Foreign Minister Lavrov announced talks with the United States on security guarantees in early January

 Foreign Minister Lavrov announced talks with the United States on security guarantees in early January

Negotiations between Russia and the United States on security guarantees will take place immediately after the New Year holidays, in early January. This was told by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the air of "Solovyov Live".

"It is with the United States that we will hold the main round of negotiations [on security guarantees], which will take place immediately after the end of the New Year holidays," the diplomat said.

Earlier, the minister noted that Washington and Moscow have agreed to use three tracks of negotiations. Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko added that, in addition, the Russian side is working on the timing and format of the meeting of the Russia -NATO Council.

In addition, during the annual press conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded an immediate response from the United States and NATO on security guarantees. The Russian leader said that it is not the course of negotiations on this issue that is important to Moscow, but their result. According to him, the further development of the situation in the international arena will depend on this.

Producer Nier and other Square Enix representatives are interested in NFT games

 The producer of the Nier series, Yosuke Saito, said that he was interested in NFT, and in the future he would like to do some kind of project with similar elements.
He told about this in an interview with Famitsu magazine, whose representatives interviewed many Japanese developers about the results of the year and hopes for 2022.
According to Saito, he is very interested in NFT content for games, because he believes that new technologies help the development of gaming, among other things. However, now the author has a lot of unannounced things that distract him from studying NFT so far.
Other Square Enix representatives are also interested in NFT, including Yoshinori Kitase, producer of the Final Fantasy VII remake, and Noriyoshi Fujimoto, producer of the Dragon Quest series. The latter believes that in the future representatives of this direction will still have to find the right way of development, but the author is sure that thanks to such technologies, new ideas will still appear in the industry.
In addition, representatives of other studios like Konami and SEGA.

Tom Holland's fees will rise sharply after the success of "Spider-Man 3"

 Tom Holland, the performer of the role of Peter Parker in the Marvel cinematic universe, will be able to count on an impressive increase in salary after the grand success of the movie "Spider-Man 3: No way home."

According to sources familiar with the course of such negotiations, the requested actor's fee should jump to eight figures. Before the release of Spider-Man, he earned less than one million dollars for roles in feature films. After that, his fees increased from two to five million dollars for independent films and from five to ten million dollars for the main role in a commercial studio project.

As for streaming services, which are currently ready to offer stars more impressive terms of cooperation, Holland's salary may grow to $ 20 million or even more.

In addition, Holland is attracting an audience at a time when Hollywood is desperately trying to find a new generation of leading actors. Filmmaking seeks to find a replacement for a lot of aging the stars of the past years, and Holland is one of the few young artists who are able to move the industry forward even in such difficult times of global change for it.

In Volgograd, the river port was flooded due to an accident

 Today, on December 27, it became known that the river port was flooded.

There was a burst of the main water supply. The river station began to flood as water entered the room. To eliminate the accident, workers arrived at the site.

"Water supply concessions" commented on this situation to the correspondent of "Notepad Volgograd".

Economist Grigorieva said that pensioners in December will receive money for January 2022

 Elena Grigorieva, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Economics of the RUDN, recalled that pensioners who receive payments on the first day of each month through Russian Post offices will receive money for January 2022 in December of this year. According to her, this is due to the upcoming January holidays.

"At the same time, it should be noted that there is no single schedule for pension payments. In different regions, pensions are transferred to banks and post offices in different ways," the Prime agency quotes Grigorieva as saying.

Information about the timing of payments can be found by calling the contact numbers of regional FIUs.

It is noted that during the current month, the indexation of fixed payments to insurance pensions for people over the age of 80 and for those whose employment ended three months ago took place.

"All these payments will be received in December," the economist added.

Earlier, the Pension Fund of Russia recalled that villagers can receive an increase in the form of an increased fixed pension payment of 25%. The payment has the right of citizens receiving an old-age or disability insurance pension.

Pensioners living in the village without paid work with at least 30 years of work experience in agriculture apply for the allowance.

Minsk court sentenced 21-year-old Russian Dudnikov to 11 years in prison

 Minsk City Court on Monday sentenced Russian Egor Dudnikov, who was accused of inciting social hostility and calls for action against the national security of Belarus, to 11 years in prison with serving his sentence in a high-security colony, RIA Novosti correspondent reports from the courtroom.
"According to the totality of crimes, finally appoint (punishment - ed.) in the form of imprisonment for a term of 11 years with serving in a high-security colony," the judge said, announcing the sentence to the Russian.

He stressed that Dudnikov was found guilty of deliberate actions to incite hostility on the basis of social affiliation, committed by a group of persons that entailed grave consequences, as well as public calls to seize power, forcibly change the constitutional order using the Internet.
The judge stressed that the sentence has not entered into force and can be appealed in accordance with the law. Dudnikov's lawyer did not comment to RIA Novosti whether he plans to he and his client appeal the court's decision.

The UK began checking after the Mi-2 helicopter crash in Udmurtia

 Investigators have begun checking the emergency landing of the Mi-2 helicopter near Izhevsk, according to the website of the Central Interregional Investigative Department for Transport of the UK.

The Mi-2 helicopter of the Kazan Aviation Enterprise made a hard landing near Izhevsk at about 14:00 Moscow time, two hours after departure from the city airfield. He was flying around an oil pipeline, there were two people on board. Before the loss of communication, the commander of the vessel reported an emergency situation.

The helicopter crew managed to report the incident to the rescue service itself, Chairman of the Government of the Republic Yaroslav Semenov told RBC.

A ground group of the Ministry of Emergency Situations with two snowmobiles headed to the emergency landing site, according to the page of the regional department of the department in VKontakte. An Mi-8 plane with a parachute landing group took off from Perm. The helicopter is also being searched for by unmanned aviation systems of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, 60 people and more than 20 pieces of equipment. According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the pilots continue to get in touch.

The head of Tatarstan, Minnikhanov, declared his readiness to comply with the law on regional authorities

 Tatarstan's opinion was not heard when the law on regional power was adopted, but the republic, as a law-abiding region, will implement it, Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov said.
On December 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a federal law on the organization of public power in the constituent entities of Russia. The document, in particular, prohibits the heads of regions to be called presidents and allows them to be elected for more than two consecutive terms.

The Central Bank denied information about plans to strengthen control over transfers of individuals

 The Central Bank does not plan to introduce new reporting on transfers between individuals for banks. The regulator will collect depersonalized information at the risk of using banks for illegal operations of online casinos and bookmakers, the press service of the Central Bank reported.

"The Bank of Russia does not plan to introduce new reporting for credit institutions to monitor transactions of individuals. They relate to countering payments made by illegal businesses to illegal online casinos and financial pyramid schemes," the press service said (quoted by TASS).

Earlier today, RBC reported, citing three sources in the payment market, that the Central Bank sent banks a new form of reporting on money transfers between individuals, according to which the Bank of Russia will request information about such transactions, including personal data of senders and recipients of transfers.

The representative of the Central Bank explained to the publication that such a form of reporting is being introduced in order to optimize the presentation of information by banks and to receive up-to-date data.

Draft amendments to the Constitution of Belarus published for public discussion

 A draft of amendments and additions to the constitution of the country for public discussion has been published on the website of the Belarusian National Legal Internet Portal. A referendum on updating the constitution may be held in the second half of February.

Among other things, the amendments to the constitution state that the All-Belarusian Assembly will decide whether to allow the president to send military personnel outside the country, and the post of president of Belarus cannot be held for more than two terms.

The document contains the following suggestions:

 The All-Belarusian Assembly will remove the President of Belarus in case he violates the constitution or commits treason;
 the amendments assume that the same person will not be able to hold the post of President of the republic for more than two terms;
 the term of office of the Parliament of Belarus is five years, extension is possible only in case of war;
 in the event of the death of the President of Belarus, state agencies act in accordance with the decisions of the Security Council;
 the dissolution of Parliament is not allowed in the first and after.

Full production of the second season of The Wolf Among Us started in 2020

 Telltale Games thanked the fans for their support in a difficult year for everyone in 2021 and shared some information.
The year before last, the abolished studio was bought out and restructured, after which it announced the return of the second season of The Wolf Among Us to production. However, as the developers note, they "really" started creating the game in 2020 during lockdowns.
Telltale also announced that in the latest issue of the Game Informer edition there will be material with a story about the studio and The Expanse: A Telltale Series - a game based on the series "Space".
Details about The Wolf Among Us: Season 2 are also promised to be revealed early next year.

The film in the Ossetian language was not included in the shortlist of the Oscar film Award

 The film "Unclenching my Fists" by Kira Kovalenko was not included in the shortlist of films competing for the Oscar in the nomination "Best Foreign Language Film". The information appeared on the official website of the film awards.

The list published by the American Film Academy includes 15 films. There were paintings from Austria, Belgium, Bhutan, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Iran, Italy, Japan, Kosovo, Mexico, Norway, Panama and Spain.

The shortlist of nominees for the award in the category "Best Animated Short Film" included the Russian cartoon "Boxball" directed by Anton Dyakov. It shows the love story of boxer Eugene and ballerina Olga.

The tape "Unclenching my fists" became the second work of Kira Kovalenko, a student of Alexander Sokurov. The film was shot in North Ossetia. According to the director, most of the roles in it are performed by non-professional actors.

The action of the picture takes place in the town of Mizur, to which a family of a father and three children moves after tragic events. A man brings up his sons and daughter in strictness, "soul" his daughter with his love. Because of this, the girl plans to run away from home.

FT: tankers transporting LNG to Asia urgently change course due to rising gas prices in Europe

 Cargo ships carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Asia urgently change course to Europe in the middle of the voyage, writes the Financial Times (FT). The fact is that European consumers are willing to pay more for fuel — on December 22, the spot price of gas in Europe rose to a new high, reaching $ 2,187 per thousand cubic meters.

Alex Frawley, a specialist at the ICIS analytical company, said that two American tankers that had previously been heading to Asia had already set course for European ports. In addition, Australia will supply LNG to Europe for the first time since 2009. "The European gas market just broke through. LNG prices in any market in the world are now lower than at the main European sites," said Kieran Rowe, an expert from the Platts business news agency.

"The pricing policy in Europe is clearly aimed at attracting a large volume of LNG, and it needs it. Without these [supplies], the situation can become very serious depending on the weather. Stocks are already at a low level, and by the end of winter they may drop to exceptionally low," commented Torbjorn Tornqvist, head of global trader at Gunvor. According to him, the region will receive 15-20 LNG cargoes in December 2021 and January 2022.

Despite the crisis situation in Europe, one of its main gas suppliers, Gazprom, has suspended pumping fuel to the region. The company has not booked the capacity of the Yamal—Europe pipeline for December 22, this is the second day in a row. The decision of the Russian company caused a sharp rise in the price of gas on December 21-22.

The State Duma adopted a law on the abolition of mandatory technical inspection for personal cars of Russians

 The deputies of the State Duma adopted in the third reading a bill on the abolition of mandatory technical inspection for personal motor transport. This is reported on the Duma website.

According to the document, exemption from technical inspection is provided for passenger cars and motorcycles used by Russians only for personal purposes.

In addition, the inspection will remain mandatory for taxis and vehicles that transport passengers, as well as for personal vehicles used for official purposes.

In early November, it became known that the State Duma deputies adopted a bill on the abolition of mandatory inspection of personal vehicles in the first reading. It is planned that the new rules will come into force in 2022.

The State Duma Committee supported Gryzlov's candidacy for the post of Russian Ambassador to Belarus

 MOSCOW, December 22. /tass/. The State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots at a meeting on Wednesday supported Boris Gryzlov's candidacy for the post of Russian ambassador to Belarus. This was reported to TASS by a source familiar with the meeting.

"The issue was considered behind closed doors. Yes, they supported it," he said, answering a question about the decision taken by the committee.

Gryzlov, former speaker of the State Duma, chairman of the Supreme Council of United Russia, is currently Russia's plenipotentiary representative in the contact group on the settlement of the situation in eastern Ukraine.

At the moment, the post of Russian ambassador to Belarus is occupied by Evgeny Lukyanov.

According to the regulations of the State Duma, the relevant committees participate in consultations during the appointment and recall by the President of the Russian Federation of diplomatic representatives in foreign states and international organizations. Ambassadors are appointed by the President of the Russian Federation on the recommendation of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Russians' funds in foreign currency accounts have fallen by a record $2.6 billion since the beginning of 2020

 In November, balances on foreign currency deposits and accounts of individuals decreased by more than $2.5 billion. The outflow was provided by active trips of Russians abroad during the lockdown and an increase in rates on ruble deposits, experts say

In November, the population's funds in foreign currency accounts and deposits in Russian banks decreased by $2.55 billion, or 2.7%, according to statistics from the Bank of Russia.

Such a noticeable outflow has not been observed since the beginning of the pandemic crisis: in March 2020, Russians took $5 billion worth of currency from bank accounts and deposits (minus 5.3%). During 2021, the population was inclined to increase foreign exchange savings — from the beginning of the year until November, they increased by $ 3.1 billion. The withdrawal of the currency in November reduced the entire increase for the year to a symbolic $0.5 billion: if on January 1, Russians held $92.1 billion in foreign currency accounts and deposits, then on December 1 — $92.6 billion.

As follows from the data of the Central Bank, in November, the volume of funds of individuals on term deposits in foreign currency decreased by $ 1.2 billion, or 2.1%, to $55.9 billion. Over the same period, current account balances in foreign currency fell by $1.3 billion, or 3.5%, to $36.8 billion. This is the first significant decrease in funds in foreign currency accounts since March last year.

Most Russian banks have not yet disclosed their financial statements for November. Sberbank, which is doing this first on the market, faced an outflow of foreign currency deposits of individuals in November. As follows from its turnover sheet, last month, Sberbank's clients withdrew $740.8 million from term deposits and accounts in foreign currency.

The head of the Ministry of Health Murashko urged to reconsider the features of vaccination against coronavirus

 MOSCOW, Dec 21 - RIA Novosti. Features of vaccination against coronavirus need to be reviewed, according to the head of the Ministry of Health Mikhail Murashko.
"Approximately 2.5 times, our colleagues note, the number of children infected with omicron and requiring treatment in hospitals has increased. It is also noted that there are cases of repeated cases of a new coronavirus infection," he said at a meeting of the presidium of the coordinating council under the government to combat COVID-19.

The day before, the Ministry of Health approved the national calendar of preventive vaccinations and the calendar of vaccinations for epidemiological indications, including against coronavirus.

Thus, the following categories were assigned to the priority of the first level subject to mandatory vaccination against SARS-CoV-2: citizens aged 60 years and older; adults working in the medical, educational and social spheres; persons living in social institutions; suffering from chronic diseases, including bronchopulmonary, cardiovascular system, diabetes mellitus and obesity; residents of cities with a population of one million people or more.
At the same time, it is possible to vaccinate COVID-19 children aged 12 to 17 years inclusive only voluntarily — at the written request of one of the parents or a legal representative.
Now more than 76.5 million Russians have received the first dose, more than 70.8 million have been fully vaccinated.

Clashes broke out in Abkhazia near the parliament building

 In the capital of Abkhazia, protesters staged riots at the parliament, shooting is heard, local Telegram channels report.

It is reported that the protesters are trying to turn over buses with which the authorities have fenced government buildings on the eve of a rally of dissatisfied citizens.

People gathered on the square adjacent to the complex of government buildings at 14:00 (Moscow time), after the rally, the opposition delegation went to negotiate with the country's president Aslan Bzhania, but he refused to go to the square to the people and negotiate with one of the leaders of the opposition, the former mayor of Sukhum Kan Kvarchia.

The participants of the protest action are dissatisfied with the work of the executive authorities, the aggravated criminal situation, the state of affairs in the energy sector, the economy and other spheres.

On the eve of the President of the republic urged residents not to come to the protest and promised that law enforcement agencies would stop the violation of the law.

The opposition, in turn, appealed to come to the rally and "express honestly and openly their attitude to the anti-people policy of the current government headed by the president."

In recent months, several shooting incidents have occurred in Abkhazia, including with the participation of deputies of the local parliament. Due to problems with electricity, rolling blackouts were introduced in the country, on the eve of the rally it became known that the country's authorities had agreed with Russia to organize the flow of electricity.

The State Duma approved the change in the cost of travel in Volgograd transport

 On January 1, 2022, the tariff for transportation in public transport will change.

The fare for the "Wave" card will be uniform from 2022. With its help, travel by bus, trolleybus and tram will cost 23 rubles. For those who pay for travel by bank card, the cost of the service will be 28 rubles. In the form of payment for travel in cash, the passenger will have to pay 30 rubles.

The most convenient and profitable way will be to pay for travel using the transport card "Wave". In Volgograd, 43% of citizens already use it.

It should be noted that the change in the fare on public transport last occurred 3 years ago. The increase in tariffs from January 1 is explained by inflation and rising prices for fuel and energy resources. Even despite the tariff change, the cost of public transport in Volgograd will remain lower than in many cities of the country, such as Samara, Kazan, Rostov-on-Don and others.

Some Volgograd schools will send children on vacation from December 28

 The head of the regional education committee Larisa Savina told how many Volgograd schools will go on vacation. In accordance with the order of the Ministry of Education, institutions can set the dates of the beginning and end of the holidays themselves, so some schools will send teenagers on vacation from December 28, 29 and 30.

On December 21, the head of the regional education committee Larisa Savina held a press conference in Volgograd, where she spoke about the results of the implementation of the national project "Education" in 2021 and answered a question from journalists about the New Year holidays for schoolchildren this year. According to her, the schools themselves will determine the dates of students' vacations.

"According to the order of the Ministry of Education on the organization of educational activities, state and educational programs, each school sets its own calendar schedule," Larisa Savina explained. — It is installed at the beginning of the year. Holidays cannot last less than a week. According to the calendar schedules of schools, most of them will go on vacation from the 29th to the 30th. There are those who will leave on December 28, it all depends on the calendar schedule and on how the educational program is implemented." It is expected that the children will return to their desks on January 10, if this is an epidemic.

At the same time, the head of the committee drew attention to the fact that all schools finish the academic year in full-time format, except for those cases when, due to detected cases of covid or SARS, the school has been transferred to a distance learning format.

Larisa Savina also spoke about the holding of Christmas trees. So, according to her, the epidobstavka allows to hold New Year's events for young Volgograd residents in the region. Gifts have already been purchased for students of grades 1-4 and children with outstanding abilities.

"The regional Christmas trees will be held in the form of a performance without interactive. Within the framework of schools and kindergartens, these will be events within one class or group," she added.

The Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Volgograd region warned of a storm and snowfall

 On Wednesday, December 22, adverse weather conditions are expected in the Volgograd region. By the end of the working week, it will get colder to -23 degrees.

Volgograd rescuers warned about weather changes. On December 22, snow and blizzard are possible, the north-westerly wind will increase to 20 m/s.

    - From December 22 to December 24, the temperature in the northern regions of the Volgograd region may drop to -23 ° C frost, - the regional head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations reports.

Road workers are also ready to fight the elements and have been put on high alert. The crews are ready to use 224 units of special equipment for snow removal and processing of trails.

The snowfall will also affect a number of neighboring regions: Tambov, Voronezh and Rostov regions. Drivers are urged to be extremely attentive and careful in difficult weather conditions, strictly follow the rules of the road and choose the speed limit according to the weather.

Note that a sharp decrease in air temperature increases the risk of fires in homes. Residents of the region are urged not to leave heating devices and chargers connected to the network in order to avoid a short circuit.

In Volgograd, the court refused the prosecutor's office to demolish the food court of the family of the chairman of the city Duma

 The supervisory authority was not even allowed to interrogate the expert who issued a verdict on the legality of the construction

In Volgograd, the court rejected the prosecutor's office's claim for the demolition of the food court of the family of the chairman of the city Duma Vladlen Kolesnikov. The supervisory authority was also unable to challenge permits for deviation from the maximum parameters of permitted construction, for the construction and commissioning of a building in Bankovsky Lane of the Central District.

Recall that in the spring of 2020, the prosecutor's office recognized illegal changes in the boundaries of the territories of cultural heritage sites in the center of Volgograd. This automatically called into question the legitimacy of allocating land for the construction of a food court at the entrance to the Central Market and other buildings. Following this, the regional Prosecutor's office sent a request to the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.

The scandalous construction was started in Bankovsky Lane — in the most delicious place of the Central District - by the owners of plastic pavilions that miraculously survived the 2018 FIFA World Cup. At one time, the owner of one of the firms building the food court was today's chairman of the Volgograd City Duma Vladlen Kolesnikov. Since November 2015, he was a member of the founders of Rusna together with the famous Volgograd businessman Viktor Azarov and his daughter Olga Azarova. In January 2016, all three resigned from the ownership of the company. The company was acquired by Nikolai Shubin. In April 2019, Shubin issued Rusna to Vladimir Nesterenko, and Roman Palekhov became the director of the company. The company's business immediately went uphill. Since May 2019, Rusna has started receiving state contracts from the regional health committee. In seven and a half months, the company won 33 state contracts totaling 17,920,355 rubles. Since February, Roman Palekhov no longer heads the company. The microenterprise is headed by its founder Vladimir Nesterenko.

The chairman of the Danilovsky District Court died in the Volgograd region

 Sergey Semernin was 56 years old. The tragic news was reported in the press service of the Volgograd Regional Court.

On Tuesday, December 21, it became known about the death of the chairman of the Danilovsky district court Sergey Semernin.

After graduating from the Russian State University for the Humanities with a degree in law, he joined the internal affairs bodies. Sergey Valentinovich went from an ordinary employee to a senior investigator.

He was appointed a judge of the Danilovsky District Court of the Volgograd region by Decree of the President of Russia in June 2008. In October 2012, Semernin became deputy chairman of the Frolovsky City Court of the region.

In December 2016, he took the position of chairman of the Danilovsky District Court and last year was elected to the Council of Judges of the Volgograd region.

In November of this year, Sergey Semernin was awarded a diploma of the Council of Judges of the Russian Federation.

President of Ukraine Zelensky declared his readiness to meet with Putin in any format

 Zelensky declared his readiness to meet with Putin in any format
President of Ukraine Zelensky declared his readiness to meet with Putin in any format
President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky - RIA Novosti,
KIEV, Dec 21 - RIA Novosti. President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky said that now he has no communication with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but Kiev is ready to meet with Moscow in any format.
"Now there is no communication (with Putin - ed.). We both don't call (each other – ed.). This is not how it happens a little bit. We openly say that we are ready for dialogue. We need the Russian side to say that it is ready… We are ready to meet with the Russian Federation, we are not afraid of this, in any format, with any of our partners… We are ready for a direct one-on-one dialogue, we don't care in what format," Zelensky said during a conversation with journalists.

Earnings, popular games and sales: gaming industry chart for 2021

 GamesIndustry portal.biz presented data on the gaming industry for 2021 in the form of one large graph.
It took into account various innovations over the past 365 days, including sales, the most discussed projects and the like, for example:

    In total, the volume of the video game market exceeded 180 billion dollars, with more than 93 of them falling on mobile projects, and more than 50 billion on consoles;
    The most popular game on physical media in the UK was FIFA 22, and in Japan — Monster Hunter Rise;
    The most highly rated games on Metacritic were Disco Elysium - The Final Cut and The House in Fata Morgana, and the lowest rated was eFootball 2022;
    Nintendo has released the most new releases in a year — 12 pieces;
    Most often during the year, Fortnite and Cyberpunk 2077 were discussed among the games, and Nintendo among the firms;
    On Twitter, Genshin Impact was most often talked about (more than 11 thousand tweets);
    The most popular thematic video was the first trailer of Battlefield 2042 — almost 22 million views.

Beaten Russian figure skater Dmitry Solovyov suffered a severe head injury

 Beaten Russian figure skater Dmitry Solovyov suffered a severe head injury

Details have emerged of the beating of Olympic figure skating champion Dmitry Solovyov. This is reported in the Telegram channel "Match TV".

The athlete received a severe head injury. He is in a state of moderate severity. This was reported to the representative of the channel by Russian curler Anna Sidorova. She went to the hospital to Solovyov.

The attack on Solovyov became known earlier on December 21. The 32-year-old figure skater stood up for Sidorova, after which he was attacked. He is in the neurosurgical department of Botkin Hospital. The attackers were arrested on the spot.

Solovyov is known for his performances in ice dancing paired with Ekaterina Bobrova. They became Olympic champions in 2014, and won silver at the Pyeongchang competitions.

The father of a nine-year-old MSU student Alice Teplyakova attacked the head of the department

 According to RIA Novosti, with reference to the press service, Teplyakova had an exam today, her father was waiting for her at the security post.

"At some point, Dad tried to break into the faculty, started shouting and the security forces and our staff managed to detain him... After that, we had to call the police," the faculty said in a statement.

It is noted that Teplyakova's father had to be closed in the audience so that he could not physically harm anyone.

It is clarified that Alice did not pass the subject and, upset because of the wrong answer, ran out of the audience before she knew the result.

Earlier, the father of nine-year-old Alice Teplyakova, who entered the Faculty of Psychology of Lomonosov Moscow State University, told about the difficulties that the student faced when communicating with some teachers and university staff.

"The answer will be tough." What Putin discussed with the generals

 Increasing international tension, the development of advanced technologies and the modernization of the army - at an expanded meeting of the Board of the Ministry of Defense, Vladimir Putin listed the main military threats to the country and outlined ways to further develop the Armed Forces. According to him, Russia is ready for any challenges, but there is still a lot to do for national security.
On the expansion of NATO

The West has been accusing Moscow of preparing an invasion of Ukraine for several months without evidence and threatening tough sanctions. In parallel, Washington and Brussels are pumping up the APU with modern weapons and deploying military infrastructure near the Russian borders. According to the President, the Kremlin is particularly concerned about the deployment of elements of the American global missile defense system in Eastern Europe.

"What is happening now, the tension that is developing in Europe, is their fault," Putin said. — At every step Russia was forced to respond somehow, at every step the situation was constantly getting worse and worse, degraded and degraded. Today we are in a situation where we have to decide something. I want to emphasize again: we do not require any special, exclusive conditions for ourselves. Russia stands for equal and indivisible security throughout the Eurasian space."

The Head of State stressed that the expansion of NATO to the east is a consequence of the euphoria of the victory of the collective West in the Cold War and the incorrect analysis of the situation in the international arena. Putin warned that Moscow would react harshly to unfriendly steps and take military-technical measures adequate to threats. In particular, for the military development of Ukraine by the North Atlantic Alliance.

Shoigu announced the preparation by the American PMCs of a provocation with chemical weapons in the Donbass

 Private military companies (PMCs) of the United States are preparing a provocation with chemical components in eastern Ukraine, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said at a meeting of the department's board. According to the minister, there are more than 120 employees of American PMCs in the Donetsk region who are training Ukrainian special forces.

According to Mr. Shoigu, Americans work in the settlements of Avdiivka and Priazovskoye. "They equip firing positions in residential buildings and socially significant facilities, train Ukrainian special operations forces and radical armed groups for active hostilities," he said.

According to the Minister of Defense, the Ukrainian military continues shelling Donbass and the positions of the People's militia of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), thereby provoking them. "Tanks with unidentified chemical components have been delivered to the cities of Avdiivka and Krasny Estuary to commit provocations," Sergei Shoigu claims.

In the LPR on December 17, they said that they had not recorded attacks from the Ukrainian military for two weeks. The shelling resumed a day later, one militia member was killed. The LPR also announced an increase in the number of Ukrainian snipers in the area of settlements controlled by Kiev, the preparation of provocations was not ruled out in the republic. Ukraine assured that Russia did not support the return of the regime of silence in the Donbass.

Putin signed the law on public regional power

 MOSCOW, Dec 21 - RIA Novosti. Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a federal law on the organization of public power in the constituent entities of Russia. The document, in particular, prohibits the heads of regions to be called presidents and allows them to be elected for more than two consecutive terms.
The relevant federal law is published on the official Internet portal of legal information.
This document is aimed at implementing the provisions of the Constitution on a unified system of public power and improving the organization of public power in the regions.

According to the law, the head of the region can be removed from office by the President of the Russian Federation in connection with the loss of trust or in connection with the expression of distrust by the local legislative assembly. It is fixed that the President of the Russian Federation can terminate the powers of the heads of regions on any grounds.
Previously, according to the legislation, the head of the region could not be elected to the post of the highest official of the subject of the Russian Federation for more than two consecutive terms. The new law excludes this norm.
The document also provides that the number of terms of governors in power will be determined by the legislative assemblies of the regions. In addition, regional parliaments get the opportunity to work remotely.
The law preserves the prohibition on the use of the word "president" in the title of the position of the head of the subject of the federation.

The police questioned the detainee for the arson of a hypermarket in Tomsk

 The Ministry of Internal Affairs: the detainee for the arson of the Lenta hypermarket in Tomsk could not name the reason for the act

Frame: Telegram channel BAZA

The police identified the suspect in the arson of the Lenta hypermarket in Tomsk and took the man to the department for proceedings. About this "Tape.<url>" reported in the regional department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.

It is noted that the detainee is a 33-year-old local resident. Previously, he had already been brought to criminal responsibility. The police questioned the man about the arson, but the suspect could not clearly explain the reason for his act.

The circumstances of the incident are being established, the issue of initiating a criminal case is being resolved.

Earlier it was reported that the detainee worked in the contractor organization of the retailer. He has already confessed to what he did.

On December 21, a fire started in the non-food section of the Lenta hypermarket. Staff and visitors were evacuated from the store. According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, as a result of the emergency, the roof collapsed on an area of 3.5 thousand square meters. There are no casualties.

The price of gas in Europe for the first time in history exceeded $2,150

 The price of gas in Europe rose to $ 2,150 per thousand cubic meters, setting another historical record for the day, according to trading data on the London ICE Exchange. The price increase for the day was 27%.

The cost of gas in Europe began to rise against the background of a low level of reserves in storage facilities. In addition, today Gazprom suspended transit to Germany via the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline. The Kremlin considers this a commercial situation.

Read more about the price increase in the material "Kommersant FM" "The cost of gas is approaching a record."

US National Security Adviser Sullivan held talks with Ushakov

 US national security adviser Jake Sullivan held a telephone conversation with Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, the White House said. During the conversation, Sullivan and Ushakov discussed the talks between Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden, which took place on December 7 via video link. "Sullivan reiterated our grave concern about the buildup of Russian military power along the border with Ukraine and stressed that the United States will continue to closely coordinate with European allies and partners as we seek to address security and strategic issues through diplomacy," the statement said. ... Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried will consult with NATO allies in Brussels on December 16 to develop a coordinated approach, the White House said. Biden said earlier today that he plans to continue contacts with Putin. “We will talk for a long time,” Biden said in response to a question whether he plans to hold a face-to-face meeting with Putin in the near future, whether, from his point of view, a new Russian-American summit is needed. The talks between the two presidents on December 7 lasted more than two hours. According to the Russian leader, during the talks with his American counterpart, issues of regional issues, the conflict in southeastern Ukraine, the expansion of the NATO bloc to the east, including at the expense of Ukraine, were raised. Putin described the talks with Biden as substantive and constructive. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said that the heads of state agreed to talk again after the meeting of their representatives, but it is still unknown when the meeting will take place.

Russia beat Canada in the first match of the Channel One Cup

 Down-the-line.com/ Hockey. The Russian national ice hockey team beat the Canadian national team in the opening match of the Channel One Cup with a score of 4: 3 (1: 0, 2: 1, 1: 2). Korshkov, Yelesin, Nesterov and Shipachev were noted as washers in the Russian national team. The Canadians were scored by Gormley, Odette and O'Dell. Teams from the Czech Republic, Finland and Sweden also take part in the tournament.

The Russian Embassy in Germany protested over the expulsion of two diplomats

 The Russian Embassy in Berlin called the expulsion of two Russian diplomats unmotivated in connection with the verdict in the case of the murder in Berlin of the Chechen field commander, citizen of Georgia Zelimkhan Khangoshvili. The Russian diplomatic department lodged a strong protest, calling the move unfriendly. “We confirm that on December 15, 2021, the Russian Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany was informed by the leadership of the Federal Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany about the decision of the German authorities to declare two diplomatic employees of the embassy persona non grata. For our part (we - "Kommersant") lodged a resolute protest, stressing that such unmotivated actions represent an obvious unfriendly step and will not be left without an appropriate reaction that will follow in the near future, ”the diplomatic mission told reporters (quoted by TASS ). Today, December 15, the Supreme Court of Berlin sentenced Russian Vadim Sokolov (also known as Krasikov) to life in prison. According to the court's version, the convict killed Khangoshvili, who was considered a terrorist in Russia, on the instructions of the Russian authorities. After the murder of Khangoshvili in 2019, two employees of the Russian embassy were expelled from Germany. The German side then considered that Russia had provided "insufficient assistance" in the investigation of the murder. Moscow responded in a mirror-like manner and expelled two employees of the FRG embassy.