Visa was unable to prohibit paying with your cards for unlicensed products on the Internet The international payment system Visa International has failed to successfully act as a defender of intellectual property rights. The company lost a lawsuit against the online store Alltunes.com, which sells unlicensed music. And although Visa will not challenge the court's decision, it has promised to continue its policy of resisting the use of the system's payment cards in such online stores.

Vladimir Putin is equidistant from Gazprom and RAO UES Yesterday, Vladimir Putin again had to personally “settle” the differences of his subordinates in the process of reform of the electric power industry. This time it was about the exchange of electric power assets between the shareholders of the liquidated RAO UES of Russia . In recent days, negotiations between Gazprom and the Ministry of Economic Development on this matter have reached a dead end.

Performance by Tadashi Suzuki at the Chekhov Festival Suzuki brought his “Dionysus” to Russia more than once; this version of Euripides’ “Bacchae” was seen both in Moscow and St. Petersburg. But at the current Chekhov Festival, the Japanese theater guru presented the old performance in a new frame - before “Dionysus” the audience is offered an entire concert of Buddhist ritual music.

Dow Jones shareholders are trying to find other suitors for the company Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is irritated by negotiations to sell the group to Dow Jones & Co. with other potential buyers. He said it was unclear to him what position the company's main shareholders took.

Visual gymnastics at an exhibition in the Proun gallery Folk art is not very popular (pardon the pun). The spinning wheels, pots and stumps are displayed in our museums in such a bad way that we have no strength to look at it. And the reason is that the Soviet and post-Soviet state managed to kill the violent energy of this art, its chthonic primordial power with ideological stink.

The Russian Ministry of Defense has built 630 facilities in Chechnya On the eve of his 100 days in office, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov once again proposed extending the powers of his federal colleague Vladimir Putin. “I don’t see a political alternative to him, and if a change of power occurs, I think this will affect not only the Chechen Republic,” Mr. Kadyrov said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

The government allocates 28 billion rubles for nanotechnology infrastructure The Russian government voted for the dream yesterday. About 28 billion rubles will be allocated in the next three years for the transition from a resource-based economy to an innovative one, and specifically for the creation of the material and infrastructure base for a breakthrough in the field of nanotechnology , which should ensure this transition, in the next three years, with the lion's share being 24.

The Ministry of Agriculture received the right to solely manage the state budget of the industry The Ministry of Agriculture will remain a full-fledged conductor of state policy in the field of agriculture . Up to the resolution of all financial issues: loan rates and their refinancing, as well as approval of the methodology for distributing state support for agriculture between regions.

The state must protect economic growth There are signs that a model of economic growth based on consumer and investment demand is taking shape in Russia. The results of the first half of 2007 indicate an increase in the growth rate of the Russian economy, despite the stabilization of oil prices over the past year and a half.

Friday may be the hottest day since the beginning of the calendar summer, the temperature will rise to +28...+33оС. However, over the weekend the cyclone will head towards the center of European territory. Along with it will come rain with thunderstorms, strong winds, and possible hail. The heat will drop to +20...+27оС.

Sberbank may complete stock split faster than expected The long-awaited split of shares of Sberbank, Russia's leading blue chip banking company, will begin on July 18. According to analysts, with an increase in the number of securities and a decrease in their cost, they will become more accessible to a wide range of investors. Market participants are already revising the estimated prices for Sberbank shares. Yesterday, quotes rose by 2.3%, once again updating their all-time high.

The state plans to increase financial support for the south of Russia fivefold in the next four years The infrastructure of the south of Russia - transport, tourism, industrial, utilities, which fell into disrepair after the collapse of the Soviet Union, has a chance of being restored in the near future on its former scale. And not only thanks to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi . State funding for the south of Russia will increase fivefold in the near future.

London will take revenge on Moscow for Litvinenko's death There are active discussions in London political circles about how far the current crisis in relations between Russia and Great Britain can go. In particular, there is a lot of talk about the upcoming speech in parliament next week by the new head of the Foreign Office, David Milliband, who is expected to formulate a British response to Moscow’s refusal to extradite businessman Andrei Lugovoy .

The Constitutional Court allowed the collection of land plots for debts From now on, owners of land plots who find themselves in the unenviable role of defaulting debtors should keep in mind that bailiffs can appear at any moment and seize hundreds of acres acquired through back-breaking labor. True, provided that for the debtor they are not the only source of existence.

In a week, residential real estate in Sochi has risen in price by 30% In the week that has passed since Sochi was announced as the capital of the 2014 Winter Olympics , local prices for residential real estate have shown a dizzying rise. Experts and market players have different assessments of growth in specific figures , and the reason for this is clear: now the market is in a “wild” period, new price targets have yet to be determined.