip will not be limited in time. We will decide for ourselves where, when and against whom to direct the power of our army,” said Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, opening yesterday’s government meeting.

The Return Foundation has released a book and disc “Repressed Music” Now many strategists of contemporary art complain about the lack of fresh ideas, bold thoughts and powerful energy of social and political criticism in the field of so-called “contemporary art”. The thriving market has almost devoured the leftist discourse and turned into a commodity everything that until recently was considered radical and shocking. The best art programs today run through society.

XIII International Competition named after P.I. Tchaikovsky will be held in Moscow from June 13 to July 1. The general contractor of the event is Gosconcert, which won the tender for the right to host the competition. General Director of Goskontsert Konstantin VOROBYEV answers Ekaterina BELSKAYA’s questions. — Traditionally, the Tchaikovsky Competition is held once every four years, but the XII Competition was held in 2002, and now we are already in 2007, why was this periodicity disrupted?