The next hockey season starts today. The general director of the Atlant hockey club, Leonid VAISFELD, took an active part in the creation of the Continental Hockey League this summer. In an interview with Vremya Novostei correspondent Oleg YEREMIN, he explained some organizational decisions, was surprised at what the salary cap had become and called for drawing some conclusions at the end of the season.

Unofficial use of the state flag will be allowed in Russia Tomorrow, at its plenary meeting, the State Duma must allow the unofficial use of the state flag. The authors of the corresponding bill were deputies of the United Russia and A Just Russia factions.

Minsk offers Transneft to become the owner of the Belarusian oil transportation infrastructure The Russian oil transportation monopoly Transneft announced yesterday that it expects the signing of a government decree in September to begin construction of the BTS-2 oil pipeline , a branch from Druzhba in the Bryansk region to the port of Primorsk, bypassing Belarus.

The largest glaciers in the Northern Hemisphere appeared due to too clean air In the near future, Greenland may lose more than one and a half hundred square kilometers of its territory. Glaciologists from Ohio State University discovered a giant crack in the ice sheet in the northeast of the island. If it grows, a super-iceberg with an area of ​​about 160 square meters will break off from the Peterman Glacier. km.

German gas company E.ON Ruhrgas has centralized the management of its natural gas storage facilities across Europe. To this end, as announced yesterday, a special subsidiary, E.ON Gas Storage, has been founded, which will be responsible for all issues related to the operation of gas storage facilities owned by the E.ON concern throughout Europe. The new enterprise began operating in mid-August.

American sailors are afraid to walk around Sevastopol Yesterday, the US Navy Coast Guard patrol ship Dallas, previously on duty in the Georgian port of Batumi, arrived in Sevastopol at the invitation of the Ukrainian side and moored at the pier of the sea terminal. American sailors decided not to go ashore, where protesting picketers were waiting for them.

The results of yesterday's EU summit dedicated to relations with Russia and the crisis in Georgia were commented on by Vremya Novostei special correspondent Katerina LABETSKAYA, Russia's permanent representative to the European communities in Brussels, Vladimir CHIZHOV. — I hoped that EU leaders would be able to rise above momentary emotions and rhetoric and appreciate the importance of a strategic partnership with Russia. In general, these hopes were justified.

The international atmosphere is rapidly heating up. At such times, all parties need to keep a cool head. Let's hope that after the cataclysms of the twentieth century, humanity has learned at least something. But this is not what I would like to write about; what was said above is more or less obvious. Here's what it's about. Today it is customary to say, including from the highest stands and broadcasts, that Russia is rising or has already risen from its knees.

The wave of baroque music flooding the shelves of disc stores is not getting weaker, and the catches of fans are becoming more abundant. Choosing something from this mass, which glitters with iridescent scales, is not so easy. But there are discs that attract either the brightest expression of a “trend”, or, conversely, opposition to the general trend. George Frideric Handel. Triumph of Time and Disappointment. Hyperion CDA67681/2.

Commerzbank bought Dresdner Bank for 9.8 billion euros Commerzbank officially announced yesterday that it has agreed to buy Dresdner Bank for 9.8 billion euros ($14.4 billion). This is the largest takeover deal in Europe this year. According to investors and analysts, the proposed price for the unprofitable bank is too high. Previously, they assessed the financial institution at a maximum of 8-9 billion euros.

Every three days, a mayor is removed from office in the country. The peak of the political struggle for the positions of heads of municipalities in the regions will be in the fall of 2008. This is the forecast of experts made during a press conference based on the results of monitoring the facts of pressure on the heads of municipalities. This study was carried out by the Public Chamber commission on local government and housing policy.

Ingush opposition threatens self-determination Immediately after Russia recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia a week ago, there was a danger that the principle of territorial integrity could be subject to new tests. This threat deepened after the February recognition of Kosovo's independence by part of the world community. But the recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia actualized it in the Caucasus.

The most extensive memoirs about the murderer of Moses Uritsky, Leonid Kannegiser, were left by the writer Mark Aldanov, an old friend of his parents. In the essay “The Murder of Uritsky,” he remembers the young man with great warmth and bitterness and speaks extremely negatively about his victim. Also, the memoirs of Marina Tsvetaeva are full of the most flattering epithets addressed to the murderer of Uritsky: “Lenya is too fragile, tender, a flower for me.

Mikhail Porechenkov's directorial debut on Moscow screens Retired major of the airborne troops Ivan (Mikhail Porechenkov), who has many feats behind his muscular shoulders, has retired and lives with his minor daughter Zhenya (Varvara Porechenkova) in the Siberian wilderness.

Will Russia move to a mobilization economy? The State Duma should begin the autumn session with a discussion of the draft three-year budget for 2009-2011 . Already by the second reading, as many experts expect, the budget will be replenished with amendments expanding the list of expenses for military-industrial needs.