Manchester United in the World Cup final Manchester United and the winner of the Copa Libertadores, Liga Deportiva Universitaria from the capital of Ecuador, Quito, will play in the final of the World Cup among clubs. On the way to the final, the Ecuadorian “students” beat the strongest North American club “Pachuca” 2:0, “Manchester United” defeated the hosts of the tournament, the Japanese club “Gamba Osaka” - 5:3.

Russians want to take the crisis into their own hands More and more Russians expect a drop in living standards in the coming 2009 due to the economic crisis, layoffs and unemployment. However, along with the growth of pessimistic sentiments, the number of citizens who intend not to wait for help from the state, but to take their destiny into their own hands is increasing - for example, looking for a new job on their own or even opening their own business.

Chechen special services suffered their heaviest losses since the beginning of the year In the Chechen city of Argun on Thursday night, two law enforcement officers were killed and six more were wounded as a result of a fierce battle with militants. There have not been such bloody clashes in the republic for a long time. The losses of the bandits were much less. In the house in which the criminals were hiding, which was burned down as a result of the shelling, only one corpse was found.

The presidents of Russia and the United States will start with weapons Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will meet with US President-elect Barack Obama shortly after his inauguration on January 20, 2009. This was announced by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after a meeting in Moscow with American Republican Senator Richard Lugar.

United Russia secured Nikita Belykh the post of Kirov governor Yesterday Nikita Belykh was officially vested with the powers of governor of the Kirov region. His candidacy for the post of head of the region was submitted by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to the Kirov parliament on December 8.

Automakers and car owners took the dispute to the streets The domestic auto industry countered the spontaneous revolt of car owners, who expressed their disagreement with the increase in duties on foreign cars by blocking streets in a number of Russian cities and other accessible, but not always sanctioned actions, with organized rallies of the proletariat in support of government decisions.

US President-elect Barack Obama continues to fill vacancies in his incoming administration. As the Washington Post reported, after Pentagon chief Robert Gates, the second Republican on the new president's team will be Secretary of Transportation, 63-year-old Ray LaHood. Since 1995, he has been a member of the US House of Representatives from the state of Illinois, where Barack Obama began his career. A descendant of Lebanese immigrants, Ray LaHood is known as a centrist and budget specialist.

About “E-mail” by Susanna Chernobrova “It is amazing that the most pragmatic object in the world - the computer - gave birth to the most fantastic phenomenon - e-mail. The letter arrives at the speed of a glance. You asked for "New Year's".

The trade mission in Cologne will remain in the Russian register The trade mission in Cologne “remains in the register of Russian real estate abroad,” Viktor Khrekov, press secretary of the Russian Presidential Administration, said yesterday. The day before, a plot of land with an area of ​​about 2.5 thousand square meters. m, on which the complex of buildings is located, went under the hammer by decision of the local Supreme Land Court.

CLUBS "Picnic". Central House of Artists , December 19 and 20, 19.00. Mansound (Ukraine). Vocal sextet. Igor Butman Club , December 19, 20.00. Alexander Laertsky. FM Club , December 19, 21.00. "Bi-2". “B1 Maximum” , December 19, 21.00. Zdob Si Zdub. “Concert” , December 19, 21.30. Lyapis Trubetskoy. “B2” , December 19, 23.00. Anniversary of the portal ikra.tv - a social network promoting young groups. “Mumiy Troll”, “Bird Zu”, Skafandr, Dream Mechanics, Overrun and others will perform.

What will happen to radio in 5-10 years? What will it be like in the near future? It was in search of answers to these questions that the Voice of Russia radio station gathered representatives of the largest radio stations in the world in Moscow for an international conference. Among the forum participants are radio broadcasters from the UK, Spain, Germany, USA, China, Ukraine, Switzerland and other countries. During the discussions, video bridges were organized with Munich, Israel, and London.

Russians are not ready to share information about their personal lives and income with the state Apparently, statisticians will not be able to create a complete picture of the demographic, economic, family and housing situation of Russians within the framework of the population census planned for the fall of 2010. The fact is that the state’s interest in the private life of citizens causes the latter more and more irritation every year.

Alexander Medvedev invited exporters to fight the crisis together The leaders of Gazprom and the Ministry of Energy announced yesterday that they had prepared for the Forum of Gas Exporting Countries next week in Moscow. Numerous foreign delegations have already confirmed their presence at it, however, some major players in the gas market are not yet planning to come to the capital of our country - the participation of Nigeria, Malaysia and the UAE is in question.

Base is knocked out from under Somali pirates The Chinese have joined the international patrol of the Gulf of Aden, where Somali pirates are rampaging and where the Russian patrol ship Neustrashimy and ships of other countries are already fighting against them.

Consultations on the Caucasus brought only gas Participants in the two-day international consultations on security and stability in the Caucasus, which ended yesterday at the Geneva Palace of Nations, were one step away from signing the first document. It was called the Border Incident Prevention Mechanism. But it was still not possible to come to an agreement, although the discussions went on without interruption from nine in the morning to three in the afternoon.