Yesterday, the Russian Foreign Ministry again advised compatriots to refrain from traveling to Iraq, and those who really need to go there were advised to register consularly at the Russian Embassy in Baghdad on time. In a crisis situation, Russians will receive help from our diplomats faster.

America's Cup pleases with results The main football tournament of the Western Hemisphere, the Copa America, continues in Venezuela, the motto of which can be formulated as follows: “More goals, beautiful and different.” South American football has always been famous for its pursuit of beauty and was alien to prudence and pragmatism. The 42nd America's Cup was no exception, where in addition to ten national teams from South America, Mexico and the USA also compete.

The European Commission has published the final list of unreliable airlines The European Commission yesterday approved the updated, fourth version of the blacklist of foreign airlines that are prohibited (or restricted) from flying through EU airspace due to non-compliance with current aviation safety standards. The innovations included in the list are fully consistent with those announced in the draft decision of the European Commission, published in the middle of last month.

Russia is the focus of Germany's dual presidency Yesterday, at the most respectable Berlin hotel, the Adlon, high-ranking experts from Russia and Germany analyzed “new chances and challenges” for strengthening the strategic partnership of both countries in the coming year.

Regional legislators exchanged experiences of persecution of the gambling business Despite the unprecedented legal persecution to which the gambling business in Russia is subjected (from January 1, 2009, it will be “imprisoned” in four special gambling “reservations”, banned in all other places), this seems to be not enough for some legislators.

A unified land and real estate accounting system will finally appear in Russia Already next spring, every Russian will be able to know exactly how much the state values ​​his property and how much taxes he wants to take from this property . Yesterday, the State Duma adopted the law “On the State Real Estate Cadastre” in the third and final reading.

Hilton hotel chain to be sold for $26 billion Hilton Hotels Corporation announced the sale of its hotel empire to the Blackstone Group investment fund. The deal, worth approximately $26 billion, is in its final stages and promises to be one of the largest in the hotel business.

Gazprom likes to spend more than it earns The results of Gazprom's activities in 2006, in addition to a lot of successes associated with record conditions on the European hydrocarbon market, as well as an increase in sales revenues in Russia and neighboring countries, testified to one of the main negative trends in the financial position of the concern during the leadership of Alexey Miller. Namely, the largest corporation in Russia prefers to spend more than it earns .

Yanukovych's ally was shot by mistake On Friday the funeral of 55-year-old Yevgeny Kushnarev , one of the leaders of the ruling Party of Regions and deputy chairman of the party faction in the Rada, will take place. To say goodbye to his comrade-in-arms, the leader of the Party of Regions, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, interrupted his visit to Turkey and flew to Ukraine.

The television season ends with live broadcasts - as usual, in the summer they give Berman and Zhandarev, who were pushed behind the grid, a breath of air, and a new program has appeared on “First” - “Good Night”. It’s nice to watch and listen to Semyon Chaika and even Ksenia Strizh. But all these summer relaxations only sharpen the impressions of the whole season, where live broadcasts, live reactions, genuine feelings and honest news are almost completely absent on the main channels.

TV critics sum up the season The past season continued a long-established trend: in the struggle for ratings, that is, ultimately for the cost of advertising time, channels are trying in every possible way to attract mass viewers, to be interesting to as many people as possible, and thereby lowering the bar more and more.

NGOs ask to be freed from excessive government control It is possible that the state will listen to the requests of Russian non-governmental organizations to soften the legislation regulating their activities . Such an encouraging statement was made yesterday by the Chairman of the Presidential Council for Promoting the Development of Civil Society Institutions and Human Rights, Ella Pamfilova.

The obvious trend of the current television season is the desire for sameness, even to the point of mixing brands. The same clone programs fight with each other on different channels, and as a result, there is less and less genre diversity. The desire for standardization and unification is obvious. This applies to both news and analytical programs, as well as talk shows and TV series. It is difficult to single out leading programs.

“First” was first in everything (we don’t touch politics, it’s either good or nothing). Powerful financial investments, high-quality shows (Americans will be jealous!) and something new all the time. High-quality entertainment is the specialty of Channel One. But “Closed Show” was also included, a status, reputation program, where, unlike the mainstream, one still has to turn on one’s brains. And since I have given an obligation to praise the politician, then if Mr.

He led the party and removed his daughter from leadership President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev yesterday headed the people's democratic party "Nur Otan" ("Shine of the Fatherland"). This extraordinary event took place at the extraordinary XI Party Congress, convened in connection with the early parliamentary elections scheduled for August 18. Everything was furnished casually and simply.