EVENT

Ukrainian officials award winners of the World Chess Olympiad

On October 14, the winners of the World Chess Olympiad received diplomas from the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Welcoming the chess players, Speaker of the Parliament Volodymyr Lytvyn said that their victory, which had been won in competition against 160 teams from all over the world, “is evidence that Ukraine is indeed a chess state, and at the same time it is a reminder for institutions and branches of government about the need to substantively engage in the development of chess in Ukraine, because too often it exists only due to the heroism of the people involved.” The victory adds to the prestige and authority of Ukraine. After all, chess is not just a gym exercise for the mind, it is also a sign of a high level of culture and tolerance, a real proof of intellectual capacities and abilities.

Canada yields UN Security Council seat to Portugal

Germany, India, South Africa and Colombia won the right to sit at the UN Security Council for two years. Another vacant place went to Portugal after Canada withdrew its candidacy. This happened following a second round of voting at the UN General Assembly in New York. In the first round, the Federal Republic of Germany received 128 votes, one more than the two-thirds required for election. In the second round most votes (187) were received by India. Among the proposals for reform of the UN, there were calls to increase the number of permanent members. Brazil, Germany, India and Japan expressed their wish to obtain permanent seats.

Most Russians support direct election of Moscow’s mayor

According to the survey carried out by the Yuri Levada Analytical Center (Levada-Center) on October 8-11, 2010, 46 percent of Muscovites and the same share of Russians prefer returning to the direct election of the capital’s mayor. The second most popular opinion was that the mayor should be appointed by the president after nomination from the party possessing a majority in the Moscow City Duma. This concept was supported by 14 percent. As the survey’s results suggest, Muscovites are not very optimistic about the improvement of the situation in Moscow after a new mayor comes. Some 49 percent of the capital’s residents suppose that abuses of power and corruption among officials will remain the same with the new mayor. In addition, 62 percent of Muscovites and 53 percent of Russians believe that the sacking of Luzhkov will not influence the political importance of Dmitry Medvedev, who fired him. On October 9 the United Russia party, which dominates the Moscow City Duma, introduced four candidates for the post of mayor to the head of the state: the minister of transportation Igor Levitin, vice prime minister Sergey Sobyanin, the governor of the Nizhniy Novgorod region and former vice mayor of Moscow, Valery Shantsev, and the first deputy mayor of the capital Lyudmila Shvetsova. By October 19 the president must choose one of the candidates.