The leader of the Yabloko party, Sergei Mitrokhin, said that observers from the party during the Anapa mayoral elections were not allowed to enter the city. As the politician told Interfax , a bus with 30 volunteers who were going to monitor the voting procedure was blocked by traffic police officers in the Rostov region when leaving Taganrog on Friday evening.

A bill has been introduced to the State Duma that would allow intoxication to be considered an aggravating circumstance, Interfax reports. Corresponding amendments to the Criminal Code were prepared by the government.

Pope Francis, who officially took office as pontiff this past week, met with his predecessor on the papal throne, Benedict XVI. The clergy held a joint lunch at the private residence of Castel Gandolfo, reports the BBC . During the meeting, they discussed the current state and future of the Roman Catholic Church. Benedict XVI, who abdicated the throne at the end of February, has lived in Castel Gandolfo since his abdication.

The tax on deposits over 100 thousand euros in Cyprus banks can be up to 25%, reports the Greek business publication Naftemporiki . The local parliament will consider the corresponding bill this weekend. If the law is adopted, the country, which is on the verge of default, will have the opportunity to reduce the budget deficit by 3 billion euros. The new law on taxes on deposits will only affect large depositors who keep money in the country's largest bank, the Bank of Cyprus.

British police are treating the death of Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky, who died on Saturday, as “unexplained,” the Associated Press reports . The agency has asked Thames Valley Police to comment on reports of Berezovsky's death. In response, journalists were read an official statement announcing the opening of an investigation into the “unexplained” death of a 67-year-old man, whose body was found at his home in Ascot, 40 km from London. The police did not name the deceased.

Photo by Fotobank/Getty Images The fugitive Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky, who had been living in the UK for recent years, has died, Berezovsky's son-in-law Yegor Shuppe reported on his page on the social network Facebook. Fugitive Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky , who lived in Britain in recent years, died on Saturday at the age of 67. Berezovsky's death was first reported by his son-in-law Yegor Shuppe on his page on the social network Facebook .

The fugitive Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky , whose death became known in the UK on Saturday , asked for forgiveness for his mistakes from President Vladimir Putin and hoped to return to his homeland, the head of state’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on the Rossiya 24 TV channel . According to Peskov, Putin was informed of Berezovsky's death. At the same time, the press secretary noted that he was not aware of any reaction from the president to this information.

The international rating agency Moody's downgraded the deposit ratings of VTB's Cypriot subsidiary, Russian Commercial Bank, by one notch, from Caa1 to Caa2, RIA Novosti reports . At the same time, the bank’s financial stability rating remains at the same level of E.

In the dormitory of the Russian Chemical Technical University named after. Mendeleev there was a fire; according to preliminary data, there were no casualties, RIA Novosti reports , citing a source in the capital’s law enforcement agencies. According to the agency's interlocutor, the fire occurred in a 16-story building occupied by a dormitory on Vilisa Latsis Street. The fire broke out on the 14th floor.

The 2014 World Cup qualifying match between the football teams of Northern Ireland and Russia, canceled on Friday due to bad weather in Belfast, has been postponed again, RIA Novosti reports , citing representatives of the Northern Ireland Football Federation. This decision was made by match referee Tom Harald after inspecting the field at Windsor Park stadium in Belfast.

In Kiev, due to heavy snowfall, a state of emergency has been declared, Interfax reports with reference to the press service of the Kiev City State Administration. Since Friday, half a meter of precipitation has fallen in the Ukrainian capital, with a monthly norm of 47 mm. Traffic in the city is practically paralyzed. To resolve the situation, local authorities brought in the armed forces: 550 military personnel and 15 armored personnel carriers are involved in clearing the snow debris.

A drunk policeman opened fire in the Moscow metro, one person was injured, according to the website of the Moscow Ministry of Internal Affairs. According to the department, the incident occurred on Saturday night, around 01:55 Moscow time, on the platform of the Taganskaya metro station. The duty station received a report of a fight.

Law enforcement agencies have opened a criminal investigation into the theft of a large sum of money from the defense enterprise Basalt, which is part of Rostec, Interafax reports, citing a source in the Moscow police. According to the agency’s interlocutor, unknown persons withdrew 82 million rubles from the company’s accounts in favor of a commercial company. The funds were transferred for accounting and legal services allegedly provided by the company.

OJSC Slavyanka, a company that found itself at the epicenter of a corruption scandal surrounding the Ministry of Defense, carried out a large-scale audit of the work of contractors, as a result of which it managed to save 1.5 billion rubles, the company’s general director Oleg Belaventsev said on the radio station Ekho Moskvy . According to him, the company held negotiations with all contractors and subcontractors, reviewed the signed contracts and certificates of completed work.

The Russian government has instructed the Ministry of Justice to prepare proposals that would allow Russia to implement the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights, according to the Cabinet of Ministers portal . Currently, in the Russian Federation there is no normative act that would define the mechanisms for implementing ECHR decisions, the authors of the document state.