The United States suspended diplomatic relations with Syria, the work of the country's embassy in Washington, and consulates in Michigan and Texas. Embassy and consulate employees were ordered to leave US territory. This was reported by Reuters with reference to a statement by US Special Envoy for Syria Daniel Rubinstein.

A Belgian chef turned down the restaurateurs' most prestigious award, the Michelin star, to remain free in his own kitchen. Recognition from experts does not guarantee commercial success for an establishment and often turns into a complete headache for chefs. Details from Svetlana Belova. Photo: Sergey Mikheev, Kommersant / buy photo For these stars in the red travel guide, the blood of the best restaurateurs in the world was shed. A kind of chef's Oscar is shrouded in legends and intrigue.

The State Unitary Enterprise “Republican Agro-Industrial Center for Investments and Innovations” purchased fuel worth 2.07 billion rubles from OJSC Tatneft. for carrying out agricultural work in the republic, follows from the documentation of the state unitary enterprise posted on the government procurement website.

from the authorities of Chelyabinsk Chelyabinsk authorities suspect the Fortum energy concern of trying to monopolize the city's heat supply market. City Manager Sergei Davydov made a statement about this yesterday. Fortum explains that urban heating networks require 66 billion rubles of investment, which can only be provided by a strategic investor. Experts remind that the changes made to the legislation allow all heat supply organizations to hope for a business exit from the unprofitable area.

European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule believes that in connection with the situation in Ukraine, the EU may consider the issue of expansion, the newspaper Die Welt reports. “If we want to seriously change the part of Eastern Europe affected by current events, we must use the strongest policy tool the EU has: enlargement. It has unprecedented, effective and stabilizing power,” said Mr. Füle.

Nikkei 225 14277.67 (-49.99) RTS 1114.66 (+52.19) FTSE 100 6568.35 (+40.46) DAX 30 9180.89 (+124.48) DJIA* 16237.46 (+171.79) NASDAQ Composite* 4287.733 (+42.337) *At 20:56. According to Reuters. Newspaper "Kommersant" No. 44 dated March 18, 2014, page 9

Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine from the Party of Regions Vadim Kolesnichenko, elected from the Sevastopol district, resigned his deputy mandate. “I made this decision because I do not recognize the current Ukrainian government,” the parliamentarian said in an interview with Channel 5, emphasizing that he would not take his last parliamentary salary.

The operator reschedules the SPO As Kommersant has learned, Rostelecom is postponing the public offering of treasury shares, which was planned for the second half of 2014. The reason is fluctuations in stock prices and uncertainty about the timing of the privatization of the state-owned company.

Coal mining operations at the Krasnogorskaya mine in Kuzbass, where two miners died on Tuesday night, have been suspended, and the causes of the incident are being established, according to the website of the Siberian Regional Center of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. “Information about a rock collapse at Krasnogorskaya Mine LLC was received on March 17 at 20:32 Moscow time.

Novosibirsk budget revenues from advertising activities decreased last year by almost 6 million rubles. The press service of the City Council reported this today. According to the city outdoor advertising center, in 2012 the municipal budget received more than 124 million rubles under this item, last year – 118.3 million rubles. “The decline in cash receipts is due to the adopted concept of advertising on main streets.

The Central Bank of Russia yesterday revoked the license of the bank OJSC Stroykredit. “The license to carry out banking operations was revoked due to the credit institution’s failure to comply with federal laws regulating banking activities, as well as regulations of the Bank of Russia, and the establishment of facts of significant unreliability of reporting data,” the regulator’s press service explained.

Crimean Prime Minister Sergei Aksenov said that the republic has begun issuing Russian passports. “From the point of view of purely formal issues, there will be a certain transition period (on the entry of Crimea into Russia), including the circulation of two currencies, I think until 2016, the Supreme Council of Crimea previously made such a decision. Therefore, there will be a certain transition period, but we will try to speed up this process of full infusion,” Mr.

The Customs Union and Israel have begun working together to study the prospects for creating a free trade zone.

The missing Malaysia Airlines airliner was under autopilot control when leaving its route, The New York Times reports, citing a source familiar with the investigation. According to the publication, experts are studying radar recordings made immediately after takeoff from Kuala Lumpur, because they believe that after the first turn from its route to the west, the plane passed through several points in space specified in the control system program, of which the autopilot is part.

The Arbitration Court of the Krasnodar Territory satisfied the claim of Gazprom Mezhregiongaz Krasnodar LLC against MUP Sochiteploenergo for the collection of debt in the amount of 97.7 million rubles, according to the court materials. The statement of claim was accepted for proceedings on November 28, 2013. The plaintiff recovered money from the defendant for failure to fulfill the terms of gas supply contracts in the period from September 1 to October 31, 2013.