Zvonareva won the title in Thailand Vera Zvonareva became the winner of the International category tennis tournament with a prize fund of 220 thousand dollars in Pattaya (Thailand). The competition matches took place on outdoor hard courts. On the approach to the final, Zvonareva beat Slovenian Andrea Klepac (6:4, 6:3), our former compatriot Yaroslava Shvedova, now competing under the flag of Kazakhstan (6:4, 6:4), and Chinese Peng Shuai (6:2, 6: 3) and the Israeli woman Shahar Pe'er (6:1, 6:4).

UN will monitor Georgia and Abkhazia for another four months Today, 131 military observers and 20 civilian police will be able to continue working under the auspices of the UN in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict zone. Their mission, which began in 1993, came into question after Russia recognized Abkhazia's independence last August. However, on February 13, the UN Security Council was able to adopt a resolution to extend the mandate for another four months.

By hiring Guus Hiddink to work as part-time head coach of the Chelsea football club, Roman Abramovich not only did not worsen the position of the Russian national team, but, on the contrary, actually saved the Dutch specialist for us. Russian coaches, most of whom did not express much delight even when the first foreigner in history was appointed as the coach of the USSR national team, unanimously rushed to condemn Hiddink’s decision to take a part-time job.

On February 13, the air of Dresden was filled with mournful bells as the capital of Saxony commemorated the victims of the 1945 bombing. The Allied air raid, which destroyed tens of thousands of civilians and almost the entire old center of the architectural pearl of Europe, still remains one of the most controversial pages in the history of the Second World War. What was it: a war crime against humanity or a natural act of retaliation against the Nazis?

Dmitry Medvedev responded for the crisis The authorities are confident in their actions in the context of the economic crisis, including support for public and private enterprises, a gradual devaluation of the ruble and the rollout of employment programs. This is the main message of the television interview given by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. The interview was shown yesterday by the Rossiya TV channel, and was announced on Friday.

CLUBS Jazz Dance Orchestra (Russia). Union of Composers , 20.30. Anna Koroleva (vocals, saxophone) and Jump. "Forte" , 21.00. CONCERTS State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia named after. E.F. Svetlanova . L. Delibes. Conductor M. Gorenshtein. Conservatory , 19.00. Academic Symphony Orchestra MGAFA . Piazzolla, G. Beitelman, J. Gershwin, L. Bernstein. Soloists A. Volkov (saxophone), M. Adigezalzade (piano). Conductor V. Ponkin. Concert Hall named after Tchaikovsky , 19.00.

Trade unions held mass anti-crisis protests On February 14, the day when in the West, and now in Russia, it is customary to give “Valentines” to lovers, independent trade unions sent a “black mark” to the authorities and employers.

FOOTBALL. February 18-19. UEFA Cup. 1/16 finals. First matches. The first official games of the season for Zenit St. Petersburg and CSKA will be the 1/16 finals of the UEFA Cup. On Wednesday, football players from the banks of the Neva will host the German Stuttgart at the Petrovsky stadium (the game starts at 20.15). The capital's army team, under the leadership of the new head coach, Brazilian Zico, will perform on the field of the English club Aston Villa. VOLLEYBALL. February 18-19.

Southern cyclones continue to supply heat and moisture to the European territory of Russia. In most of its territory (with the exception of the northern regions), the temperature is four to eight degrees above normal. Over the next two days, warm and wet weather will continue for most parts with precipitation of varying intensity. In the northwestern region there will be light snow with temperatures at night -4...-9оС, during the day -1...-7оС.

The heaviest snowfall since the beginning of the year resulted in flooding of Moscow streets The heaviest snowfall since the beginning of the year, which hit Moscow last weekend, reminded residents of the capital that it is still winter on the calendar.

A passenger plane in the United States crashed into a residential building The Bombardier Dash 8 Q400B Continental Airlines passenger plane, flying last Thursday, February 12, from Newark (New Jersey) to Buffalo (New York) on flight No. 3407, crashed at about ten o'clock in the evening local time in the suburbs of Buffalo on residential building There were 44 passengers and five crew members on board the plane (one of them had a day off).

During the financial crisis, even Russian football clubs are trying to save money in everything. Therefore, not comfortable Spain, nor the chic UAE, but relatively inexpensive Türkiye has become an extremely popular place for pre-season training camps this year. Almost half of the Russian Premier League is preparing in the vicinity of Belek.

A Moscow region oil trader was suspected of fuel counterfeiting The Investigative Committee (IC) under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as Vremya Novostei learned, opened a criminal case on the fact of illegal entrepreneurship in connection with the activities of Eurotatoil LLC, one of the large oil traders near Moscow. According to investigators, the company's management has been producing and selling counterfeit gasoline through its network of gas stations for several years.

The global fight against protectionism has failed The American Congress has put an end to the declarations of politicians that their countries will not resort to protectionist measures to support their economies. As if to mock the new Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, who went to Rome on Friday to participate in the next meeting of the Financial Seven, Congress introduced a provision to support domestic producers into the Obama anti-crisis package.

Germany and the EU respond to the challenges of the gas crisis Representatives of the largest German fuel importer E.ON Ruhrgas, which provided additional volumes of gas during the Russian-Ukrainian confrontation, started talking about the fact that Gazprom should compensate for the shortfall. At the same time, we are not talking about legally formalized claims against Russian colleagues.