Best translated novels of 2010 Jonathan Coe. The incredible private life of Maxwell Sim. Per. from English E. Poletskaya. - M.: Phantom Press, 2010. In the novel “The Incredible Private Life of Maxwell Sim,” the number one British writer brings to the fore a hero of the post-crisis time, a whiner devoid of energy, whose lot is a boring job, a sluggish existence and several dozen virtual friends in FB.

Director Konchalovsky made a children's film that even adults should watch with caution On the first day of the New Year, the film “The Nutcracker and the Rat King” directed by Andrei Konchalovsky will be released in Russia. But it is not the Christmas leafiness of Petipa’s famous ballet or even the hypnotizing horror of Hoffmann that greets the New Year’s viewer with this movie.

The residential quarter in Pskov is built on the site of mass graves of Soviet prisoners of war Neat white high -rise buildings with blue roofs, which received the nickname "Blue Berets", are already populated by the military from the Pskov landing division. The long -awaited comfortable apartments of officers and their families, who had gripped in dormitories, barracks and garrison communal services for decades, received as part of a program to improve housing.

The announcement of the verdict against Mikhail Khodorkovsky was timed to coincide with the New Year The verdict against Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev will, it seems, be a New Year’s “surprise” for them. His announcement in the Khamovnichesky Court of the capital was supposed to begin yesterday, but was unexpectedly postponed to December 27. At the same time, few doubted that the verdict would be guilty and that no one would simply let the most important “sovereign criminals” go home.

At the Geneva talks, promises need to be turned into documents Despite previous peace statements by Tbilisi, Sukhumi and Tskhinvali, the 14th round of Geneva consultations on security in the Caucasus, which began today after the armed conflict in 2008, promises to be tense.

The President of Latvia will not take a Russophobe minister to Moscow At the end of this week, Latvian President Valdis Zatlers (pictured) is coming to Russia. He will visit Moscow and St. Petersburg, his visit will last until December 22.

Israel's survival as a state depends on its leadership The conference held recently in Malta, organized by RIA Novosti jointly with the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences within the framework of the international discussion club “Valdai”, was devoted to discussing models of Middle East settlement and scenarios for the development of the situation in the region.

Business does not want to pay for the state's ambitions In 2011, the Ministry of Finance intends to take new steps to increase the fiscal burden on the economy. In particular, most small businesses will be deprived of the opportunity to use the single tax on imputed income (UTII) and the simplified taxation system. It is possible to complete work on a unified real estate tax, as well as revise all tax benefits.

The Ruri region summed up the results of the European project-2010 The honorary title of the cultural capital of Europe, the role of which was given to the Ruri region of Germany by the end of this year, the Turkish Istanbul and the Hungarian stove, since 2011 crosses the Baltic duet-the Finnish Turk and Estonian Tallinn.

Trends of the past year The main trend of the past year in the field of contemporary classic can be called the complete and unconditional victory of the strategies of Moscow conceptualism. The winner of the most prestigious non-state Wassily Kandinsky Prize was Alexander Brodsky, whose work represents an entire era of so-called paper architecture, the conceptual design of imaginary objects.

Nord Stream has agreed to finance the second phase of the project Today Nord Stream AG will sign letters of commitment with a syndicate of banks to provide financing for the second phase of the Nord Stream project. Almost three dozen commercial banks will provide funds to the company, the founders of which are Gazprom (51%), German E.ON Ruhrgas and Wintershall (15.5%), Dutch Gasunie (9%) and French GDF Suez (9%), 2. $5 billion.

Yulia Tymoshenko was given a written undertaking not to leave The Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine, having interrogated former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, decided to choose a preventive measure for her in the form of a written undertaking not to leave. A criminal case has been initiated against one of the opposition leaders under Part 3 of Art. 365 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (excess of power and official authority, resulting in grave consequences).

The Russian team today starts at the Channel One Cup At the Channel One Cup, the Russian team in hockey will traditionally perform in the strongest, almost in the optimal composition. And now, in December, you can understand what game we will see in Slovakia at the World Cup. The fact is that the world championship will take place a little earlier than usual, and the team coaches will not be able to count on NHL players who will fall into the playoffs.

More than a thousand people were detained in Moscow In Moscow yesterday, unprecedented security measures were taken due to the threat of a repeat of the riots that occurred on December 11 on Manezhnaya Square. This time, the main events unfolded at the Kievsky railway station and the nearby Evropeisky shopping center, where people from the southern republics allegedly intended to carry out their retaliatory action yesterday.

African "Madembe" can violate someone else's monopoly on the intercontinental cup Brazilian football acquired a black date. The holder of the Libertadores Cup "Internassional" at the World Cup of the World managed to lose "Mazembea" from the Republic of Congo - 0: 2. In the final of the tournament, Africans will meet with the Italian Inter .