The independent trade union “Unity,” which includes some AvtoVAZ workers, plans to hold a rally on October 31 against cuts at the nuclear plant, trade union chairman Pyotr Zolotarev told Kommersant on Friday. “Today we submitted an application to the Togliatti mayor’s office. We are planning to hold a rally on October 31 at 16.30 in the Avtozavodsky district of the city next to Victory Park. We oppose the reduction in the number of workers at AvtoVAZ,” he said.

321 1 min. ... On November 10, 2014, the Bank of Russia will hold an auction to provide credit institutions with loans secured by non-marketable assets (under regulation 312-P) at a floating interest rate for a period of 18 months simultaneously with a three-month auction, the Central Bank press service reported yesterday. Carrying out this auction will help reduce the impact of the growth of banks' debt on Bank of Russia refinancing operations on the maturity of their liabilities.

Deputy Prime Minister of the self-proclaimed DPR Andrei Purgin called the adoption by the Ukrainian authorities of the law “On a special procedure for local self-government in certain areas of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions” “a step in a positive direction,” but emphasized that the “people’s republic” does not intend to submit to the innovation.

The history of the 20th century according to the magazine “Crocodile” is being prepared for publication. The large-scale project of Sergei Mostovshchikov and Alexey Yablokov, “History through the eyes of Krokodil,” is an attempt to tell the history of the 20th century through Soviet cartoons and feuilletons of the Krokodil magazine.

A bilateral meeting between Vladimir Putin and Petro Poroshenko began in Milan. As Interfax reports, Mr. Poroshenko, after a conversation with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, waited until the end of Vladimir Putin’s meeting with Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann and proceeded to the hall to see the Russian president. Petro Poroshenko was accompanied by the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Pavel Klimkin and Energy Minister Yuriy Prodan, the agency notes.

In 2015, federal retailers SportMaster and Verny will begin building their own warehouses 15 kilometers from Yekaterinburg. According to JustMedia, three warehouse buildings will be located at the SportMaster site, and one facility will appear at the Verny chain.

The foreign ministers of EU member states do not plan to make decisions on sanctions against Russia at their meeting on October 20 in Luxembourg. “We do not expect any decision regarding sanctions,” Interfax quotes a European diplomat as saying. On September 12, the European Union and the United States officially announced new sanctions against Russian companies and individuals.

Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said during a press conference that US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel's statements regarding Russia did not contain any threats to this country. “There was no threat to any country in these comments. He (the head of the Pentagon - Kommersant ) spoke very openly about the threats we face in the world - in the field of finance and security. We must be ready for them. The North Atlantic Alliance remains a defensive bloc.

At the Ventprom machine plant in the city of Artemovsky (Sverdlovsk region), investigative measures are being carried out as part of the investigation into the case of an emergency in the Moscow metro, which resulted in the death of dozens of people, a source in the region’s law enforcement agencies said.

In Thailand, the body of a man was found washed ashore by the sea on the morning of October 17, south of Patong Beach. It is noted that the deceased may be Russian citizen Pavel Mironov, who disappeared several days ago. The body was taken to the Patong Hospital mortuary for identification and establishment of the exact cause of death, according to the Phuket Wan website.

Indictment confirmed in case of death of 44 people The Russian Prosecutor General's Office approved the indictment in a high-profile criminal case regarding the crash of the Yak-42 passenger airliner in Yaroslavl in 2011, which killed 44 people, including the main staff and coaches of the local hockey club Lokomotiv.

Head coach of HC Neftekhimik Kari Heikkilä has been dismissed. This was reported by the press service of Nizhnekamsk residents. General manager Rafik Yakubov was appointed head coach of the team. The Neftekhimik coaching staff remains the same. Heikkilä took charge of Neftekhimik this spring. In the 2014/15 season, Nizhnekamsk lost 11 out of 15 matches, gaining 13 points. They currently occupy second to last place in the Eastern Conference. "Tatar-inform"

The United States held its first direct talks with the leftist Democratic Union party, which represents part of the Syrian Kurds, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters on October 16. “We communicated directly with the Democratic Union last weekend,” RIA Novosti reports Ms. Psaki’s words. Negotiations were conducted outside Syria, she clarified. These are the first contacts of this kind in a long time.

In Yekaterinburg, work has begun on the design of the stadium for the Ural sports complex as part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. According to the press service of the mayor's office, the facility will become a training ground for World Cup participants. At the moment, a contract has already been signed for design and survey work on the reconstruction of the stadium. It is planned that the development of documentation will take about seven months. Kommersant-Online

Rosselkhoznadzor introduces temporary restrictions on the export of pedigree cattle and small ruminants from the entire territory of Greece due to the registration of new outbreaks of bluetongue in the Epirus district.