18 July 2012, 14:06 Business The official dollar exchange rate fell by 9 kopecks, the euro - by 12 kopecks The official euro to ruble exchange rate, set by the Central Bank on Thursday, fell by 12.2 kopecks, amounting to 39.8020 rubles. The dollar exchange rate decreased by 9.14 kopecks, to 32.4041 rubles, according to data from the Bank of Russia.

Unscrupulous entrepreneurs endangered the lives of more than 200 thousand residents of Nizhnekamsk by deciding to illegally profit from the disposal of particularly hazardous chemical waste.

A thunderstorm in the Komi-Permyak district of the Perm region left 134 thousand residents of the region without electricity, Interfax reports . “As a result of the passage of a thunderstorm front, the power transmission line “CHPP-13 - Kudymkar” was disconnected. Thirteen 110 kV substations with a total load of 28 MW turned out to be de-energized. 134 thousand people living in the Komi-Permyak Okrug were left without electricity,” reports the press service of Permenergo.

The Department of the Ministry of Justice for the Primorsky Territory issued a warning to a local Muslim organization about violating the new law on rallies and the Constitution in connection with street prayers in Vladivostok. This was reported on the website of the regional department of the ministry .

The Kremlin denied involvement in closed reports that appeared in Novaya Gazeta, attributed to the presidential administration, about the position of United Russia and a number of governors in the upcoming regional elections in the fall. reports this Interfax with reference to a source in the Kremlin.

18 July 2012, 13:52 Science Monarch butterflies navigate in space using two independent navigators The solar navigation system in the antennae of monarch butterflies consists of two independent solar “navigators,” which allows the insect to retain the ability to fly intercontinentally if one of the antennas is damaged, RIA Novosti reports , citing a publication in the journal Nature Communications. The North American monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is a long-distance migratory insect.

July 18, 2012, 15:11 News Anatoly Lysenko appointed General Director of Public Television By his decree, Vladimir Putin appointed TV journalist Anatoly Lysenko as general director of the autonomous non-profit organization Public Television of Russia, the Kremlin’s official website reports . From 1990 to 1996, Lysenko headed the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company with the rank of general director .

The Oktyabrsky District Court of Tomsk on Wednesday considered the petition of Sergei Zaikov, sentenced to 2.5 years, who hit the ex-governor of the region Viktor Kress in the face, and upheld the punishment, Interfax reports .

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un received the highest military rank of the DPRK, becoming a marshal. reports this Reuters . Earlier in the morning, it was announced on North Korean radio that the country's authorities would make a particularly important statement at 12 noon (7 am Moscow time), but what exactly was being discussed was not known until now. The decision to award Kim Jong-un the rank of marshal was made yesterday following the dismissal of Vice-Marshal Ri Yong-ho on Monday.

Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Head of the Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia Yuri Alekseev gave an interview to the Kommersant newspaper , in which he stated that there will be no global changes in the structure of investigative bodies in the near future.

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In the center of Moscow on Tverskaya Street, two grenades were found during the demolition of a trade tent, RIA Novosti reports, citing a source in the capital police. “On Tuesday at 23.35 a woman called 02 and said that she was removing a tent near house 25 to put a new one in its place, and found two grenades wrapped in a bag,” the source told reporters. Sappers and police officers rushed to the scene and cordoned off the area.

VTB expects to reach an agreement on the sale of a stake in the Metalloinvest holding in the near future, said the first deputy chairman of the bank’s board, Yuri Solovyov . “We are conducting fairly intensive negotiations with a visible horizon for their successful completion. I think we will come to an agreement within the next few months,” he told reporters on Wednesday in Moscow.

The Russian publishing house Eksmo plans to release at the end of August the erotic bestseller of the British woman Erica Leonard (pseudonym ELJames) “50 Shades of Grey,” which has become the most discussed book in the United States and caused protests from supporters of emancipation. At the heart of the novel is the relationship between a mature billionaire who prefers tough methods in love, and a young college graduate who enjoys being the victim.

Full-scale fighting is taking place on Wednesday in many areas of the Syrian capital, Interfax reports , citing the Lebanese newspaper An Nashra. Clashes are taking place in the areas of Midan, Tadamon, Kfar Susa, Gabun, as well as on Baghdad Street, which is located close to the historical center of Damascus. About 100 people died on Wednesday as a result of terrorist attacks and clashes between government troops and militants in Syria, RIA Novosti reported , citing the France Press agency .