The fate of Opel will be decided tonight Late this evening, the fate of the Opel automaker will see, as Angela Merkel floridly put it the day before, “the culmination of the need for a solution.” The Federal Chancellor's office has scheduled the start of a crisis summit at 8:30 p.m. local time, at which the issue of Opel's future will be finally resolved.

Veliky Novgorod is feverishly preparing to celebrate its anniversary - it will turn 1,150 years old in June. The overture to the celebration will be the Hanseatic Days, which will bring together the “plenipotentiaries” of European cities that once had trade ties with the republic on the Volkhov River.

A lawyer from Chelyabinsk punished transport workers for failure to fulfill obligations to passengers The example of Sergei Smerdov, a resident of Yekaterinburg and member of the Sutyazhnik society, who several years ago sued for compensation for changing the tram route, turned out to be contagious.

American speaker calls on China for cooperation Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, who has previously proven herself to be a sharp critic of China's policies towards Tibet and on human rights issues, said yesterday in Beijing that "the climate change crisis will allow us to 'change the record' in relations between the two countries." “The PRC and the United States can and must fight this challenge together,” she emphasized.

Entrepreneurs who did not receive government support came out to protest Businessmen disloyal to the Kremlin celebrated Entrepreneur's Day with protests. While President Dmitry Medvedev met with participants in the IX All-Russian Conference of Representatives of Small and Medium Enterprises at the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, those who obviously could not attend this meeting gathered on Triumfalnaya Square in Moscow.

Russian consumer behavior is dictated by fear of unemployment The massive decline in consumer confidence around the world is leading to the emergence of new types of consumer behavior characterized by caution, restrictions and selectivity.

Russia calls on Europe to solve Ukraine's gas problem together Moscow continues to work with Brussels in order to jointly solve Ukrainian problems with gas payments. Last week, Dmitry Medvedev, following the summit in Khabarovsk, and Vladimir Putin, after a meeting with Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in Astana, spoke about the need for collective responsibility of Russia and Europe for stabilizing the situation. Now Gazprom and the Ministry of Energy have joined the work.

Menchov successfully defends his leadership at the Giro d'Italia The number one of the Dutch Rabobank team, Russian Denis Menshov, during the four stages of the Giro D'Italia cycling stage race, copes with the task of retaining the pink jersey of the leader of the general classification, which he wore after winning the individual time trial on May 21.

The first round matches at Roland Garros have ended Bad weather made adjustments to the schedule of the third day of play at the French Open. Remembering last year's Roland Garros, when the heavenly office continually tested the athletes' patience, this year, after the first two days, it seemed that the weather had mercy on the participants. But no matter how it is. On Tuesday it became noticeably colder in Paris, a strong wind blew, which brought gloomy clouds.

NOVATEK buys control over a strategic field in Yamal from Gennady Timchenko's structures There has been an unexpected turn in the fate of one of Russia's most scandalous gas assets. The controlling stake in Yamal-LNG OJSC, which Alisher Usmanov acquired two and a half years ago from the intractable private entrepreneur Nikolai Bogachev in the interests of Gazprom, is being purchased by the largest independent gas producer - NOVATEK.

This week the president will be given proposals to liberalize the law on NGOs By the end of this week, the working group that has prepared amendments to Russian legislation on non-profit organizations intends to submit these proposals to President Dmitry Medvedev. One of the developers of the amendments, Chairman of the Presidential Council for Promoting the Development of Civil Society Institutions and Human Rights, Ella Pamfilova, told Vremya Novostei yesterday.

The Big Book has reached the finish line The experts of the Big Book Prize left thirteen essays in the competition - apparently, so that the form of the short list exactly corresponded to its content. I don’t see any other reason: in the past, much more productive year, the same arbiters of grace limited themselves to ten positions. And they were right.

The deputy mufti of the republic was killed in Dagestan Yesterday in Makhachkala, one of the most respected people of Dagestan, the deputy mufti of the republic, Akhmed Tagaev, was buried. He was killed last Monday evening near his home. Investigators almost immediately stated that the main version of the murder was the professional activity of the deceased. Akhmed Tagaev was retired for the last year and headed the public organization “For Morality”.

The Prosecutor General's Office demands from Spain the alleged accomplice of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev The Prosecutor General's Office sent a request to its Spanish colleagues to extradite one of the defendants in the "YUKOS case" - the internationally wanted former owner of the Fargoil company, Antonio Valdez-Garcia. He is suspected of participation in the Khodorkovsky and Lebedev organized crime group and the theft of $13 billion.

Vagit Alekperov calls on the government to distribute the deposits Yesterday, LUKOIL President Vagit Alekperov said that the Russian leadership should be more active in distributing deposits among companies for geological exploration. According to the businessman, this problem needs to be taken care of right now, because when the economy begins to recover and the demand for oil increases, it will be too late to invest in production.