The US begins developing a new non-nuclear weapons program By approving the US military budget on Sunday night, members of the House of Representatives of the US Congress showed how they see the future military strategy of their country.

The financial guarantee system is in operation for the first time The liability insurance system for tourism operator companies will undergo its first practical “testing” in the coming days. Last week, for the first time since this financial mechanism was introduced in Russia at the beginning of summer, a domestic travel company “disappeared.” The St. Petersburg company "Alea" moved out of its office in an unknown direction.

FOOTBALL. Russian Cup. August 8. 1/8 finals. Russian Championship. 20th round. August 11. "Zenit" - "Luch-Energia", "Wings of the Soviets" - "Spartak" M, "Lokomotiv" - "Spartak" Nch, "Khimki" - "Dynamo" August 12. "Tom" - "Amkar", "Kuban" - "Rostov", "Rubin" - "Saturn", CSKA - "Moscow". Champions League. August 7-8. Second qualifying round. Return matches. The central match of the tour is the capital's derby between the army team and the "citizens".

The newest missile system S-400 "Triumph" takes over to guard the skies of the capital Today, the first regiment, armed with the latest S-400 Triumph anti-aircraft missile systems, is taking up combat duty to protect the skies of the capital and region. Near the city of Elektrostal, Moscow Region, where the military unit is based, a ritual of entering combat duty will take place.

July 3 -- August 3, 2007 “Politicians Through the Eyes of the Media,” a joint project of Vremya Novostey and the Medialogy company, are ratings of political figures most actively discussed in the Russian media.

A parliamentary commission will be created in France to investigate the conditions under which Paris managed to release five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor. The humanitarian nature of the action is difficult to deny - doctors in Libya were first sentenced to death and then to life imprisonment on charges of infecting five thousand children with AIDS.

On Saturday, a number of armed clashes were recorded in Chechnya, as a result of which several people were killed and injured. According to the administration of the Vedeno district, at about 22.00 a group of unknown people numbering about ten people entered the village of Tsa-Vedeno and set fire to three households.

Fitch postponed placement of Gazprom Eurobonds The international rating agency Fitch Ratings seems to be tired of waiting for the long-promised placement of Gazprom's Eurobonds and withdrew the expected rating on the concern's securities on Friday. The agency explained that the issuer postponed the issue of bonds. However, Vremya Novostei sources close to the gas monopolist refute this information, stating that Gazprom only postponed the placement to this week.

A Turkish ferry completely burned out in the sea near Sochi The Boztepe car ferry, seriously damaged by fire, sailing under the flag of the African state of Sierra Leone between the Turkish port of Trabzon and the Russian Sochi, will be towed back to the shores of Turkey. This decision was made by the shipowner (the emergency ferry belongs to a Turkish company).

Gazprom gave Minsk a week to fully repay the debt The threat of a reduction in Russian gas supplies to Belarus has passed. On August 3, a few minutes before 10 a.m. (when Gazprom promised to reduce the pressure in the pipe for non-payment of the debt), Beltransgaz transferred $190 million of the $456.16 million debt for gas received in the first half of the year. Gazprom considered this to be a “significant debt repayment” and gave Minsk a week to transfer the remaining amount.

To paraphrase Voltaire’s famous phrase about God, let’s say: “If the Russian Railways Cup did not exist, it should have been invented.” No matter how offensive it may be for us to admit, in football Russia is a third world country. But she definitely has no less money than the same China and South Korea, who have been inviting great European clubs to pre-season tours or commercial tournaments for many years now.

The An-12 that crashed in Domodedovo lost two engines at once On Saturday, members of the state commission to investigate the causes of the accident of the An-12 cargo plane, which crashed on the night of August 1 while taking off from the capital's Domodedovo Airport , completed the “field” stage of work. Studying the wreckage and deciphering the data from the flight recorders allowed us to draw the first conclusions.

Hamilton's victory did not count towards the Constructors' Championship McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton won the Hungarian Grand Prix. Finnish Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen finished second, and Nick Heidfeld from BMW-Sauber took third place. Something wrong is going on both in McLaren itself and around it. The scandal with the theft of Ferrari documents was not yet over when another broke out - this time between two team pilots.

Spartak from Vladivostok did not want to play European Cup matches in Moscow The continental branch of the International Basketball Federation in Munich carried out the draw procedure for three club tournaments of the 2007/08 season and determined the venues for the All-Star Game of the Women's Euroleague (Vidnoe) and the Men's European Cup (Cyprus). The main intrigue of the events of the past weekend was the resolution of the issue with Spartak-Primorye from Vladivostok.

Lithuanian athlete did not reach the finish line, but may emerge in politics The “Iron Man,” as he is called in Lithuania, the 1998 ultratriathlon (running, cycling, swimming) world champion Vidmantas Urbonas, failed to complete his unprecedented swim across the Baltic, which began on July 22 from the Swedish city of Kalmar. As with last year’s attempt to swim 33 kilometers across the English Channel, Urbonas was let down by the elements.