"Copper Sunset" by Leonid Zorin - the best story of 2008 The first laureate of the restored Ivan Petrovich Belkin Prize was Leonid Zorin. The award-winning story “Copper Sunset” (“Znamya”, 2008, No. 2) was discussed upon its release (see “Vremya Novostey” of April 4, 2008) , and in general about today’s winner of the “storytellers” tournament, a wonderful prose writer and the playwright had to write many times.

The US President announced the timing of withdrawal from Iraq The initiative of US President Barack Obama to withdraw the bulk of the American military contingent from Iraq by the end of August 2010 was approved by the Iraqi leadership.

Preferential lending conditions revealed The Ministry of Industry and Trade has determined the amount of benefit for borrowers seeking to purchase a passenger car made in Russia in 2009. “Thanks to state subsidies for consumer car loans under one agreement, you can save up to 42.5 thousand rubles,” the official website of the department quotes the words of the director of the department of automotive industry and agricultural engineering, Alexei Rakhmanov.

FOOTBALL. March 7. Russian Super Cup. CSKA - Rubin (Kazan). Moscow. The match for the Russian Super Cup will take place on the artificial turf of the Luzhniki Grand Sports Arena. The trophy, which is contested between the national champion and the Cup winner, has been played since 2003. It was won three times by the army team (2004, 2006, 2007), twice by the capital's Lokomotiv (2003, 2005), and last year the prize went to Zenit St. Petersburg. BASKETBALL. March 3. European Cup.

Williams Sr. wins 41st title American Venus Williams became the winner of the WTA tournament with a prize fund of $220 thousand on the courts of the Mexican resort of Acapulco. In the decisive match, the black tennis player defeated Italian representative Flavia Pennetta - 6:1, 6:2. Williams Sr. improved as the tournament progressed.

Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who in January joined the board of directors of TNK-BP as an independent director , last Friday inspected the company's projects in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug. Mr. Schroeder, who has visited Russia more than once, has not yet had the opportunity to visit Russian oil fields. However, according to him, having joined the board of directors of the Russian-British consortium, he decided to “learn better” about TNK-BP.

CSKA is already out of reach in the Super League table Having won the next calendar match against rivals from the Lokomotiv-Rostov club last Saturday, CSKA became the winner of the Super League ahead of schedule. Unlike other team sports in Russian basketball, the title of the best team of the regular season not only means the right to have home-court advantage at all stages of the playoffs, but is also encouraged by the presentation of a separate set of awards.

The Prosecutor General's Office appealed the acquittal in the Politkovskaya case The Prosecutor General's Office of Russia on Friday filed a cassation appeal to the military collegium of the Supreme Court against the verdict of the Moscow District Military Court (MOVS), which on February 20 fully acquitted all four defendants in the case of the murder of Novaya Gazeta journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

January 27 -- February 27, 2009 “Politicians Through the Eyes of the Media,” a joint project of “Vremya Novostei” and the “Medialogia” company, are ratings of political figures who are most actively discussed in the federal press and on central TV channels. The ratings reflect both the total number of publications per month and the level of information favorability in relation to each political person.

CLUBS Irina Razumikhina . Program “You’re coming, you look like me...”: romances and songs based on poems by Marina Tsvetaeva. House of Journalists , 19.00. Anna Koroleva (vocals, saxophone) and Jump. "Forte" , 21.00. CONCERTS “In honor of Russian ballet...” A. Koreshchenko, N. Cherepnin, A. Arensky, I. Stravinsky, A. Glazunov, S. Prokofiev, P. Tchaikovsky. Symphony Orchestra of Russia. Conductor and soloist S. Stadler (violin). Conservatory , 19.00. Bassoon and cello . A. Vivaldi, V.-A.

Presidential elections in Afghanistan in April Afghan President Hamid Karzai yesterday issued a decree according to which the next presidential elections in the country will be held “within the period determined by the Afghan constitution.” This means that they must take place between 30 and 60 days before the expiration of the five-year term of office of the current head of state, which ends on May 22, 2009.

Moscow is trying to outshine European carnivals with Maslenitsa Before the start of Lent among Orthodox Russians and on the occasion of the end of Maslenaya Week, the Moscow authorities organized a mass celebration with claims to the best carnival on the planet.

Results of the International Debut Film Festival in Khanty-Mansiysk The chairman of the festival jury, the English director, Oscar winner Hugh Hudson, arriving in the snow-covered, sparkling Khanty-Mansiysk, said that he hoped to spend “a week full of fire” here, because by definition, bright emotions and discoveries should be expected from debutants.

Yesterday, in the Dutch city of Leidschendam, not far from The Hague, an international tribunal began its work investigating the murder in Beirut on February 14, 2005 of the famous politician Rafik Hariri and 22 other people with him. The court will look for those responsible for other murders of deputies, journalists and businessmen in Lebanon. Within 60 days, Canadian Attorney General Daniel Bellemare must make public the list of defendants.

Why did Moscow and Beijing fight for Damansky Island? Forty years ago, in March 1969, fighting broke out on Damansky Island, where we were forced to defend our border on the Ussuri River with China from an unexpected attack. Today Damansky Island is part of the territory of the People's Republic of China. And in October 2008, the opening ceremony of border markers on the islands near the city of Khabarovsk took place.