Will take place today in Baku The third summit of the Caspian states will take place today in Baku. The presidents of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan will gather to sign an agreement on security cooperation in the Caspian Sea. It is possible that the creation of a Caspian economic cooperation organization will be announced in Baku. Both of these ideas were born not so long ago - much later than the first summit of the Caspian five took place in April 2002.

The State Duma adopted in the second reading a bill on the return of property to the church The process of returning to the Russian Orthodox Church and other Russian confessions the values ​​that previously belonged to them should soon leave the stage of lawmaking and enter into practice. Yesterday, the State Duma approved in the second, main reading, a package of bills on the transfer of property from state and municipal property to religious organizations.

The jury completely acquitted the defendants in the Euroset case The jury of the Moscow City Court yesterday issued a not guilty verdict in the scandalous Euroset case, in which a number of employees of this company were accused of kidnapping and extortion. All nine defendants, including former vice-president of Euroset Boris Levin and his deputy Andrei Ermilov, were acquitted unanimously and released in the courtroom.

Yuri Trutnev called for closing the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill contrary to the government’s opinion The fate of the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill, which, despite the protests of environmentalists, has not yet stopped work, complicates relations not only between the authorities and individual representatives of civil society, but also exacerbates contradictions between federal ministers.

“Somewhere” by Sofia Coppola on Moscow screens A person who was given the name Johnny Rico at birth hardly needs to choose the profession of an actor, or, in any case, should think about a pseudonym that would not sound so provocative - either an operetta gangster from Dick Tracy comics, or a thundering tenor on ocean cruises.

In the north-west of the European territory of Russia there will be wet snow turning into rain, wet snow sticking, sleet in places, +1...+7оС, fog will creep in in places. The atmospheric fronts of the southern cyclone will pass with light precipitation in the center of Russia, during the day there will be +1...+7оС, in the northeast and east -1...+5оС. In the Black Earth Region there is light rain, in the afternoon +7...+12оС. On the Black Sea coast +18...+23оС, in the Sochi area up to +26оС.

Monopoly warns of shortage The deficit in the investment program of JSC Russian Railways (RZD) in 2012 could amount to 100 billion rubles, Deputy Minister of Transport Andrei Nedosekov said yesterday. This is almost a third of the planned capital investments of Russian Railways: according to existing preliminary plans, they are estimated at 320-350 billion rubles. Mr.

Belgian “devils” ruined Russia’s mood and reputation Russia almost failed in the elections to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup two weeks before it took place. A harmless friendly match with the Belgium national team almost turned into a global scandal. For some reason, the Russian Football Union decided to hold a control match in Voronezh, which had not seen big football since 2001 - then the local Fakel had just left the major league.

The Ministry of Health and Social Development is reducing the list of high-tech types of medical care The head of the Ministry of Health and Social Development, Tatyana Golikova, again alarmed Russians with severe chronic illnesses. The Ministry of Health and Social Development is speeding up the transfer to the balance of territorial compulsory medical insurance funds of high-tech medical care, which is currently financed from the federal budget.

Sergei Sobyanin increases Moscow's income by canceling Luzhkov's preferences Unlike ordinary Muscovites, for whom the new mayor of the capital, Sergei Sobyanin, personally guaranteed the preservation of social benefits, city enterprises and organizations, apparently, will soon lose Luzhkov’s preferences.

"United Russia" determines the strategy for the regional elections of March 2011 The country begins preparations for regional elections on a single voting day on March 13, 2011. Previously, the United Russia party was going to combine them with both the autumn single voting day and the State Duma elections in December 2011. But she changed her mind and even began to make the first plans on how best to conduct the election campaign.

The automaker will increase the volume of shares placed during the IPO One of the world's largest automakers, General Motors (GM), which went bankrupt during the crisis and came under state control, intends today to begin trading shares on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges as part of its IPO. Yesterday, unnamed Bloomberg sources reported that GM wants to increase the number of shares placed during the IPO by 31%, to 478 million shares.

Viktor Bout appeared in court in New York Russian businessman Viktor But, extradited from Thailand to the United States on Tuesday, appeared yesterday in federal court for the Southern District of New York. During the hearing, he was formally charged with conspiracy to murder, illegal arms trafficking and aiding terrorist groups, and his arrest was announced. The Russian himself rejected all the charges brought against him, saying that he never sold weapons and had no contacts with terrorists.

Men's tournaments for the European Cup and Challenge Cup have begun At the same time, group tournaments of two continental cups began, in which six Russian teams take part at once - the European Cup under the auspices of ULEB and the Challenge Cup held by FIBA-Europe (Eurochallenge). Let us remind you that the title of the club champion of the Old World for men is played out in the ULEB Euroleague, but two other competitions are also quite prestigious.

“Torpedo” did not change traditions The KHL championship hosted matches of the next game day. Immediately after the break associated with the performance of various teams, Torpedo had the opportunity to change history in Omsk, Salavat Yulaev did not draw any conclusions during the break, and CSKA collapsed in Magnitogorsk.