At the end of last week, the leaders of 27 EU member countries held a traditional macroeconomic summit in Brussels. European leaders were introduced to the concept of a "Mediterranean Union" for the first time. This idea was put forward by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and supported, with reservations, by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Loss-making Italian airline sold to Franco-Dutch Air France-KLM The board of directors of the Italian airline Alitalia yesterday voted in favor of a proposal to sell the state stake in the national air carrier to the French-Dutch concern Air France-KLM. The deal must still be approved by the Italian government. In addition, the buyer is obliged to reach an understanding with the Alitalia trade unions and obtain approval from the stock market regulators in Italy and the European Union.

The rise of military contracting While in Russia the state is actively taking over profitable assets, the American government is voluntarily transferring activities that were considered the prerogative of the state to private business - contracting companies, which during the years of the presidency of George W. Bush became the fourth estate.

Perm and Nalchik set the tone for the Russian Championship The Russian Championship started with a slippage - none of the main contenders, not just for gold, but at least for medals, was able to take three points in the first round. And now the company of the Samara “Wings of the Soviets” and the Kazan “Rubin” at the head of the standings were formed by those who were predicted to have a difficult struggle in the fight for survival.

Vnesheconombank presented awards to young singers of the Mariinsky Theater The State Corporation “Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs” (Vnesheconombank) awarded prizes to young singers of the Mariinsky Theater for the eighth time.

Military pilot Senior Lieutenant D., performing a mission in a distant aerobatic zone, was forced to eject and landed with a parachute in a remote area of ​​the northern taiga. Before leaving the fighter, the pilot managed to report to the command post about what happened to him. When ready, a search and rescue team was raised. The helicopter ironed the sky for two hours to no avail, and then a snow storm fell - a quite frequent phenomenon in those places.

Yushchenko and Tymoshenko agreed on the gas issue The agreement between Gazprom and Naftogaz signed in the middle of last week seems to have reduced the degree of tension between the Ukrainian president and prime minister. On Friday, Yulia Tymoshenko, in accordance with the new protocol of meetings of the highest official of Ukraine after official visits, was waiting for the return of Viktor Yushchenko from Poland.

FIVB is preparing a rule on the limit on foreign players Volleyball. Super League. Men. 18th round. "Lokomotiv" NS -- "Ural" -- 3:0, "Dynamo-TTG" -- "Gazprom-Yugra" -- 3:1, "Yugra-Samotlor" -- "Fakel" -- 3:0, " Dynamo M -- Dynamo-Yantar -- 3:0, Iskra -- Lokomotiv-Izumrud -- 3:0, Yaroslavich -- Lokomotiv-Belogorye -- 3:0. Leading: Dynamo M - 43 points (15 wins - 2 losses), Iskra - 40 (14--3), Lokomotiv Ns - 38 (13--4), Dynamo-TTG » -- 33 (11--5).

Election violations covered by air raid raid The topic of violations and falsifications in the presidential, regional and municipal elections held on March 2 was again raised by the human rights organization “Voice” together with the chairman of the Interregional Association of Voters Andrei Buzin. As you know, the Central Election Commission denies any talk of violations , citing a lack of evidence.

St. Patrick's Day was celebrated in the capital Ireland Day took place in Moscow yesterday. Several thousand people selflessly celebrated in the center of the capital the national holiday of this distant country - St. Patrick's Day. The Moscow authorities did not interfere with this and even blocked New Arbat, where the festive parade took place, for two hours. Western holidays - St.

Today and tomorrow US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates will hold talks in Moscow . The main topic of meetings, including with Russian leaders Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev, is controversial security issues, including missile defense (BMD). But the guests will also raise other questions, as Assistant Deputy Secretary of State David KRAMER told Vremya Novostei in an interview with INTERFAX special correspondent in Washington Pyotr Cheremushkin.

Iran refuses to negotiate with the “six” international mediators on its nuclear dossier . “Negotiations on the nuclear issue with the Six or any other individual country will no longer be held, and the Iranian nuclear issue will be resolved only with the International Atomic Energy Agency,” said government spokesman Gholamhossein Elham.

Angela Merkel was allowed to speak in German in the Knesset Yesterday, an impressive government delegation from Germany, led by Chancellor Angela Merkel, arrived in Israel for a three-day visit. The visit is timed to coincide with the upcoming celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Jewish state in May. For the first time in the history of relations between the two countries, German-Israeli intergovernmental consultations will be held in Jerusalem.

Alexey Miller reported to Vladimir Putin on new prices for Central Asian gas The consequences of the collusion between Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan regarding the prices of gas purchased by Russia (see Vremya Novostey, March 14) interested Vladimir Putin. Last Friday, the head of state asked Gazprom Chairman of the Board Alexei Miller, who had been invited to the Kremlin to report, to report on the details of the situation.

National diasporas do not have to count on support from official authorities The first reporting forum of the Federation of Migrants of Russia, “Migrant Communities for Civil Solidarity and Interethnic Harmony,” which took place last Friday, showed that if ethnic communities of representatives of the near and far abroad are ready to take the first step in implementing the official migration policy of the authorities, then government officials are ready to work together with national diasporas