Construction of the record-breaking telescope will begin next year The European Southern Observatory has announced the completion of a project to build a supergiant optical telescope with a mirror diameter of 42 m. Construction of the telescope is due to begin in 2010, and in eight years scientists will have an instrument that will revolutionize stellar science.

The Higher School of Economics invited Sergei Aleksashenko The famous economist Sergei Aleksashenko began working at the Higher School of Economics, accepting an offer to take up the specially created post of director for macroeconomic research. He will have to create an analytical product in the field of macroeconomics that could become the “face” of HSE - to the same extent that, for example, the spring scientific conference is a symbol of this largest economic university and research center.

On Wednesday, a stormy cyclone will pass the Urals, giving way to a frosty anticyclone on European territory. Having formed over the Arctic and moving deeper into Russia, the anticyclone will change the weather pattern. Frosts will return at night, and during the day the cold air will have difficulty warming up. But the sky will clear of clouds, making way for the long-awaited sun, and the precipitation will stop.

“Ours” will not let students die of hunger The global financial crisis hit primarily not only and not so much the oligarchs, who lost 2-3 of their 30 billion, but rather the working people, primarily young people. Russia is faced with a situation where graduates of prestigious universities, regardless of whether they become lawyers or laborers, cannot get a job, and, as a result, stand on the brink of poverty (source regions.ru).

Russia and the United States have driven an Armenian wedge between Azerbaijan and Turkey A crack has emerged in relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan, partners in energy supplies to the West. The reason was the fact that the Turks, without enlisting the support of the Azerbaijanis, began to build bridges with the Armenians. Baku is confident that there was some influence here from Russia and the United States.

Doctors have developed a theory of the origin of autism Scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University in Israel have proposed a revolutionary new theory for the origin of autism. The brains of people with this disease, according to research, are structurally normal, but certain areas of it are “unbalanced.” If the new theory of Israeli doctors is correct, then this mysterious disease may be curable.

Italy is rocked by new tremors On Tuesday, a wave of tremors swept through Italy, which suffered a terrible earthquake the day before. The so-called echo shocks in the scientific community with a magnitude of 4.7 on the Richter scale, according to the Italian Civil Defense Service, were recorded at 11.27 (13.27 Moscow time) in the central part of the country. They were felt in Rome and other localities in the Lazio metropolitan area.

FFMS summed up the results of 2008 The Federal Service for Financial Markets (FSFM) yesterday published a report on the results of its activities in 2008. Contrary to the established opinion of experts, the actions of the Federal Financial Markets Service to suspend sessions did not lead to an increase in trading turnover on the London Stock Exchange and a decrease in it on the MICEX.

The head of Naftogaz, without going to work, held negotiations in Moscow Chairman of the Board of Naftogaz of Ukraine Oleg Dubina, who has been officially on sick leave for more than two months due to heart problems , unexpectedly visited Moscow on Monday, where he met with the head of Gazprom, Alexey Miller. Yesterday, Naftogaz released an official statement from Mr. Dubina, which states that a delegation of the Ukrainian concern visited Moscow.

What will the return of the Taliban look like? “At the conference we will definitely look at the Russian presence in Afghanistan.” These words of the famous Afghan political scientist Abdul Gafur Lewal, spoken by him yesterday in Moscow, will most likely become the leitmotif of the international conference opening today in the Russian capital.

From consolidation in Chechnya to instability in Dagestan The Center for Political Technologies presented yesterday the report “The Federal Center and the North Caucasus.” As CPT President Igor Bunin said, a similar study was already conducted by analysts of this organization in 2005. One of the main conclusions of the current report is that while the situation in some Caucasian republics is stabilizing, there is a clear deterioration in others.

Brussels is trying to determine the fate of Commerzbank The German Commerzbank, the second largest financial institution in the country, is ready to abandon important areas of business under pressure from Brussels. Discussions are under way regarding the alienation of the real estate finance bank Eurohypo, as well as the entire existing business of Commerzbank in Eastern Europe.

Watch from April 9 on Moscow screens “Beverly Hills Babe” (USA, 2008, Raja Gosnell). Somewhat straightforward in its reception, but nevertheless an excellent entertaining movie, in which a millionaire Chihuahua dog (in the original, Drew Barrymore speaks for her) found herself half-lost, half-stolen in the capital of Mexico and, instead of the usual nail trimming salons and dog boutiques, found herself in the very center of a real life. Completely predictable, but funny and cute.

Public hearings have been revived in the Senate building The new location of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, namely the building of the former Senate and Synod in St. Petersburg, gave rise to the idea of ​​​​introducing not a new, but well-forgotten tradition of public hearings into the domestic Themis. Namely, Senate hearings.

Gazprom bought 20% of its oil subsidiary from Eni Gazprom concluded one of its most unprofitable deals. Yesterday, on the sidelines of the Russian-Italian business forum, the head of Gazprom, Alexey Miller, and the chief executive officer of the Eni concern, Paolo Scaroni, signed a purchase and sale agreement for a 20% stake in Gazprom Neft.