Javier Solana has no intention of leaving diplomacy In Brussels yesterday, Spaniard Javier Solana (pictured), the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union, gave his farewell reception. In a festive, informal atmosphere, he said goodbye to familiar politicians and journalists working in the Belgian capital. The famous diplomat handed over his powers to British Baroness Catherine Ashton on December 1.

Negotiations will take place in Moscow today between the foreign ministers of Russia and the Palestinian National Authority. Before his departure on Friday, 54-year-old minister Riyad MALIKI will meet with other officials, including deputies and the president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Yevgeny Primakov. From Moscow, the Palestinian delegation will travel to Cuba, and then to Spain and France.

The State Duma is preparing to change the procedure for forming municipal election commissions and unify regional parliaments The procedure for the formation and activities of municipal election commissions will be changed in the near future. The corresponding amendments to the law “On Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights” are already being prepared for the second reading procedure in the State Duma, which is tentatively scheduled for December 11.

The All-Russian Union of Patients' Organizations demands the return of medicine to healthcare Russians suffering from serious chronic diseases are soon going to present a united front against the policies of health officials, who, according to patients, see them only as a budget item, but not as living people. Today, representatives of more than ten different public associations intend to announce the creation of the All-Russian Union of Patients' Organizations.

Watch from December 10 on Moscow screens “Mad Special Forces” (USA-UK, 2009, Grant Heslow).

Dmitry Medvedev now has his first assistants in modernizing the country Without waiting for clarification from the state on exactly what the modernization course would look like, experts decided to take matters into their own hands. A new public council with the advanced name “Zamodernization.ru” was specially created in order to prepare a comprehensive concept for the country’s development.

Washington may be punished for budget deficit The US risks losing its top credit rating due to its huge budget deficit. However, the White House is trying to assure the public that new infrastructure programs will not lead to an increase in the deficit. Nevertheless, the Americans are clearly not yet ready to begin implementing a strategy for exiting anti-crisis programs.

British botanists have concluded that there are many more insectivorous plants than previously thought. The plant world is more cruel and bloodthirsty than we think, say British scientists from the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and the Natural History Museum in London in the first December issue of the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. Carnivorous plants have captured the imagination of people since ancient times.

Moscow has also decided on rising transport prices The Moscow authorities are clearly trying to justify themselves for too sharply reducing the share of the city budget in paying for utility services. Let us recall that recently the head of the city complex of economic policy and city development, Yuri Roslyak, warned: in 2010, Muscovites will pay, for example, 80% of the real costs for thermal energy, and the city budget - only 20%.

The Corporation will notify Russian users about the authenticity of their Windows Microsoft Corporation is taking another step in the fight against illegal software. Starting today, Russian users of Windows XP Professional will receive, along with regular operating system updates, an update called Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) Notifications. A piece of code is “implanted” into Windows XP, the task of which is to forcefully check an instance of the operating system for authenticity.

CONCERTS Whitney Houston. SC "Olympic" , 19.00. Nino Katamadze. Gorky Moscow Art Theater , 19.00. Postman of Nobel. Progressive indie rock. "B2" , 20.00. Venger Collective (jazz, acid jazz, Russia). "Union of Composers" , 20.30. CLASSIC Symphony Orchestra of the Moscow Conservatory. B. Bartok, Brahms, M. Ravel, M. de Falla. Soloist D. Karvey (violin, Slovakia). Conductor A. Levin. Conservatory , 19.00. King of tools. I.-S. Bach, B. Marcello, M. Lapis, D. Rossini, H. Badings, M. Miyagi, V. Kikta.

Talk about a merger between the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and A Just Russia could cause a quarrel between the systemic opposition Recently, rumors have flared up with renewed vigor about a possible merger of the parties of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and A Just Russia and the creation of some new “left-wing” project of the Kremlin.

Airbus analyzes the Russian market Over the next two decades, Russia will need 1,004 new aircraft, according to a forecast released yesterday in Moscow by the European aircraft manufacturer Airbus. This figure practically coincides with the corresponding forecast prepared by another leader in the world civil aircraft industry - the American company Boeing.

Clarification There was a typo in the text of the interview with CEC member Stanislav Vavilov (Vremya Novostey, November 30). The total amount of revenues of existing political parties for the first quarter of this year, taking into account regional branches, is not 2 trillion 105.8 million rubles, but 2 billion 105.8 million rubles. The editors apologize.

The former head of a financial leasing company was suspected of embezzling tens of millions of euros In Moscow, as it became known yesterday, one of the former managers of OJSC Financial Leasing Company (FLK), part of the state-owned United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), was recently detained. According to official information, 46-year-old Andrei Burlakov, who held the position of first deputy general director at FLC until the end of 2008, is involved in a case of theft of about 1.5 billion rubles.