American businessman and billionaire Elon Musk doubts the correctness of the White House administration’s decision to provide military assistance to Ukraine. He reported this on his social network X. “One of the worst bills in history,” Musk wrote . This is how he commented on a post that talked about providing financial assistance to Ukraine in the amount of $60 billion.

Those Russians who bought real estate in Crimea will have to leave the peninsula and demand compensation for the loss of property from Russia. This scenario could come true if Ukraine regains control over Crimea. Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine, spoke about this in an interview with Kholod.

The Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia (DUM) allowed Russian Muslims to enter into religious polygamy and enter into up to four marriages. RIA Novosti reports this with reference to the Mufti of Moscow Ildar Alyautdinov. According to the agency, the conditions for religious polygamy were defined by the Muslim Spiritual Directorate as equal and fair treatment of men towards their wives and “sexual incompatibility” between spouses.

Microplastic particles are suspected of causing colon and lung cancer. Scientists from the University of California came to these conclusions; their study was published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. Scientists reviewed dozens of studies in mice and humans to understand how microplastics may affect the digestive, respiratory and reproductive systems. Across all issues studied, they concluded that microplastic particles have “presumed adverse effects” on human health.

A court in Moscow sentenced an unnamed man to 15 years in a maximum-security penal colony for sexually assaulting five minors in subway cars. This was reported by the press service of the Moscow Investigative Committee. According to the press service, the man was detained and placed under arrest in early September 2023.

Hacker attacks on Russian telegram accounts increased 19-fold on the eve of the New Year. Mostly, scammers use schemes that advertise various New Year’s promotions and lucrative offers. The Izvestia newspaper writes about the most popular tactics of attackers. This year, attackers have become more active in attacking the personal accounts of Russians than a year ago.

Startup Commonwealth Fusion Systems said it will begin construction in Virginia of the world's first grid-connected fusion power plant that will harness clean energy and generate electricity from it. Construction is planned to be completed by the early 2030s. CNN reports this. The facility will be built near Richmond. Once operational, the plant will be able to connect to the grid and generate 400 megawatts, enough to power about 150,000 homes, according to CFS CEO Bob Mumgaard.

The Ministry of Economic Development plans to propose doubling the permissible duration of overtime work and allowing employees of hazardous industries to be recalled from vacation. Officials also plan to abolish the shortened 36-hour workweek for rural women. The RBC publication got acquainted with the materials of the bill on amendments to the Labor Code. The Ministry of Economic Development will propose increasing the permissible overtime time to 240 hours per year.

It will now be possible to be included in the Rosfinmonitoring list of “extremists and terrorists” due to any criminal case if the investigation or inquiry indicates a motive of hatred or enmity. The bill , which will significantly expand the list of grounds for inclusion in the list of “extremists,” was approved by the State Duma on December 12.

Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky's story White Nights, written in 1848, has become one of the best-selling translated works in the UK. This happened thanks to reader reviews that went viral on TikTok and Instagram, romanticizing the love story described in the book. The Guardian writes about this.

In Finland, in early December, a private Beechcraft plane, which was flying from Lithuania to Pskov, was detained and landed at Helsinki Airport for refueling. The pilot was suspected of violating sanctions, reports the Lithuanian radio company LRT. The plane was registered in Lithuania and, according to LRT, it was being delivered to a new owner. One of the pilots was Lithuanian citizen Robertas Petkus.

On December 19, in the parliament building of the partially recognized republic of Abkhazia, a shooting occurred due to which deputy Vakhtang Golandzia died . Another deputy, Kan Kvarchia, was wounded in the arm and was hospitalized. “Deputy Kan Kvarchia was taken to the operating room with a wound to the left shoulder and scalp, all necessary measures are being taken,” said the acting deputy.

The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, was tasked with establishing ties between the Kremlin and the new authorities in Syria, who gained control over the country after former President Bashar al-Assad fled from Damascus. Kadyrov was promised control over Wildberries if he could establish contacts with the terrorist organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), banned in Russia. Novaya Gazeta Europe writes about this with reference to sources.

Using Google Street View, which allows you to see a 3D street on a map, police solved a crime in the municipality of Tajueco in northern Spain. Footage from the street showed the criminal loading a large plastic bag into the trunk of his car. El Pais reports . There are only 56 people living in Tahueco, and the machine that takes street images for Google Street View has driven through the municipality's streets for the first time in 15 years.

The lead singer of the Ukrainian group “Vulgar Molly” Kirill Bledny (Tymoshenko) was banned from entering the European Union for 10 years after an “unsuccessful joke” about the Polish language. He spoke about this in an interview with The Flow.