Jeroen van der Veer leaves Royal Dutch Shell The largest oil and gas company in Western Europe, Royal Dutch Shell, announced that in July 2009 it will be headed by a new leader. Instead of Jeroen van der Veer, who reached retirement age last year, the post of executive director will be taken by Peter Voser, who has been in charge of the corporation’s finances for four years.

German bank Hypo Real Estate asks the state for 15 billion euros Hypo Real Estate, the largest German bank financing large-scale real estate projects, yesterday officially announced its intention to receive assistance from the federal government. He asked the newly created Federal Fund for Financial Market Stabilization (SoFFin) for loan guarantees from the Bundesbank in the amount of 15 billion euros. This amount turned out to be necessary to cover short-term liquidity needs.

The crisis has not yet caused a decline in consumer prices in Russia Rosstat once again noted the acceleration of price growth - by the end of October, inflation is expected to be at 0.9%. Experts interviewed by Vremya Novostei believe that one should not expect a significant slowdown in price growth. The maximum that can be counted on for now is lower inflation rates compared to last year's pre-New Year records.

A cyclone is intensifying over the center of Western Europe. And the strong southwestern high-altitude flow contributes to its rapid shift towards the Baltic. Tomorrow it will cause heavy rains in the Kaliningrad region, as well as in the Pskov, Novgorod and Leningrad regions. In the northwestern region, during heavy rains, the temperature at night is +3...+8оС, during the day +7...+12оС. On Friday, heavy rains will continue, and the wind will also increase to 15 m/s.

Pentagon chief advises reaching agreement with Russia on nuclear weapons On the eve of the US presidential elections scheduled for November 4, Russian-American cooperation in the military field has received an important impetus. US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (pictured) gave a keynote speech on Wednesday night Moscow time at the Washington headquarters of the Carnegie Endowment. The Pentagon chief spoke in favor of resuming negotiations with Moscow on concluding a new arms control treaty.

A monument to the victims of the “deaf-mute case” was unveiled in St. Petersburg The quietest opening of the monument took place yesterday at the Levashovsky Memorial Cemetery in St. Petersburg. All that could be heard was the rustling of fallen leaves and the quiet sobs of people who came to honor the memory of the leaders of the city society of the deaf, who were shot in December 1937. In complete silence, a white sheet fell and “talking” hands appeared on the smooth marble surface.

Vladimir Putin promised not to create a total state economy Prime Minister Vladimir Putin yesterday held a meeting on economic issues - similar to the weekly meetings with the president. The composition of the participants was almost the same, the problems discussed were the same - crisis. This time, the prime minister tried to convince business that government intervention in the economy is temporary.

Major Russian oil companies announced a reduction in investments due to falling world prices Three of the largest Russian oil companies reported yesterday that due to low oil prices, as well as the financial crisis, they have to significantly reduce their investment programs. LUKOIL Vice President Leonid Fedun said that the company intends to abandon “some refining projects and also reduce the volume of drilling,” which will affect production figures in the near future - in 2010-2011.

United Russia does not intend to take into account the economic crisis and the war in the Caucasus in its party program United Russia is working on a new edition of its party program called “Strategy 2020,” which should correlate with “Putin’s plan,” Russia’s development strategy until 2020. To make the brainstorming more fruitful, the party even rented a dacha in Serebryany Bor.

Maurice Bejart's troupe begins a world tour The choreographer died almost a year ago - in mid-November last year. He was eighty, he had been ill for a long time, and at rehearsals they carried him in their arms, but he continued to work until his last days. He composed a performance that his orphaned troupe has now taken around the world, and the Bejart Ballet Lausanne world tour is going on with the slogan “The last creation of Maurice Bejart.” Not a drop of testamentary pathos.

The Ukrainian parliament yesterday did not adopt amendments to the state budget that would have allocated money for holding early parliamentary elections. Only four votes were missing; 222 deputies voted to finance the elections, while the required 226. This means that elections this year may not take place, although President Viktor Yushchenko first scheduled them for December 7, and then postponed them to the 14th. However, both dates were not supported by an official presidential decree.

The British minister came to reconcile Moscow and London The visit to Russia by British Minister for Business and Entrepreneurship and former EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, which ended yesterday, at the head of a delegation of British businessmen, could be the beginning of a new thaw in relations between the two countries.

"Fat Exhibition" at Ravenscourt Gallery Since Homer’s Agamemnon burned “fat and thighs of calves” to Zeus on the altars, a lot of time has passed; fat has ceased to be solemnly called “fat” and has lost its relationship with such sublime substances as incense, oil, etc. Now they don’t share it with the gods, they eat it themselves, but at the same time they complain about the harm to health, and are also often remembered in a figurative sense, naturally, also in a negatively ironic way.

Several generations of Soviet art historians are familiar with the textbook monograph “From the history of the Grunes Gewelbe Museum.” It was always brought from the GDR by advanced tourists who visited the Saxon treasury of decorative and applied arts. In easy language, with vivid historical details, and the style of a fascinating true fairy tale, the author spoke about the delightful exhibits of the “Green Vaults”.

The 90th anniversary of the Komsomol was celebrated throughout the country On October 29, the Komsomol organization celebrated its 90th anniversary. Officially, it ceased to exist almost twenty years ago, but the organization’s birthday is widely celebrated throughout Russia. Yesterday, for example, the governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region Valery Shantsev met with the former first secretaries of the regional committee of the Komsomol.