By the end of January, the French must find out who the Frenchman is France has been living all this month in anticipation of today's Tuesday. On January 26, a working group of parliamentarians is due to submit a report on new legislation on the veil to the President of the National Assembly. Muslim clothing that completely covers the face has become a symbol of the conflict of civilizations for the French.

The winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), which opened yesterday in Strasbourg, elected a new chairman of this organization. For two years he became 41-year-old Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, head of the Turkish delegation. In his new post, he replaced the Spaniard Luis Maria de Puig, whose powers expired at the beginning of the year.

Yesterday, for the second time since January 2009, the UN published a ranking of the world's leading think tanks, prepared by the University of Pennsylvania. The Brookings Institution in Washington, headed by former Deputy Secretary of State and Russia expert Strobe Talbott, retained its leadership. The United States generally accounts for a third of approximately 6 thousand such centers, whose work was assessed by about 3 thousand experts from fifty countries.

Israelis fear nationalism in Ukraine Last year the world saw the highest number of anti-Semitic incidents since the Second World War. This is evidenced by a study conducted annually on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27 by the Jewish agency Sokhnut and the Israeli Ministry of Diaspora Affairs. These include arson of synagogues, desecration of Jewish cemeteries and memorials to victims of Nazi repression.

Belarus is looking for oil and gas in Asia Belarus is interested in developing energy cooperation with Turkmenistan. President Alexander Lukashenko stated this at yesterday's meeting in Minsk with Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. The Belarusian leadership is demonstrating its readiness to look for new energy partners amid difficult negotiations with Moscow on oil supplies.

To the 90th anniversary of Grigory Bondarevsky In Moscow, at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a conference was held dedicated to the memory of the historian Professor Grigory Bondarevsky and dedicated to the 90th anniversary of his birth. The tone was set by the director of the institute, Vitaly Naumkin, who recalled the merits of this scientist in oriental studies.

Romanian President crosses the Prut In Romanian-Moldovan relations, after several years of almost a “cold war,” a favorable moment has arrived for the restoration of full cooperation. Romanian President Traian Basescu, 58, is making his first visit abroad at the start of his second mandate to neighboring Moldova, where he has not been since August 2008. He will arrive in Chisinau tomorrow for two days.

Mikhail Zurabov took up his duties as ambassador amid a huge internal political scandal in Kyiv Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Ukraine Mikhail Zurabov finally arrived in Kyiv yesterday. This happened against the backdrop of a huge internal political scandal on the eve of the second round of the presidential elections in Ukraine. The Ukraina printing plant, where election ballots are printed, will now be guarded by internal troops.