The US Embassy has begun issuing visas to Ukrainian citizens valid for 10 years, the American Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt said on Friday, April 25. “I welcome the extension of the visa for Ukrainians to 10 years - another step to demonstrate our support,” the ambassador tweeted . Previously, the validity of an American visa was five years.

The government will formulate its position on the need to return winter time only after conducting surveys of residents of all regions and regional authorities, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich told reporters on Friday. Dvorkovich noted that the work will be related to the State Duma’s appeal and will take 2-3 months, Interfax reports .

A bus carrying observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), including German citizens, was detained in the city of Slavyansk in eastern Ukraine, according to the website of the German magazine Spiegel . According to the publication, the bus was seized by “pro-Russian separatists.” Earlier on Friday, the German Foreign Ministry reported that department officials were unable to contact the leadership of the observer group heading to Slavyansk.

The international rating agency Standard & Poor's on Friday, April 25, downgraded Russia's long-term rating for obligations in foreign currency to "BBB-" from "BBB", the rating outlook is "negative", according to the agency's website.

The Moscow Metro asked the Moscow authorities to consider the possibility of increasing fares in 2014, the head of the capital's metro, Ivan Besedin, said in an interview with ITAR-TASS . Besedin noted that the metro presented its calculations to the capital's transport department. He refused to specify how much the fare would become more expensive, explaining that a decision had not yet been made. The city will not agree to an increase of 30–40%, as some experts propose, he said.

At the entrance to Slavyansk, Donetsk region, a group of unknown people seized a bus on the morning of Friday, April 25, in which there were OSCE representatives, and escorted it to the city, the reports . press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine “At 11.40 at the entrance to the city of Slavyansk from the side of Kramatorsk, unknown persons stopped a bus with 13 passengers.

A drunk passenger tried to break into the cockpit of a Virgin Australia (formerly Virgin Blue) plane flying from Australia to Bali, the BBC reports, citing a representative of the carrier. The airline denied information about the hijacking of a Boeing 737-800, which was reported by the media earlier on Friday. Police said one of the passengers tried to enter the cockpit and take control of the plane. The passenger has now been arrested, police said.

US President Barack Obama assured on Friday that he would save Russian President Vladimir Putin if he was drowning, reported . The Hill “I, of course, will save President Putin if he is drowning,” the publication quotes Obama’s answer to a journalist’s question at a press conference in South Korea. The US President expressed confidence that he could save anyone who was drowning.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who spoke by phone on Friday, did not agree on some assessments of the implementation of the agreements on Ukraine that were reached in Geneva on April 17, assistant to the head of state Yuri Ushakov told reporters. Ushakov noted that Putin and Merkel “discussed quite closely the implementation of the Geneva agreements,” and some assessments of the implementation of the document “do not coincide, ” Interfax reports .

Elena Tofanyuk Editorial Forbes Petr Rudenko Author Ivan Vasiliev Author Vladimir Putin's arguments about Western influence in Yandex cost investors and shareholders $1.5 billion.

The structure of Mikail Shishkhanov is acquiring 100% of the shares of Murmansk DNB Bank from the largest financial group in Norway, DNB, reported on Friday. the press service of B&N Bank, whose main shareholder is the billionaire, The company Asokerco Trading Limited, of which Shishkhanov is the beneficiary, will become the acquirer of 100% of the shares of OJSC DNB Bank, located in Murmansk, the press release says. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. It must be approved by the regulator.

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Fatou Bensouda, at the request of the Kiev authorities, began a preliminary examination of the events that occurred on the territory of Ukraine between November 21, 2013 and February 22, 2014, according to the ICC website. The report notes that, according to the statute, upon receiving a request for an investigation filed by the state under Roman law, the prosecutor must open a preliminary examination of the situation.

German football club Schalke 04, sponsored by Russia's Gazprom, has refused President Vladimir Putin's invitation to visit the Kremlin, reported . The Wall Street Journal "No decision has been made about the visit. It would be inappropriate in light of the current political situation," said a Tennis spokesman. Earlier, the chairman of the club's supervisory board, meat magnate Clemens Tönnies, was sharply criticized for his intention to come to Moscow at the invitation of the Russian President.

The head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia Denis Manturov announced a decision to change the head of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), which will take place in May 2014, RIA Novosti reported . “There will be a change. From May 1, I think, we won’t have time just physically. It will definitely happen in May,” the agency quotes him as saying. Manturov explained to reporters that the decision had already been made, but refused to name the new head of USC.

Natalya Lomykina Author Pamela Druckerman, author of the bestseller “French Children Don't Spit Their Food,” about why a mother should work, how to develop independence in a child and maintain harmony in the family Everyone who has children dreams of them sleeping at night, accepting the word “no” without hysterics, behaving decently at guests and restaurants, and eating with appetite what is prepared for them.