Evening Medusa

Has the third wave of the pandemic arrived in Moscow? Roskomnadzor changed its mind about blocking Twitter. Why did Bill and Melinda Gates divorce?

Good evening,

This is Meduza's daily newsletter about the important news of the day. And on Mondays we also talk about what happened over the weekend. For starters, the best 15 seconds of the day. Watch the baby rhino show off (and not be afraid at all) while being groomed with a large brush . And then he gets well-deserved strokes for his courage.

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Pulse

The main thing is point by point

• Today was supposed to be the first hearing in the case of recognizing FBK (recognized as a “foreign agent” in Russia) as an extremist organization. But the prosecutor's office only managed to add six new volumes to the case, after which the process was postponed until June 9 . As Kommersant writes, the case was classified because of the personal data of the security forces .
• Roskomnadzor abandoned the idea of ​​blocking Twitter . The social network will continue to be slowed down only on mobile devices.
• In the Komi Republic there is an environmental disaster due to an oil pipeline break. Oil has been moving toward the Barents Sea for several days now.
• The United States closed the Consulate General in Yekaterinburg , just like the consulate in Vladivostok before that.
• The Moscow Metro trade union called the “excessive politicization” of the issue of increasing employee layoffs inappropriate . They are fired, among other things , because of their registration on the “Free Navalny!” website. .
• On Sunday, a protest against the law on educational activities took place in Moscow. More than 20 people were detained there.
• A resident of Yekaterinburg killed three people with a knife in a park . The Investigative Committee reported that the conflict occurred “due to drinking alcohol.”

Texts of the day

Several American publications immediately spoke about the reasons for the divorce of Bill and Melinda Gates

According to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the Daily Beast, Bill Gates courted other women (he even had to resign from the Microsoft board of directors due to an office romance) and complained about Melinda to his friend, the odious financier Jeffrey Epstein. The same one who was accused of sexual crimes and who eventually committed suicide in prison. Melinda was against communication between her husband and Epstein. She was also constantly annoyed that "no one considered her equal to Bill" and that people "liked him better."

Vladimir Putin appointed a GRU employee, who was accused by the United States and Estonia of spreading fake news about Covid, as a member of the scientific council at the Security Council.

On May 11, the Scientific Council of the Security Council was replenished by the deputy commander of military unit 55111, Alexander Starunsky. We did a short investigation and found out that he is the subject of several publications in American media and an Estonian intelligence report. These texts allege Starunsky's ties to the GRU and his involvement in disinformation campaigns, including spreading conspiracy theories about the coronavirus .

Myanmar beauty queen joins armed uprising against military junta

In 2013, gymnastics coach and model Hthar Htet Htet represented Myanmar at an international beauty pageant. Now she has joined the partisan detachment, posts on social networks photos with a machine gun from the jungle and quotes from Che Guevara, and also calls on her compatriots to fight the military junta that has seized power in the country by any available means.

A meeting of fans with the actors of the film “Major Thunder” was supposed to take place in Moscow. So many people came that the meeting had to be cancelled.

The event was scheduled for May 16 at the Central Children's Store on Lubyanka. There were so many people who wanted to meet the actors that they filled not only several floors of the Central House of Art, but also the streets adjacent to it. There were reports of a stampede. As a result, representatives of the publishing house Bubble Comics apologized through social networks and asked fans to disperse . Someone called the police at the Central House of Music, and one of the organizers was taken to the department for questioning. Rospotrebnadzor said it would check compliance with anti-epidemic standards during the autograph session. Later, the film's team also apologized and promised to come up with something to compensate fans for the inconvenience.

Coronavirus

Has the third wave begun in Moscow?

After the May holidays in Moscow, the growth in the number of people hospitalized with complications of coronavirus sharply accelerated. The growth rate now resembles that of September, when the second wave of the epidemic began in the city. However, it is unlikely that the situation will continue to develop as it did in the fall. It will most likely be a slow-burning outbreak that does not require strict restrictions immediately. But even such a surge in infections could lead to tens of thousands of deaths .

Other news about coronavirus:

• 20% of Russians are ready to get vaccinated in order to travel abroad, 42% do not want to be vaccinated under any circumstances, according to the results of the SuperJob survey .
• In Moscow , two billion rubles in fines were issued over the year for the lack of masks and gloves in transport. In total, 410 thousand people were fined.

Podcast “What Happened”

Are retail chains really to blame for rising food prices?

Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin placed responsibility on retail chains and manufacturers. He even accused retailers of being greedy. According to Rosstat, food inflation for 2020 amounted to 6.7%. This is 2.6 times more than in 2019. The government is trying to regulate prices, but it doesn't seem to be helping. Against the backdrop of high food prices, the Svetofor hard discounter chain is gaining popularity - it even entered the top 10 largest food retailers in the country. In the new episode of the podcast, we discuss retail chains and their impact on the market together with Anna Levinskaya, correspondent for the RBC consumer market department.

Listen to “What Happened” on Meduza. And subscribe to Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , Castbox , Yandex.Music and other podcast services.

Video of the day

Meduza's editors thank readers for their support

A few days after the Ministry of Justice declared Meduza a “foreign agent,” we launched a crowdfunding campaign. More than 80 thousand people supported us. Together you have accomplished a miracle. It is only thanks to you that Meduza continues to operate, despite the fact that the authorities have deprived us of almost all our income. For this miracle we say thank you!

💼 Newsletter sponsor

The sponsor of today's “Evening Medusa” is the information center EducationUSA Russia . All year long, future applicants are thinking about admission, choosing universities, but what if they like a university on another continent? How to find an educational institution in accordance with your goals and needs, when to start collecting documents and why you need a plan - in the partner text we give the shortest possible list of tips and warn those who decide to get higher education in the USA against typical mistakes.

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