Germany's DAX stock index fell in trading on August 13 even as Germany's statistics office announced record economic growth in the second quarter of 2010. By 17:00 Moscow time, the main indicator of the German stock market fell by 0.5 percent to 6105 points. Quotes of other European exchanges were also in the red. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.23 percent to 5,254 points and France's CAC-40 fell 0.65 percent to 3,598 points.

The hurricane, which passed through the Krasnodar Territory on the night of August 13, caused a break in power lines, leaving several hundred people without electricity, RIA Novosti reports , citing representatives of the regional department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia. The village of Novoivanovskaya, Novopokrovsky district, suffered the most from the hurricane wind. In the settlement, about 50 trees were knocked down and the roofs of several houses were damaged.

Two cargo planes carrying firefighting equipment provided by the United States arrived in Russia. reports this ITAR-TASS with reference to a statement made by the press attache of the American Embassy Jonathan Korac. As the RIA Novosti agency clarifies , the planes landed on the evening of Friday, August 13, at Moscow's Vnukovo airport.

The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) of Russia has allowed VTB Bank to acquire 100 percent of the shares of the Don-Stroy Invest company (implements housing projects of the Don-Stroy holding). This is stated in the FAS message . In 2009, the media reported that Don-Stroy would transfer 50 percent plus one share of Don-Stroy Invest to VTB as a loan of $700 million. It was noted that the bank could subsequently gain full control over the company.

13.08.2010, 07:52:42 version Print | PDA/PDA View of Norilsk. Photo by user Panoroman from panoramio.com An explosion occurred at the thermal power plant in Norilsk An explosion occurred on the territory of CHPP-2 in Norilsk, as a result of which one person died, RIA Novosti reports citing the press service of the regional Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

The former mayor of the city of Almaznaya (Lugansk region of Ukraine), Viktor Shumilin, went on an indefinite hunger strike, demanding his reinstatement. of the city of Stakhanov reports this The website . Shumilin is the deputy head of the local branch of the Party of Regions. He was removed from his post as mayor due to allegations of bribery.

Russian swimmer Nikolai Skvortsov admitted that he almost lost consciousness during a swim at the European Championships in Budapest. On the evening of August 12, Skvortsov won a silver medal in the 200-meter butterfly, but, according to him, the last 25 meters of the swim were very difficult for him, the official website of the tournament reports. The Russian covered the distance in a minute and 56.13 seconds, losing 1.13 seconds to Pole Pavel Korzeniewski, who took first place.

Russian synchronized swimmers Svetlana Romashina and Alexandra Patskevich arrived at the European Championships in Budapest without Schengen visas. The synchronized swimmers' tournament at Euro 2010 ended on August 8, but Romashina and Patskevich returned to Hungary to cheer for the Russian swimmers and “once again feel the atmosphere of the competition,” writes the Soviet Sport publication .

Brokers on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange expressed dissatisfaction with their management's plans to reduce the two-hour lunch break to one hour, Bloomberg reports . They, in particular, do not want to "quickly" eat at McDonald's instead of ordering food at prestigious restaurants. The management of the exchange proposed on August 11 to increase the working day by an hour and a half by shortening the lunch break and moving the start of the day from 10:00 to 9:30 local time.

AdMe advertising portal has made a selection of the best Russian video advertising. When choosing advertising campaigns, the portal was guided by subjective evaluation criteria and did not set time restrictions. According to AdMe journalists, one of the most emotional on Russian television was the social campaign “Russian Project” , created in the 90s of the last century. As part of the campaign, about 10 videos were released, starring famous actors and musicians.

Prisoners in the Butyrsky pre-trial detention center who were poisoned with drugs on the evening of August 12 received them in a parcel with washing supplies. reports this Interfax with reference to the Moscow department of the Federal Penitentiary Service. According to official representative of the Federal Penitentiary Service Sergei Tsygankov, the parcel was from the wife of one of the prisoners, Gabriel Chumburidze.

Kanye West has been invited to perform at the MTV Video Music Awards, which will take place in Los Angeles on September 12, reports the New York Post. Let us remember that at last year’s ceremony, West caused an unpleasant incident. When country singer Taylor Swift accepted her award for Best Video by a Female Artist, the rapper walked up to the stage and took the microphone from her. "Hey Tay, I'm happy for you, but Beyoncé actually has a better video," he said.

The military prosecutor's office of the Moscow Military District conducted an investigation into the mass brawl in the 4th Tank Brigade (Kantemirovskaya Division) in early July, reports the press service of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation.

The Russian Ski Racing Federation (FLGR) has increased the period of disqualification of skier Liliya Stepanova from two to four years. This was reported by the official website of the Russian anti-doping agency RUSADA. The decision to toughen the punishment was made at a meeting of the FLGR executive committee on July 28, 2010, but it became known only on August 13. What caused the doubling of the period of disqualification is not specified.

Irrational Games studio has announced a new part of the dieselpunk shooter BioShock. The game, previously known as “Project Icarus,” is called BioShock Infinite, the studio’s press service reports. The project is being developed for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and personal computer platforms. The game is scheduled for release in 2012. BioShock Infinite, which takes place in 1912, will not be directly connected to the previous parts of the series.