The last in a series of revolutions in 1989 in Eastern Europe were the bloody events in Romania. Exactly 20 years ago, on December 22, 1989, communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu was overthrown there. At the head of the popular uprisings was the future leader of Romania, Ion Iliescu. At one time, he belonged to the highest party and state nomenklatura - he was the Minister of Youth Affairs and even the Secretary of the Central Committee of the Romanian Communist Party.

Show business in 2009: events, trends, problems Concerts At the end of last year, many were sure that the number of concerts by foreign stars would sharply decrease due to the crisis. There were reasons for fear: there was a crisis, neither sponsors nor end consumers had money. However, despite the seemingly objective reasons, concert activity has not lost either in quantity or quality. As in previous years, they bring all the artists for whom there is at least some demand.

Investment companies believed in the dollar The dollar approached a record level since September 4 against the single European currency, exceeding 1.43 yesterday. The American currency is growing in parallel with the stock and commodity markets for the first time since the collapse of the investment bank Lehman Brothers. Against this background, investment companies are raising their forecasts for the dollar.

The Mediterranean cyclone, which hit the middle zone with heavy snowfalls, is moving beyond the Urals. But a vast and deep cyclone is already approaching from the west, and the influence of its atmospheric fronts will affect first the northwest, and on Wednesday the center and the Black Earth Region. Snowfalls and blizzards will pass, and frosts will weaken. In the northwestern region on Tuesday there will be snow with daytime temperatures of -7...-12°C.

The Foreign Investment Commission helped Putin's friend Yesterday, at a regular meeting of the government commission for monitoring foreign investment, a small revolution took place in the Russian gas sector. If a pre-approved deal to purchase shares in Russia's second largest gas producer, NOVATEK, is concluded, Gazprom will lose its status as the largest shareholder of an independent company.

Israeli government discusses deal with Islamic militants Yesterday, throughout the day, the “narrow cabinet” of the Israeli government (it consists of the prime minister and six key ministers and is responsible for strategic decisions) discussed the possible exchange of the Israeli prisoner of war, 23-year-old senior sergeant Gilad Shalit, for Arab militants held in Israeli prisons. This deal could become the largest in the 61 years of the existence of the Jewish state.

The causes of the disaster at the cargo port of Sochi have been revealed A commission created by the Federal Agency for Sea and River Transport of the Russian Federation to determine the reasons that led to the death of four people in Sochi, serious destruction of the hydraulic structures of the Olympic cargo port under construction and the loss of many construction equipment, has published its preliminary conclusions.

The Belarusian car market is facing a drop in demand At the beginning of 2010, experts predict a significant decline in the Belarusian automobile market, followed by long-term stagnation. The reason is an increase in duties on foreign cars to the Russian level. New conditions for importing cars will come into effect on January 1. The rise in price threatens to lead to a serious drop in demand and even to the closure of a number of car dealerships.

Ancient Egyptians suffered from toothaches Anatomists and paleopathologists from the University of Zurich analyzed studies of more than 3 thousand Egyptian mummies conducted over the past 30 years and came to a disappointing conclusion. The health of the ancient Egyptians was poor, but the worst thing was their teeth.

The Russians have collected a serious collection of awards at the World Cup stages At the last stages of the World Cup this year, domestic athletes replenished their medal tally. In the American Telluride, snowboarder Alena Zavarzina won the parallel giant slalom. This medal of the highest standard was the first in the athlete’s career. Our biathletes in Pokljuka won six awards, four of them gold.

Cup week has begun in Russian volleyball The competition schedule for our volleyball clubs in the second half of December turned out to be more than extremely dense. Last week the matches of the third round of the Champions League and the tenth round of the men's super league took place, and the cup week started yesterday. The “Final Four” of the women’s competition, dedicated to the memory of the great mentor Givi Akhvlediani, is taking place in Omsk.

CONCERTS Sergey Chernyshov (vibraphone). The best Moscow jazzmen are taking part in celebrating the birthday of vibraphonist Sergei Chernyshov. Igor Butman Club , 20.30. Tarja Turunen (Finland). The most famous European singer in the symphonic metal genre. "B1 Maximum" , 21.00. CLASSIC Russian National Orchestra. D. Shostakovich, S. Rachmaninov. Soloist D. Matsuev (piano). Conductor S. Bychkov. Conservatory , 19.00. THEATERS “The Potudan River” by A. Platonov. Directed by Sergei Zhenovach.

Journalist to become Israel's new ambassador to Russia The Israeli government on Sunday approved a new ambassador to Russia. It was the 60-year-old head of the Russian-language radio station “Reka” Dorit Golender-Drucker (pictured) . She was personally nominated for the post of ambassador by the head of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, leader of the “Our Home is Israel” party, a native of Moldova, Avigdor Lieberman.

New rules for providing educational loans have begun to work There has been some progress in the implementation of the state program for subsidizing educational loans, which, according to the promises of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, was supposed to start on December 1. At the end of last week, the rules developed by the government for providing loans to paying students on preferential terms came into force.

A new procedure for providing assistance to cancer patients has been approved In the near future, the provision of medical care to cancer patients in Russia should be standardized, which will allow us to talk about equal treatment opportunities both for residents of large cities with a developed network of specialized medical institutions and dispensaries, and for patients from remote regions of the country.