The expectations of representatives of the Russian industrial sector have noticeably worsened. The industrial optimism index in 2025 has dropped to its worst level since the 2009 crisis, Kommersant reports . Despite the fact that, based on the results of January-November 2025, Russian industry as a whole grew by 0.8% compared to the same period in the previous year, the expectations of industrialists have only darkened.

This helped Ukraine survive the war, and Russians now have nothing to ride or fly AvtoVAZ and YotaPhone, Sukhoi Superjet (SSJ-100) and Armata tanks, Su-75 and the Platon system for collecting money from truckers, as well as 5G towers and even waste incineration plants - all of this is somehow connected with the Rostec state corporation, the empire of Putin’s friend Sergei Chemezov, which he has been building for almost 20 years.

At a closed meeting with business representatives, Vladimir Putin praised marketplaces. They, in his opinion, contain inflation and, under the conditions of sanctions, help Russian goods get abroad, The Bell reports . The meeting was attended by heads of the largest Russian companies, officials and the head of the Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina.

The Canadian series Heated Rivalry, which tells the story of the love of two young hockey players, took first place on the HBO Max charts. He managed to outstrip Welcome to Derry, the prequel to the cult horror It, in views, ScreenRant reports . Critics were also pleased with the series about the relationship between Russian Ilya Rozanov and Canadian Shane Hollander.

Showman Ivan Urgant posted the first video on his YouTube channel called “Live Urgant”. He congratulated the Russians on the upcoming New Year and read a poem about a snowflake and fate. In the video, Urgant says that in 2025, he and his team filmed a lot of material from trips around the world. “In general, we will post what is posted,” says the showman.

In 2026, tourists will avoid popular destinations, seek a break from responsibility and choose trips aimed at improving their health. The American television channel CNBC spoke about these and other trends that will be key in tourism in 2026. To determine the five main tourism trends, journalists analyzed 25 travel reports summing up the results of the year. One of the trends, according to CNBC, will be “anti-tourism” - the desire of travelers to avoid tourist seasons and popular destinations.

Previously, it was impossible to change an address that ended in “@gmail.com”. The innovations have not yet affected all regions of the world, but Google is gradually expanding access to this function, introducing it in different countries, reports 9to5Google. This is the first time a Google support post about allowing users to change their email address has appeared in Hindi.

The most popular meme of 2025 was an image of a cat in a black hood with the caption “Okak.” Kommersant spoke about this with reference to the rating compiled by Brand Analytics. The “Okak” meme has 7.97 million mentions in the Russian-language segment of social networks in a year, experts found out using the Trend Detector Research AI system. The picture expresses surprise, bewilderment or a sarcastic reaction to absurd life situations.

A resident of Arkansas won the Powerball lottery on Christmas Day. The man's winnings amounted to $1.817 billion. This is the second largest jackpot in the history of the American lottery, the company said in an official press release. The likelihood of such a big win was incredibly low. The odds were estimated at about 1 in 292.2 million. To do this, you had to guess a combination of six numbers, which consisted of 4, 25, 31, 52, 59, as well as a special Powerball numbered 19.

Russian citizens will understand the increase in taxes if the state fulfills all social obligations and ensures the country's defense capability, Vladimir Putin said at a meeting of the State Council.

India may introduce a visa-free regime for tourist groups from Russia until the end of 2025, the country's ambassador to Moscow Vinay Kumar admitted in a comment to RIA Novosti. Agreements on the mutual introduction of a 30-day visa-free regime for tourist groups were reached during Vladimir Putin’s visit to India on December 4–5 at the invitation of the country’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi. During the negotiations, Putin and the Indian Prime Minister signed 29 joint documents.

The Moscow City Court upheld the claim of the buyer of Larisa Dolina's apartment, Polina Lurie, and decided to evict the People's Artist of Russia from real estate in Moscow's Khamovniki district. An RBC correspondent reported this from the court. A representative of Dolina and her relatives stated during the process that they had no objection to satisfying the claims and were ready to move out of the apartment before the end of the January holidays.

A Russian woman named Irina contacted the telegram channel “112” with a complaint about a sweet gift that her daughter was given at a holiday in kindergarten. The woman claims there were live cockroaches inside the box. Irina crushed the insects with her slipper, and her daughter had to buy new sweets. Moreover, the incident occurred with only one package; the parents of other children in this kindergarten did not complain about cockroaches.

Actress Reese Witherspoon posted a photo on Instagram with her daughter Ava Phillippe. Subscribers were shocked by how much the daughter and mother looked alike. Some users wrote that they could not immediately determine where Reese Witherspoon was in the photo and where Ava Phillippe was. “Wow, I had to look twice because I didn’t immediately understand which of you was which! You are both so beautiful! — wrote one of the subscribers.

People's Artist of Russia actress Vera Alentova died, she was 83 years old. TASS reports this with reference to the Pushkin Theater. Alentova gained worldwide fame after playing the role of Katerina Tikhomirova in the film “Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears” - in 1981 the film received an Oscar in the category “Best Foreign Language Film”. The Shot telegram channel claims that Alentova became ill after she arrived at the funeral of actor Anatoly Lobotsky.