The head of the cinematography department of the Ministry of Culture, Vyacheslav Telnov, denied the statements of the editor-in-chief of the Art of Cinema magazine, Daniil Dondurei, who criticized the process of selecting films for which government subsidies are used. The department's press release is available to Lenta.ru.

Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov instructed the government to clarify the situation with the export of Ukrainian goods to Russia. As the UNIAN agency reported on the evening of August 15, the Commissioner for Cooperation with Russia, CIS countries and EurAsEC Valery Muntiyan stated this. According to Muntiyan, the country’s authorities have no evidence that the inclusion of Ukrainian companies in the risk profile of Russian customs is widespread.

In July 2013, the average cost per square meter in the primary housing market of “new Moscow” decreased by 1.7 percent to 80.6 thousand rubles. The weighted average price per square meter in new buildings in the Moscow region is now 10 percent lower. As stated in the review of the Peresvet-Invest company, in July 2012, when new territories were annexed to the capital, the gap was 15.3 percent. According to experts, compared to July last year, a square meter in “new Moscow” fell by 1 percent.

In Estonia, the sniper training school at the Kalev Infantry Battalion has been closed, REGNUM reports with reference to Postimees. As noted, this was the only educational institution of this kind in the armed forces of the republic. The school was reportedly closed as a result of army reforms. The reasons for the liquidation of the educational institution are also cited as the high cost of training snipers for the troops and the outflow of teaching staff.

State Duma deputy from A Just Russia Oleg Pakholkov demanded that a libel case be opened against opposition leader Alexei Navalny, RIA Novosti reported on August 16 , citing the party’s press service. According to Pakholkov, the reason for contacting law enforcement agencies was a message posted on Navalny’s Twitter. It contained a link to a publication in which the deputy was accused of involvement in crimes.

On the night of Friday, August 16, the motorcade of local businessman Yevgeny Anisimov was fired upon in Zaporozhye. UNIAN reports this. As the agency notes, Anisimov has been known in recent years as the “supervisor” of the Zaporozhye region. The incident occurred near the Rybatsky Stan restaurant. When two cars, one of which contained Anisimov and his guard, slowed down as they entered the embankment, machine gun fire was opened on them. The people in both cars were not injured.

The loss of Russian tour operators due to the unrest in Egypt, according to preliminary estimates, could amount to one hundred million euros. This was stated by the executive director of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) Maya Lomidze, Interfax reports . As Lomidze noted, already now the losses of domestic travel companies amount to tens of millions of euros.

The Kepler orbital observatory has been declared inoperable. Despite the fact that two-way communication is maintained with it, the failure of two of the four gyroscopes makes it impossible to use the telescope for its intended purpose, to search for exoplanets. NASA announced that attempts to make gyroscopes work have been stopped due to their futility. The failure of the first gyroscope occurred in July 2012, but this did not lead to loss of performance.

United Russia denied reports about foreign sources of financing for the party. “Everything is carried out in strict accordance with the norms of the current legislation,” told Interfax Konstantin Mazurevsky, first deputy head of the party’s Central Election Commission, . Earlier, representatives of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation made a request to check the sources of financing for United Russia.

Supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi, who marched in anger against Egypt's interim government, say helicopter gunships circling over crowds of demonstrators opened fire on them from the air. Relevant evidence appeared on the air of local radio stations and the Al-Jazeera television channel .

“Devil’s advocate” Jacques Verges died in Paris on August 15, reports Agence France-Presse . As Verger’s acquaintance said, a few months ago the lawyer fell, after which he began to feel unwell and had difficulty walking. The cause of death has not yet been announced. Jacques Verger was born in 1925 in Thailand. He was a committed communist and rose to prominence in the 1950s by defending as a lawyer members of the Algerian National Liberation Front accused of terrorism.

Pushkin Locks Norman Foster's latest project in Russia failed Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin. Photo: Belitsky Anton / ITAR-TASS Until recently, it seemed that the era of grandiose long-term construction and restructuring in Russian culture was gradually becoming a thing of the past: the six-year renovation of the main stage of the Bolshoi Theater was completed in the fall of 2011, the long-term epic with the Mariinsky 2 ended in the spring of 2013 - it’s time to calm down.

Leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood movement called on supporters of ousted President Morsi to hold daily protests similar to the “March of Wrath” that took place on August 16, reports Agence France-Presse . Demonstrations “against the military coup” are planned, according to representatives of the movement, until the legally elected president is returned to power. At the same time, another part of the Muslim Brotherhood’s statement states that “Rage Marches” will take place within a week.

The Rzhev City Court sentenced one of the young people who desecrated the monument to fallen wars and filmed it to a year in a penal colony. This is stated in a message on the website of the Tver region prosecutor's office. A prison sentence was imposed on the eldest of those who participated in the desecration, 21-year-old Nikolai Sergeev. 19-year-old Mikhail Berlizov and 18-year-old Nikita Kazaritsky received one and a half years of restriction of freedom.

Victory in the men's 4x400-meter relay allowed the US team to return to first place in the unofficial team event at the World Athletics Championships in Moscow, according to the official website of the tournament. The American quartet on the evening of Friday, August 16, covered the distance in 2 minutes 58.71 seconds, showing the best time of the season. Athletes from Jamaica won silver in the men's 4x400 meter relay with a score of 2:59.88.