MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV will again become paid, reports Siliconera. Starting January 6, 2012, users who want to continue playing the project will have to pay $9.99 per month for it ($6.99 is the service fee and another $3 must be paid for their character). A three-month subscription will cost users $17.97, and six months of access to the project will cost $29.94. Final Fantasy XIV was released in September 2010.

Emir of Kuwait Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah dissolved the local parliament by his decree on December 6, Al-Arabiya TV channel reports, citing Kuwaiti media. At the same time, the ruler announced that the next parliamentary elections would take place in 60 days - in early February. Local oppositionists took the news of the dissolution of parliament and the holding of new elections favorably.

Video for Duran Duran's song "Girl Panic!" was banned from MTV and VH1, according to the Contactmusic website. The video , which is over nine minutes long, was considered too explicit. Another reason why the channels refused to show the clip was allegedly excessive product placement. The mentioned video is directed by Jonas Akerlund. He has previously collaborated with Madonna , Roxette, Rammstein, Metallica, Paul McCartney and many other groups and performers.

The camera that George Lucas used during the filming of Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope was one of the lots auctioned on December 3rd. Heat Vision reports. The Panavision PSR 35 mm camera was purchased for 625 thousand US dollars. This is a record amount for cinematic equipment. The device that went under the hammer is in working condition. The camera itself was supplied with a lens protector, two film cassettes, a camera dolly and other bonuses.

Truth in numbers How mathematicians look for traces of election fraud According to the almost final results of the elections held on December 4, 2011, Russians voted as follows: United Russia received 49.3 percent of the votes, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation got 19.2 percent, 13.25 percent from A Just Russia and 12 percent those who came to the elections voted for the LDPR. Three more parties - "Right Cause", "Patriots of Russia" and "Yabloko" - did not enter the Duma.

Two supporters of ex-South Ossetian presidential candidate Alla Dzhioeva were detained in Tskhinvali . This was reported by the Res news agency with reference to the Deputy Prosecutor General of the Republic Eldar Kokoev. Automatic weapons and ammunition were confiscated from these people (their names are not indicated). “The detainees do not deny that they took part in the rallies organized by Dzhioeva, but they were not detained for this.

In Belgium, after a year and a half of crisis, a government was formed. King Albert II, reports Agence France-Presse , appointed the Walloon (French-speaking) socialist Elio di Rupo as prime minister. Fleming Steven Vanackere will become Minister of Finance, replacing Didier Reynders, who headed the department since 1999. Reinder, in turn, will head the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The full list of ministers can be found on the website of the Belgian monarchy.

Telescopes of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) photographed the most “promoted” known star, VFTS 102. The images and their description are available on the observatory’s website. The image was synthesized using optical and infrared images taken by the 2.2-meter telescope at La Silla Observatory and the 4-meter VISTA telescope at Paranal Observatory.

Enmac has developed the Enmac MQ710 phone, designed for devout Muslims, The Daily Telegraph reports. The device’s memory is loaded with the text of the Koran in Arabic and its translation into 29 other languages, including Russian, as well as an audiobook with the Koran and collections of hadiths (stories about the actions and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad). In addition, the Enmac MQ710 offers several other applications that the developers believe will be useful to Muslims.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin appointed his voluntary adviser Maxim Liksutov as the new director of the department of transport and development of the capital's road infrastructure . Sobyanin stated this during a meeting of the city government, Interfax reports . At the same time, Nikolai Lyamov , who has held the position of head of the transport department since January 2011, from now on will work exclusively as the deputy mayor for transport issues, Sobyanin noted.

Director Tom Hooper has refused to film the musical Les Misérables in 3D, BBC News reports. Hooper said that he himself finds the mentioned format extremely attractive. However, the director admits that some viewers may find watching a 3D film tedious. Hooper's Les Miserables will be based not on the original Victor Hugo novel, but on its stage version. The musical of the same name was written by French composer Claude-Michel Schonberg. The libretto was written by Alain Boublil.

The number of buildings in new buildings in the Moscow region offered for sale increased by 6.8 percent in November. The number of apartments increased by 14.3 percent. This is stated in a study by the ABC of Housing company. Potential demand in the primary market, determined by the number of requests from buyers, on the contrary, has decreased.

Zarubezhneft and TNK-BP will take part in the competition, based on the results of which oil and gas fields in Vietnam will be distributed. As Kommersant writes, citing its own sources, each company is vying for one of the nine shelf blocks put up for competition. Zarubezhneft has already submitted an application for geological exploration blocks in the South China Sea, and TNK-BP is going to do this in the near future.

The American drone shot down in Iran belonged to the CIA, NBC reports, citing US officials. As the channel's source notes, the RQ-170 Sentinel, which fell into the hands of the Iranian military, was carrying out a secret mission. It is not specified in which country the UAV carried out the mission - Iran or Afghanistan. According to an NBC source, the device apparently escaped the control of American intelligence officers and headed deep into Iranian territory.

Austrian skier Christian Hoffmann, who is the 2002 Olympic champion in Salt Lake City, has been banned for six years for doping. Hoffman was found guilty of doping from 2003 to 2006, although he did not have a single positive doping test, reports the Associated Press .