Music in 2007: at a crossroads Remembering the past year in mass culture, I somehow don’t want to “analyze” the “Factory” with its results, much less wash the bones of Zemfira and “Mumiy Troll” or guess when Madonna will come again? Because whatever one may say, what kind of results did you expect from “Factory”? Which of the participants there will form the next Radiohead? And why are we, music journalists, attached to the a priori masterpiece creations of the Main Singer and the Main Group?

Verdict handed down in case of poisoning of banker Ivan Kivelidi The Zamoskvoretsky court of the capital yesterday handed down a verdict in one of the most high-profile and mysterious cases of the 90s - the murder of the chairman of the Russian Business Roundtable (RBT), head of Rosbusinessbank Ivan Kivelidi, for the solution of which Russian bankers at one time promised a reward of 1 million dollars.

IT-2007 -- preliminary results Last week, the Ministry of Information and Communications presented preliminary results of the development of the industry under its jurisdiction in 2007. The exact information will be known only in February, but it is unlikely to diverge from what the head of the department, Leonid Reiman, told reporters. In particular, the minister said that the density of fixed-line communications in Russia has reached 32 telephone sets per 100 people.

Gazprom will gasify St. Petersburg The governor of St. Petersburg, Valentina Matvienko, signed a cooperation agreement yesterday with the head of Gazprom, Alexei Miller. Next year the concern will invest over 10 billion rubles. to St. Petersburg boiler houses, pipelines, heating networks and stadiums.

Automakers and oil refiners move at different speeds The technical regulations “On the requirements for gasoline, diesel fuel and certain fuels and lubricants”, it seems, will not be approved by the Russian government in the outgoing year. And yet, from January 1, 2008, the Russian automotive industry is switching to the production of cars that meet the Euro-3 environmental standard, for which the fuel sold at most Russian gas stations is simply dangerous.

Alexy II reported on the work of the Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church has not remained aloof from the secular tradition of presenting a report on the work done in the weeks leading up to the New Year. Yesterday, Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II, speaking at the annual diocesan meeting of the Moscow clergy in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, played the role of a kind of auditor and presented the church’s statistical indicators for 2007.

The Prosecutor General's Office is completing an inspection of its Investigative Committee Already this week, as Vremya Novostei learned, the Prosecutor General's Office plans to complete an inspection of the recently formed new department - the Investigative Committee under the Prosecutor's Office (ICP), which became known two weeks ago .

Skiers and skaters have no time to think about the holidays Last weekend, several significant competitions took place for Russian athletes - representatives of winter sports. Skiers measured their strength on the Krasnogorsk Ski Track, speed skaters in Kolomna near Moscow decided on the lineup for the World Sprint All-Around Championships, and the “flying skiers” rehearsed on the eve of the Four Hills Tour.

Yesterday, the Japanese government approved changes to the use of the missile defense system (ABM). From now on, it can be used immediately if there is an obvious threat of a missile attack without prior warning to the country's prime minister, which was a prerequisite for the launch of interceptor missiles.

The hundredth anniversary of the architect Oscar Niemeyer is celebrated at the Museum of Architecture The Shchusev Museum of Architecture has opened an exhibition dedicated to the centenary of the legendary Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer. For obvious reasons, the hero of the day himself was not at the opening day. He was congratulated via teleconference. Oscar Niemeyer Suaris Filho was born and educated in Rio de Janeiro.

Pilgrims return to Bethlehem Today, the holiday of the Nativity of Christ according to the Gregorian calendar will come to Christ’s hometown - Bethlehem. Due to ongoing unrest in the Palestinian Authority, which includes Bethlehem, and last year due to the Lebanese-Israeli war, foreign pilgrims have refrained from visiting the holy sites. Before the Palestinian uprising of 2000-2005, about 90 thousand tourists came to Bethlehem for the Christmas holidays.

For the first time, Russia has a fifth Duma “Happy new term to you! - communist deputy Nikolai Kharitonov congratulated his faction colleagues yesterday, half-jokingly and half-gloomily. “We went to prison again, the sixth in a row.” In fact, the plenary session that took place yesterday on Okhotny Ryad was the first in the work of the State Duma of the fifth convocation , and Mr. Kharitonov added to his solid Duma credentials his experience as a deputy of the Supreme Council.

Two exhibitions by two masters of Russian camp Both Andrei Bartenev and Vladislav Mamyshev-Monroe are the favorites of the entire bohemian Moscow, which ignores sanctimonious morality, regulations and norms and orientations imposed by someone. Both artists are Russia's best masters of that cultural movement that Susan Sontag dubbed "camp" in the 1960s: a special kind of aestheticism, a "florid mannerism" that turns the serious into the frivolous for the sake of a new sensitivity.

Two companies are already vying for 7.4% of Polyus shares The KM Invest fund, which manages the assets of Vladimir Potanin and Mikhail Prokhorov, who are at the stage of a conflictual division of the business, did not have time to put up for sale a 7.4% stake in Polyus Gold, but buyers already appeared for this package.

Igor Chudinov became Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan will enter the coming new year with fully formed branches of government, executive and legislative. Yesterday, a week after the early parliamentary elections held on December 16, a new parliamentary corps met to approve the candidacy of the country's new prime minister and elect the speaker of parliament.