Sergey Chernov presented the Golden Baskets and will lead the basketball federation until 2013 Two in a row of large events were held by the Russian Basketball Federation.

Arsenal won in Manchester without nine key players The top three simultaneously played away matches against ambitious opponents. Manchester City received a lesson in skill from Arsenal, who broke away from Chelsea and Manchester United, who both ended their matches in draws. The heroes of winter transfers began to become heroes of their teams.

A package of social bills, according to which from February 1 the salaries of public sector employees and monetary allowances for military personnel will be increased, will be adopted by the State Duma on February 15. This was announced by the First Deputy of the Lower House Committee on Budget and Taxes Vitaly Shuba. The documents will be discussed and adopted by the State Duma in the first reading on February 8, and in the second and third readings on February 15, the deputy noted.

A huge scandal erupted yesterday around Microsoft's announcement of its intention to acquire Yahoo! Inc. The stated transaction amount is $44.6 billion, at $31 per share... According to Google, in this way Microsoft wants to establish no less than illegal control over the Internet.

Lawyer Day appears on the Russian calendar At the end of this year, Russian judges, prosecutors, lawyers, legal advisers, notaries and other servants of Themis will celebrate their own professional holiday for the first time. The decree approving Lawyer's Day was signed yesterday by Vladimir Putin, president and graduate of the Leningrad State University Law Faculty. The Day of Justice will be celebrated on December 3.

Yesterday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Baghdad on an unannounced visit for talks with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The Secretary of State arrived in Iraq from Saudi Arabia, where she accompanied President Bush on a Middle East tour. Rice expressed satisfaction with Iraq's progress in national reconciliation, noting legislation passed by the Iraqi parliament on January 12.

A book has appeared, collecting reflections on television over the past three years Television today is our everything; broadcast brings home not only news, but also all interpretative versions of events, all faces, all public institutions, which are the only way they become reality for the majority of Russians. Even the conversations of close people are sprinkled with quotes from TV much more abundantly than with references to personal experience.

Russia is looking for new sources of placing financial reserves Instability in global financial markets and the depreciation of the dollar against other major currencies are forcing the Russian government to consider the possibility of adjusting the structure of the allocation of the country's financial reserves .

Are Russian officials getting carried away with the holidays? Tomorrow, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni will arrive in Moscow for a one-day visit . It was planned in advance that during the visit an agreement “On the waiver of visa formalities for mutual trips of citizens of Russia and Israel” would be signed. Working delegations of the foreign ministries of the two countries agreed on its text in Moscow at the end of 2007.

Everything you need to know about the Berlinale This week, on Thursday, the 58th Berlin Film Festival begins. The most honored guests are expected at the opening - director Martin Scorsese and the Rolling Stones, led by Mick Jagger. The occasion was the premiere of a documentary film about the history of the group, in which concert footage of the recent tour was generously used.

Alexander Lazarev and Mikhail Pletnev: unannounced duel When monster orchestras with master conductors appear on the capital’s stage one after another, as, for example, at the World Orchestra Festival, this inspires and pleases us not only with the opportunity to enjoy their art, but also with the convenience of comparison, an enjoyable and instructive activity.

Another loser found in American elections With the approach of today, “Super Tuesday,” when the primary elections for US presidential candidates from the Democratic and Republican parties will be held in more than 20 states, the list of those dropping out of the race has been lengthening. The former mayor of New York, 63-year-old Republican Rudy Giuliani , and 54-year-old Democratic Senator John Edwards left the race.

It is easier for Yushchenko to reach an agreement with the WTO than to speak in the Rada Today, President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko goes to Geneva to take part in the signing of the protocol on the country's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) . Ukraine, which began the integration process back in 1993, will become a full member of the WTO 30 days after ratification of the protocol by the country’s parliament and amendments to Ukrainian legislation.

Atlantic cyclones are in full swing in the European North. In St. Petersburg, even in the western wind with gusts of up to 20 m/s, the first one this year occurred and the 306th in a row from the moment of the city the flood-the water level in the Neva rose 198 cm above the orderly.

The main accused of murder of the first deputy chairman of the Central Bank lost another lawyer In the Moscow City Court today, it is expected to begin the process in a high -profile criminal case on the murder of the first deputy chairman of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation Andrei Kozlov, shot in September 2006 near the Spartak sports complex in Sokolniki.