Political scientists do not believe that power in Russia will change Another attempt to outline the contours of Russia's development for the near future, including the period after the 2012 presidential elections, was made at a conference of political science experts organized by the National Business Forums agency.

New viruses can be countered by molecules from the nastiest insects The problem of so-called superviruses - microorganisms that are resistant to traditional antibiotics and antiviral drugs - can be solved thanks to ordinary cockroaches. This seemingly paradoxical statement was made yesterday by scientists from the University of Nottingham.

Alexander Khloponin showed Vladimir Putin a plan for the development of the North Caucasus The Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of Russia in the North Caucasus Federal District, Alexander Khloponin, presented yesterday a draft strategy for the development of the North Caucasus Federal District, which he announced immediately upon taking office in January of this year. Let us remind you that Dmitry Medvedev's plenipotentiary envoy is also deputy prime minister.

Georgian Prime Minister Nikoloz Gilauri asked Lithuanians to call his country “not by the name given to it by Russia,” but by the “euphonious” English interpretation. “We would like not to be called Georgia. We understand that the Lithuanian language has its own rules and traditions. And yet they would like to be called Georgia,” a Georgian guest recently told reporters during a visit to Lithuania.

Dmitry Medvedev continues to inspect prices Last week, during a meeting of the Presidium of the State Council in Saratov (see Vremya Novostey, September 3), Dmitry Medvedev promised to “shake” both the government and the regions about the situation with food and food prices. The president kept his word. Yesterday he went to Voronezh to find out how things are going with basic food products there.

There was a strike at the metallurgical plant in Warsaw Yesterday, when it was well after midnight in Moscow, an unusual event organized by the European Solidarity Center in Gdansk and dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the creation of the independent trade union “Solidarity” ended in Warsaw at one of the largest metallurgical plants in Europe.

An international tandem won the Russian Championship The final tournament of the Russian Beach Volleyball Championship was held on the sand courts of the Volley Grad complex in the village of Vityazevo, Krasnodar Territory, near Anapa. Without any exaggeration, its results can be called historical. Firstly, an unprecedentedly high prize fund for domestic competitions in this sport was awarded - 2.2 million rubles.

The Council for the Creation and Development of the Urban Environment of the Skolkovo Innovation Center will select five winners of the competition for the development of an urban planning concept from September 15 to 20. Yesterday, the management company of the innovation center announced the completion of the next stage of elimination - now ten out of 27 applicants remained on the list.

The clubs of the Russian Football Premier League have extended the powers of their president for the maximum possible period. Sergei Pryadkin, who took over as head of the RFPL in 2007, will work in this capacity for another five years. During this time, the Premier League will undergo several significant reforms: it will increase its budget, switch to an autumn-spring system and change the principle of exchanging teams with the first division.

The Public Chamber found incitement of ethnic hatred in the textbook The Commissioner for Human Rights in the Chechen Republic, Nurdi Nukhazhiev, intends to sue Alexander Barsenkov and Alexander Vdovin, professors of the Faculty of History of Moscow State University, authors of the textbook “History of Russia, 1917-2009,” the third edition of which was published this year.

In the next two days, the Scandinavian anticyclone will remain the main character on the European territory of Russia. Thanks to this, dry but cool weather is expected. Only in the south of Russia, where the influence of atmospheric fronts will affect, will there be short-term thunderstorms in places and it will still be warm. In the north-west and in the center there is no precipitation, fog in places, during the day in the North-West region +14...+20оС, in the Central region +11...+17оС.

Decision on Nabucco project postponed for another year The international project company Nabucco Gas Pipeline International (NGPI) yesterday signed a framework agreement for the organization of syndicated financing in the amount of up to 4 billion euros with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

Volleyball youth team won the European Championship The Russian men's youth team won gold medals at the European Championship that ended in Belarus, defeating Bulgaria in the decisive match - 3:1 (23:25, 25:20, 25:15, 25:21). More than half of the individual prizes went to the wards of head coach Sergei Shlyapnikov. Champions' blocker Igor Filippov was recognized as the tournament's Most Valuable Player (MVP). He is also recognized as the strongest among volleyball players of his role.

Moscow City Duma deputies are calculating compensation for assistance to neighboring regions The capital's legislators yesterday publicly responded to complaints from Muscovites who claim that the horrific environmental situation in the city last summer caused many deaths and harmed the health of hundreds of thousands of metropolis residents. These complaints, apparently, are considered a great exaggeration in the Moscow City Duma.

Minsk increases social spending Today, at an extraordinary session, the Belarusian parliament will consider a number of economic documents, including the draft budget for next year. Minsk promises to maintain significant amounts of social support for citizens, despite serious problems in the economy caused by the rise in prices of Russian energy resources.