The US authorities confirmed their readiness to defend South Korea from threats and aggressive actions from Pyongyang. “I assured Secretary Yoon that we remain fully committed to our commitments to the defense of the Republic of Korea, including expanding deterrence and maintaining all our capabilities. We will modernize our capabilities in order to counter any threats,” said US Secretary of State John Kerry during negotiations with South Korean Foreign Minister Yoon Byung-sae.

The KamAZ of Dakar 2014 rally participant Airat Mardeev (Tatarstan) overturned on its roof during the third stage of the marathon. Despite the fact that the car was able to be put on wheels and prepared to continue the race, the competition commissioners decided to remove the Russian crew from the stage, reports RSN . The rally takes place in South America. Participants will travel through the territories of Peru, Argentina and Chile.

In Kharkov, a fire occurred on the territory of the Khartron plant in a 5-story industrial building rented by the Kharkov Jewelry Factory, the press service of the State Emergency Service (SES) reports. As a result of the incident, 8 people died, 22 people were rescued by employees of the State Emergency Service. The fire damaged the 4th and 5th floors of the building on an area of ​​250 square meters. m. At 12.40 the fire was localized, but its elimination continues.

Fifth stage of the World Cup in Ruhpolding (Germany). Women. 4x6 km relay race . 1. Russia (Ekaterina Glazyrina, Olga Zaitseva, Irina Starykh, Olga Vilukhina) - 1:09.42.26 (0 penalty loops + 7 spare rounds). 2. Germany - gap 6.2 (1+5). 3. Norway - 16.7 (2+8). 4. Ukraine (Yulia Jima, Vita Semerenko, Natalya Burdyga, Valya Semerenko) - 37.7 (0+5).

A volcanic eruption in Sumatra, a helicopter crash in the UK, the German Chancellor on crutches, a storm in Wales. The brightest photographs of the passing day are in the Kommersant photo gallery. Previous photo Military helicopter crash on the coast in Norfolk, UK Photo: Reuters/Toby Melville Farmers fight for the right to fill diesel barrels at a filling station in Sanaa during the fuel crisis.

The head coaches of the national teams announced the names of hockey players to participate in the 2014 Games The head coach of the Russian national hockey team, Zinetula Bilyaletdinov, announced the roster of 25 players who will perform at the Olympic Games in Sochi. 15 hockey players of the national team play in NHL clubs, 10 are representatives of the KHL.

VAC supported the regulator in a dispute with the DIA The Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA) again failed to replenish the bankruptcy estate of AMT Bank with funds from the Bank of Russia received by it to pay off the debt on the “crisis” unsecured loan. However, even in the case of a positive decision for the agency at the expense of 1.18 billion rubles. it would satisfy less than 5% of creditors' claims.

The settlement amount will be $2.6 billion Leading American bank JPMorgan has reached a final agreement with the authorities to settle claims related to the financial pyramid scheme of Bernard Madoff. JPMorgan agreed to pay $2.6 billion to resolve charges of violating the Bank Secrecy Act. Photo: Mike Segar/Files, Reuters A preliminary agreement to settle claims by American authorities against JPMorgan was reached in mid-December last year.

"Kommersant FM" celebrates the New Year with famous people. The Presidential Representative for International Cultural Cooperation, Mikhail Shvydkoy, in an interview with presenter Oksana Barykina, spoke about the main, in his opinion, events of 2013 and his view on the celebration of the New Year and Christmas. Photo: Yuri Martyanov, Kommersant / buy photo — Happy holiday, Happy New Year. Tell me, is there a tradition of celebrating Christmas in your family?

Chief Executive Officer of Ford Motor Co. Alan Mulally said that he does not intend to leave his company in order to head Microsoft Corp., writes The Wall Street Journal. He was considered as one of the leading candidates to become the company's new CEO after current Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced his intention to resign within 12 months last August. Thus, Mr.

In connection with a corruption scandal in Turkey, the heads of the main police departments in 16 provinces of the country were fired, AFP reports. The country's Ministry of Internal Affairs published a corresponding decree, according to which the heads of the main police departments in such large cities as Izmir, Antalya and Diyarbakir lost their positions. The day before, the country's government fired 350 Ankara police officers, including the heads of the main police departments.

Background On October 8, 2003, Nigerian border guard boats detained the tanker African Pride , its crew of 15 people (12 of them Russians) were arrested and charged with oil smuggling. Since August 2004, the tanker's crew was held in the Kiri-Kiri maximum security prison. In March 2005, mothers and wives of Russian sailors went on a hunger strike to protest the inaction of the Russian authorities.

Winning the 4x6 km relay race at the cup stage in Ruhpolding After a two-year break, the Russian women's relay quartet returned to the top step of the podium at the Biathlon World Cup in Ruhpolding.

African swine fever has been registered in the Lugansk region, the State Veterinary and Phytosanitary Service reports. As noted in the press release, a wild boar carcass diagnosed with African swine fever virus was identified in the Stanichno-Lugansk district.

Cosmetics company L`Oreal will stop selling the Garnier brand product line in China due to waning consumer interest, the Financial Times writes. French cosmetics manufacturers intend to concentrate on promoting the L`Oreal Paris and Maybelline New York brands in China. “L'Oreal is one of the largest players in the Chinese cosmetics market.