President of the Nixon Center in Washington, political scientist Dmitry SIMES answered questions from Vremya Novostey columnist Pyotr ISKENDEROV. -- Why does the US administration support the independence of Kosovo, but blocks recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia?

US and German intelligence agencies will identify terrorists Germany and the United States will more actively exchange data on suspects of involvement in international terrorism. German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble and Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries agreed on this yesterday in Berlin with their American colleagues - Homeland Security Minister Michael Chertoff and Justice Minister Michael Mukasey.

About Evgeny Shklovsky’s novel “Unloved Children” Evgeny Shklovsky is one of the most notable modern Russian storytellers.

Political passions at an arthouse festival The 38th short film festival ended in Tampere (Finland), the program of which included daring artistic experiments alongside a loud political scandal. From the Russian point of view, it is a paradox that a short film festival becomes an event in the public life of their country, despite the short nature, and therefore the aesthetic experimentalism of the films shown. But this time it happened in Tampere.

Moscow authorities hope to make the conditions for hiring migrants impossible for employers It seems that the capital's authorities are preparing new administrative obstacles for hiring migrant workers for city employers who have not yet had time to recover from a sharp reduction in quotas for foreign labor this year .

After summing up the official results of the presidential elections, Vladimir Putin appointed new governors of the Arkhangelsk and Ryazan regions for Dmitry Medvedev. Formally, the law has not been violated: the powers of the second president remain until the inauguration of the third. In addition, both of the replaced governors were expiring their terms of office.

The Presidents of Russia instructed the leadership of the State Duma Both Russian presidents - the current Vladimir Putin and the elected but not yet inaugurated Dmitry Medvedev - met yesterday with the leaders of parliamentary factions and vice-speakers of the State Duma. They explained to deputies what they should do first and made it clear that no fundamental reform of the structure of government was expected.

In the north and center of the European territory of Russia, thanks to the efforts of cyclones traveling through the waters of the Arctic seas, very warm weather has established itself. In the center of Russia, the average daily temperature was 7-8 degrees, and in the north-west it was 10-12 degrees higher than the climatic norm.

Europeans are looking for the right tone in a conversation with Russia Nicolas Sarkozy was the first foreign leader to congratulate Dmitry Medvedev on his victory in the presidential election by telephone. Yesterday, while going to an audience with the President of France, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov casually reminded about this. This is an accident, but it is symbolic that the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry made his first foreign visit to Paris after March 2.

Georgia is included in the NATO system for exchanging information about the situation in the airspace, the country's leaders announced on Tuesday in Tbilisi. According to them, Georgia has become the second country after Austria to be included in this system without being a NATO member.

CONCERTS Symphony Orchestra of the Moscow Conservatory under the direction of conductor Anatoly Levin, as well as soloist Tigran Alikhanov (piano). The program includes Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 and Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring. Great Hall of the Conservatory , 19.00. "Music born of words." National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia , conductor Andrey Danilov . The program includes Elgar's Enigma, Beethoven's Coriolanus, Schumann's Manfred Overture and Liszt's symphonic poem Preludes.

In most of the European territory of Russia, warm weather remains with an average daily temperature 2-5 degrees higher than the climate norm for these days. The reason for this is the Atlantic cyclones, whose trajectories pass along the northern coast. Along their southern peripheries, with western and southwestern flows that are established at high altitudes, portions of warm and humid air continue to be carried to European Russia.

Poland gets carried away by anti-missile bargaining with the United States Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in Washington yesterday that the US "expects to prepare its proposals for modernizing Poland's armed forces within about three months." This means that the head of the Polish cabinet managed to achieve the main goal of his American tour - to force the White House to make concessions.

The off-season did not reduce the number of scandals in the Royal Races In recent years, it has become increasingly difficult to make pre-season forecasts in Formula 1. Even predict the approximate contours of the championship. Since 2005, when Fernando Alonso unexpectedly ended Michael Schumacher's five-year championship, Nostradamus could not have predicted the path the championship would take.

The alleged mastermind of the murder of Evgeny Grigoriev was detained The Investigative Committee at the Prosecutor's Office yesterday announced the arrest of four people suspected of murdering the prosecutor of the Saratov region, Evgeny Grigoriev , who was shot dead on February 13 at the entrance of his own house.