The North Korean football team will take part in the World Cup finals for the second time in its history. Having taken second place in the qualifying group of the Asian zone, the DPRK team won a direct ticket to South Africa.

Russian companies may place Islamic financial instruments by the end of the year This year, Russian companies may place Islamic equivalents of bonds - “sukuk”. The co-organizer of the issue will be VTB Capital, Viktor Kiselev, director of the company’s debt markets operations department, said yesterday. He clarified that the issuers of Sukuk will be two or three Russian leasing companies (their names have not yet been disclosed), and the total volume of the issue could be $200-300 million.

Latvia sent its first secretary to the European Parliament Yesterday, the Latvian Central Election Commission announced the results of the European Parliament elections held on June 7. Compared to the previous convocation, the positions of Latvian parties defending the interests of Russian-speaking voters and non-citizens have noticeably strengthened.

Sepp Blatter in South Africa does not like the attendance and the blaring of trumpets The International Football Federation, testing South Africa's readiness to host the 2010 World Cup with Confederations Cup matches, found two shortcomings. FIFA President Sepp Blatter is concerned about empty stadiums and the sounds made by local spectators. The head of the international federation noticed the half-empty stands already at the first round matches.

Amazing results at national team level are still possible In the modern world of big sports, meetings between opponents with a large difference in class have become a huge rarity. There is a strict system of ratings, gradations by division; in cup tournaments, players and teams of a higher class do not compete in the early stages, joining participation when the weakest have already dropped out of the competition.

Exhibition by Yuri Grigoryan in the Artifact gallery On June 21, an exhibition of Honored Artist of Russia Yuri Grigoryan opens in the Artifact gallery on Prechistenka (30/2). “The feat of constancy” is the leitmotif of the artist’s work. Born in Armenia, in Nagorno-Karabakh, the sixty-two-year-old artist has been living in Moscow since the age of 18.

The Israeli minister refused the head of the State Department For several days, 61-year-old US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will not be able to perform her duties. The night before yesterday she tripped so badly that she broke her right arm at the elbow joint. According to the State Department press service, Mrs. Clinton will undergo surgery next week. The accident happened after a joint press conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

Gazprom Neft introduced its representatives to the board of directors of Sibir Energy As a result of the latest offer, the oil subsidiary of the Russian gas monopoly became the largest shareholder of Sibir Energy, accumulating almost 34% of its shares. Thus, Gazprom Neft bought up almost all the securities held by minority shareholders. However, experts are convinced that the purchase of blocks of major shareholders is also not far off.

To create new security in Europe Russia proposes to hold a meeting in 2010 of the heads of the five most influential international organizations operating in the European space. We are talking about the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), as well as NATO, the European Union and the CIS.

Manu Chao will give a concert in Moscow again An irreconcilable enemy of global capitalism and a loyal friend of the fighters of numerous Latin American revolutionary movements, Manuel Chao, aka Manu Chao, will again give a concert in Moscow. His “music of the world,” filled with the voices and melodies of dozens of developing countries he visited, can be heard on June 24 at the Green Theater of the Park of Culture and Recreation.

Russia cannot yet explain to the WTO with whom to negotiate now Consultations between negotiators of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan at the headquarters of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on the prospects of joining the triple Customs Union have not yet yielded any results. The Russian authorities are convinced that there are no prohibitions in this regard, but the WTO has not yet received confirmation of the possibility of negotiating in this format.

The leader of the opposition movement “Georgia's Way”, ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs, 57-year-old Salome Zurabishvili, comes to a rally on Rustaveli Avenue every evening at exactly six. Protests for the resignation of Mikheil Saakashvili have been held continuously in Georgia since April 9 . A few days ago, the Georgian president invited the opposition to cooperate in the government. Ms. Zurabishvili unexpectedly agreed to take up the post of First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs.

The Pentagon will supply the Poles with blank Patriots “We expect from the United States a fully equipped battery of Patriot missiles,” Polish Defense Minister Bogdan Klich said recently after a meeting with his American counterpart Robert Gates. These words came almost a month after Mr.

Russians supported the creation of a commission to combat historical falsifications Less than half of Russians know about the creation of a presidential commission to counter the falsification of history, but the vast majority of those aware of this initiative by Dmitry Medvedev approves the emergence of such a body. This is evidenced by the results of a sociological survey published today, conducted by the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM).

The Russian diplomat spoke about how they managed to stop the war There is again a revival around the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. According to Vremya Novostey, diplomats are exploring the possibility of a new meeting between the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia - Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan. It could take place as early as July. It is possible that the meeting will be “for three” - with the participation of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.