Hillary Clinton celebrated recovery with keynote speech US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (pictured) will leave the country today for the first time in a month, visiting India and Thailand. On the Thai island of Phuket, by the way, she will also meet with her Russian colleague Sergei Lavrov, who will also take part in the forum of Southeast Asian countries and their partners. This tour of the Secretary of State is attracting attention after a forced break in her work schedule.

Nine out of every ten Russian regions will face budget deficits The Ministry of Regional Development published a report on the socio-economic situation of the regions as of June 30. The ministry's latest forecast is categorical: only eight regions (that is, less than 10% of the total) will cope with the execution of budgets independently in 2009.

The first weeks of the Great Patriotic War, the rapid Nazi Drang nach Osten (path to the east), turned out to be devastating for the Soviet border garrisons and our units hastily transferred to the combat zone. Already at the end of June, thousands of Soviet soldiers and officers were captured. In the first half of July, the first transport with Soviet prisoners of war arrived at the Auschwitz-Birkenau (Auschwitz) extermination camp.

Russia should lead the process of modernizing the Energy Charter Treaty On June 29, during an interdepartmental meeting led by Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, its participants, according to our information, were informed that, despite the objections of the relevant departments, a political decision had been made to terminate the temporary application of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) by the Russian Federation. It can be approved at one of the next government meetings.

Dmitry Medvedev listened to the wishes of the Muslim clergy Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visited the Moscow Cathedral Mosque yesterday and met with Muslim religious leaders there. The President and the muftis reminded each other that Russia is a multi-religious country in which representatives of different ethnic groups live. And that these groups realize, or at least try to realize, that they are all one Russian nation.

Today the film "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" is released in Russia. In the next episode of the film about the adventures of a boy sorcerer, the world of magic comes closer than ever before to earthly reality. This finally gives the unbiased viewer a chance to sympathize with the heroes, although it reduces the effectiveness of the spectacle.

The Duma agreed to the Unified Social Tax reform The State Duma adopted yesterday in the second reading one of the most controversial bills of the spring-summer session - on replacing the unified social tax with insurance contributions from January 1, 2010. Despite the fact that in the Duma itself the bill is being adopted without discussion, this will not help the Pension Fund for now: its deficit will still be covered from the federal budget.

The regulator agreed with bankers not to inflate deposit rates Financial authorities continue to try to reverse trends in the deposit and credit markets, so far limiting themselves only to verbal influence on market participants. Yesterday, First Deputy Chairman of the Bank of Russia Gennady Melikyan announced the regulator’s agreement with banks that rates on new deposits from the beginning of August will not exceed 18% per annum.

How can there be no politics in Russia if all that exists in Russia is politics. Everyone just talks about politics - from the president and Duma deputies to the old ladies on the bench. How can there be no politics in Russia if there are more political strategists in the country than Russian-made goods competitive on the world market? I also have no doubt that there is politics in Russia. More precisely, I had no doubt.

Moscow authorities have again reduced the quota for guest workers Moscow authorities intend to cut the quota for attracting foreign labor by a third. Next year, the capital is ready to accept only 250 thousand guest workers, which is 142 thousand less than the 2008 quota, these parameters are indicated in the list that the Moscow government submitted to the Ministry of Health and Social Development.

The Jewish state's bet on the Russians is justified Russian tourists are increasingly choosing Israel for their holidays. And, despite the fears of the Israelis (after all, the region is turbulent, and the economic crisis does not contribute to an increase in the number of people wishing to go to a country that is not the cheapest), the tourist season in Israel promises to be successful.

The company improves its image and structure One of the reasons for Aeroflot's lack of financial performance is that foreigners simply do not know the largest Russian airline. This point of view was expressed yesterday by Aeroflot General Director Vitaly Savelyev (pictured). During a meeting with the heads of his company’s representative offices, Mr.

Another Russian was convicted in Turkmenistan On May 10 of this year, the head of the geological and thematic party of the Turkmen Institute of Oil and Gas, Vladimir Sibirev, sent a fax to his brother, who worked in one of the companies involved in drilling gas wells in Turkmenistan. The paper contained open data - a current drilling report.

The Pina Bausch Theater performs in Moscow On the left on the proscenium there is a table where four men are sitting playing cards, on the right there is a spotlight on a high stand. In the depths of the stage (and it turns out it is huge at the Mossovet Theater) is the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, led by Vladimir Ziva. The main stage space is free; A smiling sun is drawn on the floor with chalk. And this seems to be the only smile in the performance.

Experts in Minsk will listen to Tbilisi’s latest wishes Issues related to Georgia's upcoming exit from the CIS will be discussed today and tomorrow at an expert meeting at the Commonwealth Executive Committee, whose headquarters are in Minsk. We will talk about what interstate agreements Tbilisi will be able to participate in after the termination of its membership in the organization.