South African drug suppliers sentenced The Moscow City Court yesterday announced the verdict in the case of the spouses Andrei and Evgenia Bykov, the main defendants in a large-scale investigation by Russian special services into the smuggling of the drug ephedrine, used in the production of synthetic drugs, into Russia from South Africa. According to investigators, they were part of a criminal community created in the early 2000s by a native of St.

Public hearings of Moscow's main urban planning document will test the activity of citizens Apparently, the results of the public hearings that started yesterday in the city on the updated master plan for the development of the city until 2025 will be more useful than ever to both the current government and the opposition.

In-Finitum in Venice At the same time as the Venice Art Biennale, the exhibition In-Finitum is being held in clever dialogue with it. It is unfolded in the ancient palazzo of the artist, designer, set designer and eccentric collector Mariano Fortuny i Madrazo, the son of the famous artist of the second half of the 19th century Mariano Fortuny i Marsal. The In-Finitum exhibition is the most refined project of hundreds of Venetian summer exhibitions.

Russia will not be able to sit out a new Middle East war The heads of the foreign affairs agencies of Russia and the United States, Sergei Lavrov and Hillary Clinton, recently called on Iran to quickly respond to the latest proposals of the international community to resolve the Iranian nuclear program. Mrs. Clinton warned Tehran that its nuclear weapons program would not make it safer: “It will not achieve the results Iran wants.

The mayor presented the order on behalf of Erich Honecker This fall, Germans will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Meanwhile, the socialist GDR and the “criminal” (as defined in the legal acts of the united Germany) regime that ruled it are experiencing a kind of renaissance. With the fact that “there were more good sides in the GDR than bad”, in the new federal states, according to 49% of respondents.

The state will pay for the investment program of Inter RAO UES An increase in energy exports to China by a third, expansion of the Sochi Thermal Power Plant, reconstruction of the Ivanovo State District Power Plant, construction of a unit at the Kaliningrad Thermal Power Plant-2, purchase of a controlling stake in the Sangtuda Hydroelectric Power Station in Tajikistan.

Minsk put Georgian laws above Russia's position Yesterday, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry issued a statement indicating Minsk’s unconditional recognition of the territorial integrity of Georgia. This position was translated into a recommendation to citizens of Belarus to be guided by Georgian laws when visiting Abkhazia and South Ossetia and to travel there only through the territory of Georgia.

Chinese automaker BAIC dropped out of the fight for Opel General Motors and German officials will continue detailed negotiations on the purchase of Opel, but now with two contenders - a consortium of the Canadian auto component manufacturer Magna and Sberbank of the Russian Federation and the Belgian holding RHJ International. The third contender for Opel is Chinese automaker Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co.

Chinese opera performs in Moscow The “Oriental” program of the Chekhov Festival closes with performances by the Taiwanese theater Guo Guang (translated as “Glory of the State”). The troupe from Taipei performs two one-act acts in one evening - the comedy “The Monkey King and the Goblin Mouse” and the lyrical drama “The Rejected Bride”; The last performance is tomorrow, on the stage of the Mossovet Theater.

Bakiyev will remain president of Kyrgyzstan Yesterday's presidential elections in Kyrgyzstan were recognized as valid. This was announced already in the middle of the day by the head of the Central Election Commission of the republic, Damir Lisovsky, who reported that as of 3 p.m., 61.67% of registered voters had voted. Two hours before polls closed, that figure rose to 73%.

The creation of the first Russian hedge fund was announced The Federal Service for Financial Markets (FSFM) has registered Russia's first closed-end mutual investment fund (ZMUIF) of the hedge fund category. Alfa Capital Management Company, which will manage the structure, notes the promise of the fund and its advantages over other forms of trust management. But in fact, Russian legislation does not yet give such a closed-end mutual fund the options inherent in hedge funds.

The north-west of the European territory of Russia will be in the grip of a cyclone over the next three days, which will move from the Baltic coast to the coast of Norway and merge with a high cyclone circling over the British Isles. On Friday there will be showers, thunderstorms and temperatures rising to +28°C. On the weekends, as the cyclone advances, the rains will become short-lived, will pass in places, the temperature will drop, on Sunday afternoon only +18...+23оС.

Tajikistan abandons the Russian language President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon introduced a draft law “On the State Language” to parliament. Yesterday this was officially confirmed by the parliament's press service. According to the bill, Russian in the country loses its current status as a language of interethnic communication. On July 22, Mr. Rakhmon, speaking on local TV, called for the law to be passed as soon as possible.

The head of the Primorsky district of St. Petersburg was “laid out” to the president The usually very punctual Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was 40 minutes late for a meeting with activists and young deputies of the United Russia party. However, party members reacted to this with understanding. After all, he stayed late not of his own free will, but because of a meeting with their party boss Vladimir Putin. “Greetings from the leader of United Russia,” said Mr.

The IMF recommends Beijing to support the economy with domestic consumption The crisis hit the Chinese economy hard, but thanks to the actions of the authorities, it was able to withstand this blow. This conclusion is contained in the report of the meeting of the board of directors of the International Monetary Fund, dedicated to the review of the PRC economy.