The main goalkeeper of the Istanbul football club Fenerbahce Volkan Demirel will not be able to take part in the matches of the playoff round (fourth qualifying round) of the Champions League with Moscow Spartak . The 30-year-old goalkeeper will miss these matches due to a shoulder injury, writes Vatan. Volkan Demirel was injured during the Turkish Super Cup match against Istanbul Galatasaray. This meeting took place on August 12 and ended in a victory for Galatasaray with a score of 3:2.

The number of terrorists killed as a result of a special operation in the "Tan" holiday village near Almaty has increased to nine. This was reported by the Prosecutor General's Office of Kazakhstan. Previously, there was information that five criminals were eliminated. The special operation was carried out as part of the investigation into the explosion on July 11, 2012 in the village of Tausamaly, Almaty region.

After the collapse of the USSR, the Russian Air Force inherited only 40 percent of all Soviet aircraft and helicopters and became the second largest after the United States. According to various sources, the Russian Air Force's aviation fleet currently includes from 3.1 to 4.3 thousand different aircraft and helicopters; about 900 more vehicles are in reserve. By 2020, aviation should be updated by 70 percent.

The Russian government has approved a bill introducing mandatory direct elections of mayors in all Russian cities, Kommersant writes on August 17. The document was presented in May. It was prepared by the Ministry of Regional Development. Now the government must submit a bill to the State Duma. After this, it will be considered by deputies who can make amendments to it. Now heads of municipalities can be elected both directly and by deputies of legislative assemblies.

The Khamovnichesky Court of Moscow found three members of the punk band Pussy Riot guilty of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred for an action in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Thus, judge Marina Syrova sentences Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alekhina and Ekaterina Samutsevich to a guilty verdict, not an acquittal. A live broadcast of the meeting can be viewed on the Reuters website.

In Ternopil, a fight occurred between fighters from the Falcon and Berkut special forces, TSN reports. As a result, the Berkut soldier received serious injuries, from which he later died. The conflict between special forces allegedly occurred at the Riverpool nightclub. The men went outside to sort things out and a fight broke out. In the morning, a passer-by found the beaten Berkut member near the club. The victim was hospitalized, but doctors were unable to save him.

The crew of an Air France plane that made an unscheduled landing in Damascus asked passengers for a loan to pay for refueling. According to The Daily Telegraph, the pilots were forced to do this because, due to financial sanctions imposed against Syria, electronic payments by card did not go through. The incident occurred on Wednesday, August 15. In Damascus, a plane en route from Paris to Beirut was forced to land due to unrest in the Lebanese capital.

Ron Howard will direct a documentary about the Made in America music festival, Deadline reports. The event itself will take place in Philadelphia on September 1st and 2nd. Festival participants will include Jay-Z (he is also the organizer of Made in America), Run DMC, Pearl Jam, DJ Shadow, Chris Cornell, Janelle Monae, Rick Ross, Skrillex and others. The full list of performers can be found on the official website of the event. The film about the festival will be produced by Brian Grazer.

at the building of the Khamovnichesky Court in Moscow, where the announcement of the verdict in the Pussy Riot Security measures have been strengthened case is scheduled to begin on August 17 at 15:00. According to Interfax , by 8:00 Moscow time, riot police blocked part of the street adjacent to the court building, and more than ten police buses were located inside the fenced area. The passage of pedestrians through the barriers is prohibited, as is the passage of cars along the alley.

Spending on political advertising in the United States by mid-August 2012 exceeded half a billion dollars. This is according to NBC News, according to Smart Media Group Delta's weekly report. Thus, approximately the same amount has already been spent on advertising for the presidential elections in 2012 as on the entire 2008 campaign.

Defender of St. Petersburg Zenit and the Russian national football team Alexander Anyukov was diagnosed with a concussion. The head of the press service of the Russian champions, Evgeny Gusev, said this in an interview with Zenit radio. Anyukov received a blow to the head in the first half of a friendly match between the national teams of Russia and Cote d'Ivoire (1:1), which took place on August 15 in Moscow.

The former head of Deutsche Bank, Josef Ackermann, may head the board of directors of the newly created RosfinAgency, which will manage government reserves amounting to several trillion rubles. newspaper writes about this in its issue dated August 17 The Vedomosti , citing unnamed sources.

The Russian Embassy building in London was stoned on the night of August 17, according to the embassy's website. The attack was carried out by Syrian opposition supporters who opposed Russia's support for the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad . As a result of the incident, windows in the building were broken, but none of the embassy employees were injured.

In Kazan, colony officers detained human rights activists who had previously found a bat with the inscriptions “Analgin” and “Lawyer” in one of the correctional institutions in Tatarstan. The arrest on August 16 was reported on the website of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Tatarstan. According to the Federal Penitentiary Service, two citizens were photographing security facilities near correctional colony number two.

17.08.2012, 18:29:37 version Print | PDA/PDA Image from bristolpound.org Currency fragmentation Why do European cities need their own currency? Cities in Europe are increasingly resorting to issuing their own currencies, with goals ranging from attracting tourists to protecting local businesses from economic crises. In August it became known that British Bristol would introduce a local currency. Lenta.ru decided to find out which other cities have acquired their own banknotes, and why.