The prosecutor's office of the Pskov region announced on April 11 that there were no violations in the income declaration filed by the region's governor, Andrei Turchak. reports this Interfax with reference to the department's press service. The inspection was carried out at the request of the governor himself. Turchak turned to the prosecutor's office for a legal assessment after it became known in March about French real estate owned by the official's wife.

The head coach of the London football club Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, said that Russian forward Andrei Arshavin will most likely leave the team at the end of his contract in the summer of 2013. ESPN reports this. According to Wenger, Arshavin is unlikely to want to stay at Arsenal because he is not getting playing time at the club.

The Russian economy may find itself in recession by the fall of 2013 if the country does not take measures to stimulate GDP growth. This Interfax reports. was stated by Russian Minister of Economic Development Andrei Belousov, The minister commented on the situation with Russia's GDP a day after his ministry lowered the official forecast for economic growth in 2013 from 3.6 to 2.4 percent.

Russian figure skaters Ksenia Monko and Kirill Khalyavin took third in the dance pairs competition at the World Team Championships in Tokyo. This was reported by All Sport. Based on the sum of the two programs, the Russians scored 149.27 points (59 after the short dance + 89.80 after the free dance). The victory was celebrated by the American couple Madison Chock and Evan Bates, who scored 164.91 (66.54+98.37) points.

The French Senate has finally approved a bill on the legalization of same-sex marriage and the right of homosexual couples to adopt children, France 24 reports. Earlier this week, the Senate approved part of the articles of the document, and on Friday, April 12, voted to grant same-sex spouses the right to adopt children. The document will now be returned to the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, for a final, second reading in May.

A flock of Siberian Cranes, which President Vladimir Putin tried to help with their flight to the south, was not allowed in for the winter by Uzbek border guards. The Vedomosti newspaper reported this on April 12. In the fall of 2012, the birds were flown to the border of Uzbekistan and Afghanistan, where they were planned to be released into the wild. The head of the Flight of Hope project, Alexander Sorokin, told the publication about this.

Former world heavyweight boxing champion Nikolai Valuev, in an interview with Sport-Express, said that he had to end his career due to a benign brain tumor. The athlete admitted that he underwent craniotomy to remove a tumor, which, according to Valuev, could lead to his death. Valuev had never talked about the tumor before.

Chairman of the A Just Russia party Nikolai Levichev proposed making Cosmonautics Day an official public holiday and a non-working day. The corresponding bill will be submitted to the State Duma, Interfax reports . The deputy noted that currently April 12 is only a professional holiday for cosmonauts. “We urgently need to correct this situation and perpetuate the glory of Gagarin in our homeland,” Levichev added, commenting on the initiative.

The governor of the Altai Republic, Alexander Berdnikov, promised to punish environmental polluters with the help of shamans and forest spirits. this He reported on his blog. The head of the region proposed installing signs in popular tourist places that would inform about the sanctity of these lands, and also tell about the rules of behavior.

Russian President Vladimir Putin asked Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin to “think again” about creating a Ministry of Space. reports this RIA Novosti .

Tunisia received the first payment from funds that belonged to the previous regime, but were withdrawn from the country before the 2011 revolution. writes about this The Financial Times . UN-appointed asset finder Ali bin Fetais al-Marri handed over a check for $28.8 million to President Moncef Marzouki. The funds were found in the Lebanese bank account of Leila Trabelsi, the wife of the country's former president Zine Ben Ali.

The Hannover prosecutor's office has brought corruption charges against former German President Christian Wulff, the department's website reported on April 12. Also charged was film producer David Groenevold, who, according to the prosecutor's office, paid a bribe to the official. In addition, Groenevold is charged with giving false testimony under oath.

The largest generating company in Russia, RusHydro, wrote off 9.4 billion rubles on bills that could be sold. Forbes writes about this with reference to unnamed sources. The amount was written off against the bills of FC Otkrytie, which went to RusHydro and FSK from RAO UES. The latter invested part of the funds from five billion rubles received during the reform of the company in debt securities.

The police of the city of Rome in the American state of Maine, after years of fruitless attempts, on April 4 managed to detain the mysterious Hermit from the North Pond, the existence of which local residents could only guess. Christopher Knight lived in the forest for 27 years, with virtually no contact with people. The hermit's visits to populated areas amounted to thefts - in holiday camps, shops, private houses and other places he obtained food and things needed in everyday life.

The Barack Obama administration has prepared a “Magnitsky list” of 18 names to be submitted to the US Congress for approval. reports this Reuters . The list includes 16 names of officials and security officials who, according to the American side, are directly involved in the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in a pre-trial detention center, as well as two persons involved who are not directly related to this story.