The State Duma decided to financially reassure the gambling business that has adapted to the ban Last Friday, the State Duma adopted in the first reading amendments to the law “On state regulation of activities related to the organization and conduct of gambling,” tightening the requirements for the work of bookmakers and sweepstakes. The law was passed despite negative feedback from the government.

Exxon Mobil buys shale gas producer The largest oil and gas corporation in the world, Exxon Mobil Corp. recognized the success of gas production from unconventional sources and was the first of its competitors to make its move: yesterday it was announced that the American giant was taking over one of the leading shale gas producers, XTO Energy.

CLASSIC Russian National Orchestra. K.-A. Hartman, R. Wagner, D. Shostakovich. Conductor I. Metzmacher (Germany). Conservatory , 19.00. THEATERS “Stone Angel” by M. Tsvetaeva. Directed by Igor Yatsko. Starring Lyudmila Drebneva, Marina Baytenova, Evgeny Polyakov, Georgy Fetisov. “School of Dramatic Art” , 20.00. “Russian jam” by L. Ulitskaya. Directed by Joseph Raikhelgauz. Starring Anzhelika Volchkova, Albert Filozov, Vadim Kolganov, Vladimir Shulga, Nina Shatskaya, Tatyana Vasilyeva.

The festival of modern dance "Tseh'09" was held in Moscow The modest format of the festival this year did not prevent the fest from being very diverse: participants told love stories, experimented with pure form and acted as observers and chroniclers of social changes.

Sberbank President German Gref said yesterday that the credit institution plans to increase the cost-to-income ratio by the end of next year. “The cost/income indicator at the end of 2010 will be more than 40%,” he said. “For us, as a bank that is not yet fully efficient, the ratio of expenses to income was extremely low. An increase in this indicator will mark the beginning of our investment cycle ".

Pakistan will expel arrested Americans Islamabad yesterday said it would send home five American citizens detained by Pakistani security forces in Punjab province last week "on completion of investigations." All of them are suspected of wanting to collaborate with radical Islamic groups, in particular with al-Qaeda, as well as intentions to carry out “high-profile terrorist acts.” Rami Zamzam, Ahmad Minni, Umar Chaudhry, Waqar Khan and Aman Hasan Yemer disappeared from their parents' homes in

The Andrei Moguchy Theater Space festival has ended in St. Petersburg This unusual festival was born out of a crisis. Not economic, of course, but from a certain crisis feeling of one of the most famous directors in Russia, that while his whole life is spent in the theater, in his profession, something important, some “real life” is passing by, demanding participation .

BayernLB lost its boss and daughter The Austrian government yesterday averted another potential banking disaster. Authorities in Vienna announced the forced nationalization of Hypo Group Alpe Adria (HGAA), a subsidiary of the large Bavarian land bank BayernLB. And late in the evening the results of the emergency meeting of the Bavarian state government became known: the chairman of the board of BayernLB, Michael Kemmer, was relieved of his position.

Arshavin scored the winning goal against Liverpool Football. English Championship. 16th round. Stoke City - Wigan - 2:2, Tottenham - Wolverhampton - 0:1, Sunderland - Portsmouth - 1:1, Burnley - Fulham " -- 1:1, "Hull" -- "Blackburn" -- 0:0, "Chelsea" -- "Everton" -- 3:3, "Bolton" -- "Manchester City" -- 3:3, Birmingham - West Ham - 1:0, Manchester United - Aston Villa - 0:1, Liverpool - Arsenal - 1:2. The leaders are: Chelsea - 37 points, Manchester United - 34, Arsenal - 31, Aston Villa - 29.

World leaders gather in Copenhagen Today, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will arrive urgently in Copenhagen, where the UN climate conference is taking place.

The twentieth century can easily be called the century of presidents. At the head of any republic in any part of the world is a president. Moreover, the laurels of the “president” haunt the heads of large and even the smallest companies and firms. During the era of the boom of the presidency, the idea was born to establish this post for the European Union. The first president of Europe was Belgian Prime Minister Herman van Rompuy.

Two major Moscow museums have updated their exhibitions Today, two large collections of Russian art, the Tretyakov Gallery and the Moscow Museum of Modern Art (MMMA), are showing new versions of their permanent exhibitions. The Tretyakov Gallery on Krymsky Val has reformatted the part dedicated to the so-called contemporary art. This part was the pride of the head of the department of modern trends, Andrei Erofeev, who was fired last year.

Representatives of winter disciplines delighted the fans The results of the World Cup stages last weekend instilled confidence and optimism in Russian sports fans. Skier Irina Khazova won the first gold in her career. Domestic biathletes won the relay, and in total the Russians chalked up seven medals in Hochfilzen. Luge athlete Albert Demchenko beat Olympic champion Armin Zoggeler to the top step of the podium in Lillehammer. In Salt Lake City, America, four of our skaters won the team race.

Ural and Dynamo Krasnodar are still outside the playoff zone After the next rounds in the championships of the men's and women's super leagues, in ninth place, that is, outside the zone of entering the playoffs, were the teams that before the start of the championship were considered real contenders for winning awards - Ufa Ural and Dynamo Krasnodar.

$10 billion for Dubai World calms stock markets Investors now have hope that the problems of the Dubai World fund, which announced a technical default in November, will be resolved. Yesterday, the emirate of Dubai received $10 billion from another UAE emirate, Abu Dhabi, to repay the debt on Islamic bonds of a division of the Dubai World investment fund, Nakheel PJSC. Upon hearing this news, stock markets and high-yielding currencies began to rise, and the dollar began to fall.