Evening Medusa

May 17. Oil $ 80 and new locks

The main news

The cost of a barrel of oil Brent exceeded $ 80 . So expensive oil has not been worth it since November 2014. Oil has been getting more expensive for several months in a row (back in February, the barrel cost 62 dollars), and recently the growth of quotations has intensified against the backdrop of the exit of the United States from a nuclear transaction with Iran.

Donald Trump instructed the Secretary of State Michael Pompeo to prepare a plan for introducing additional sanctions against Russia related to the failure to fulfill the contract for the liquidation of medium and smaller missiles. In the Kremlin, accusations of violation of the agreement were rejected, saying that the United States is simply “looking for a new occasion” for restrictive measures.

The UN predicted the reduction of the population of Russia by 2050 to 132 million people : according to the calculations of specialists of the organization, in comparison with 2015, the country's population will decrease by almost 20 million people. This forecast is much less pessimistic than previous similar assessments: nine years ago, it was assumed that only 119 million people would remain in the Russian Federation by 2050.

Roskomnadzor blocked more than 329 IP addresses belonging to WhatsApp. The reasons for the blocking in the department were not called, and the decision of the Prosecutor General’s Office was indicated as a justification, according to which millions of addresses previously blocked in the framework of the fight against Telegram. After about an hour, WhatsApp addresses were removed from the unloading of the register of prohibited sites.

Antisancation laws of the State Duma

The State Duma postponed the second reading of the bill on criminal liability for the observance of sanctions and for the actions that contributed to their introduction : on May 23 it will additionally discuss the Council for the legislativeness of the State Duma. Earlier, the bill was criticized in the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs and the Council of Human Rights under the President.

In turn, the bill on sanctions in response to the “unfriendly actions” of the United States and other countries was adopted in the second reading . The mentions of specific spheres were removed from the document to which sanctions may apply.

The new bill may be another step towards the final ban on the sale of many foreign drugs in Russia. However, the shortage of medications is a common thing now. We asked the doctor Alexei Paramonov to explain why this is happening .

North Korea earns on it

Companies associated with the North Korean authorities under the cover of intermediary organizations in China, Southeast Asia and Russia are developing and selling software around the world-from solutions for encryption and VPN to technologies for scanning fingerprints and programs for recognizing persons. This turned out based on the results of the investigation conducted in the United States.

Clients of the North Korean ITSHNI, without suspecting it, are thousands of companies (including state) in Western countries - in fact, the money of American taxpayers is ultimately spent on the DPRK nuclear program. Moreover, no one knows what vulnerabilities in the software can deliberately leave North Korean developers for the future.

What else

• Dzhanluji Buffon announced that Juventus was leaving: the last time he would play for the Turin club on Saturday in the match of the final round of the series A against Verona. The final decision on whether to complete the player’s career or not, the 40-year-old goalkeeper plans to accept next week.
• The other day, Bishop Tikhon, who is called the confessor of Putin, was appointed head of the Pskov Metropolis. The Russian Orthodox Church plays a large role in society, and church terms are increasingly appearing in the news, so we suggest you check if you are understanding them: for this, go through our test .
• Audio about Yanni and Laurel divided the world into two camps - even Stephen King and Satanists argue about him. But, of course, people are not the first to hear on the records of what is not there. Our readers told what lines of famous songs they heard all their lives wrong .

Grigory Levchenko