Metalloinvest is considering options for merging with Kazakhmys The Kazakhmys copper corporation is negotiating with Alisher Usmanov's Metalloinvest about a possible merger deal. The Financial Times reported this yesterday on its Alphaville website without citing the source of such information.

Imperial Energy has a new potential buyer British Imperial Energy , which owns oil and gas assets in Russia and Kazakhstan, has begun negotiations on the sale of its shares. As the Indian media learned, an offer to purchase a stake in the company was made by the Indian Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC). Imperial Energy confirmed to Vremya Novostey only that the company could indeed sell part of its shares soon, but refused to say what part and whether it had actually received an offer from ONGC.

More and more Russians want to elect their own governors The discussion about a return to direct gubernatorial elections in Russia is gaining momentum . Before the speaker of the Federation Council Sergei Mironov had time to speak out in favor of the election of regional heads, supporting the presidents of Tatarstan and Bashkiria Mintimer Shaimiev and Murtaza Rakhimov, the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM) published data from a sociological survey on this topic.

For the first time, a sitting head of state may be arrested The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, 56-year-old Argentine Luis Moreno-Ocampo, yesterday demanded the arrest of 64-year-old Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir (pictured) for crimes in Darfur , including the murder of 35 thousand of its inhabitants. The three ICC judges have a month and a half to decide whether to accept the case against al-Bashir.

US authorities rescue mortgage agencies US financial authorities are making new attempts to prevent panic in financial markets. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced financial support for mortgage agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac . Chairman of the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Sheila Baer assured individual depositors of the reliability of the vast majority of American banks.

Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree on the property contribution of the Russian Federation to Russian Technologies President Dmitry Medvedev finally signed the long-awaited decree on the formation of the authorized capital of the state corporation Russian Technologies . As a result, this largest military-industrial empire will include 426 enterprises - 180 federal state unitary enterprises and shares in 246 joint-stock companies.

Traffic is restricted in the Olympic capital In Beijing, Olympic organizers continue to work on security issues. A list of items prohibited from being brought into stadiums was published, and additional restrictions were invented for motorists. Forbidden Strip To improve the environmental situation in Beijing and relieve traffic congestion, the city authorities are coming up with new ways.

Last weekend in Nizhny Tagil the 6th international exhibition of weapons, military equipment and ammunition Russian Expo Arms-2008 and the 5th international exhibition “Defense and Security-2008” finished their work . Vremya Novostei military observer Nikolai POROSKOV asked Deputy General Director of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Rosoboronexport, head of the state mediator delegation Igor SEVASTYANOV, to share his impressions of these two large-scale events.

The number of poor people in Russia may increase again Inflation in Russia affects the poor more than the rich. Not only experts, but also the government agree with this axiom. More unexpected are the forecasts according to which in Russia in 2008, for the first time since the beginning of the century , the absolute growth in the number of citizens living below the official poverty level may resume.

The President authorized a new stage of health care reform A new stage of health care reform , which the Kremlin and the White House have not dared to undertake in recent years, will begin in the first year of Dmitry Medvedev’s rule.

General Bulbov was again considered unworthy of freedom Yesterday, the Moscow City Court once again recognized the legality of the arrest of General of the Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN) Alexander Bulbov, whom the Basmanny Court had previously allowed to be kept in prison until mid-September. Both the general himself and his lawyers, as well as the Prosecutor General’s Office, demanded that the decision of the Basmanny Court be overturned. But the court did not listen to their opinion.

On the eve of today's meeting of Russian ambassadors and permanent representatives at the Foreign Ministry with the participation of President Dmitry Medvedev, First Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei DENISOV told Vremya Novostey about the significance of this event. -- Such meetings with the country’s leadership have already become a tradition and are being held for the fourth time since 2002. This meeting seems very timely.

CLUBS Fortuna Brass. Brass ensemble plays jazz at Blue Bird , 7:30 p.m. Tecora Rogers. The brilliant jazz vocalist from Chicago performs in Moscow for the first time. "Union of Composers" , 20.00. Ash. Igor Nadezhdin, pianist and organizer of the group, lived in Israel for a long time, where the idea was born to assemble a team playing brazil jazz. The repertoire of song arrangements by A.-K. Jobima, Brazilian classics, as well as songs of his own composition in Portuguese. Forte , 21.00.

Dmitry Medvedev will come to the Foreign Ministry “An energetic foreign policy is the most important resource for the further progressive development of Russia” - this is the motto of the two-day meeting of Russian ambassadors and permanent representatives to international organizations opening today at the Foreign Ministry. Heads of Russian foreign diplomatic missions arrived in Moscow from many countries around the world to participate in it.

Chechnya wants to bridge gaps in education The Chechen Ministry of Education is concerned about the quality of education in republican schools, mainly due to the lack of qualified teachers. By the new school year, Education Minister Anzor Muzaev expects to fill vacant positions with students from pedagogical universities, with whom it is expected to conclude contracts for three years. The program of financial incentives for students, according to Mr. Muzaev, has already been developed.