MegaFon, which won the tender for servicing numbers assigned to the Federation Council, cannot begin to fulfill the contract, since MTS refuses to transfer the numbers to the operator in accordance with the principle of MNP portability (the so-called abolition of “mobile slavery”). newspaper writes about this in its issue dated December 24, The Vedomosti citing Megafon representative Yulia Dorokhina. Under the terms of the competition, MegaFon received the right to service 700 numbers.

Two accused in the case of an attack on a migrant hostel in Kapotnya, Alexey Khudyakov and Alexander Voznesensky, were granted amnesty. Khudyakov himself reported this to the ITAR-TASS agency on December 24 . As the agency’s interlocutor noted, in the near future the bracelets that track their movements will be removed from them, and they will “go for a walk.” The leaders of the Moscow Shield and Narco-Stop movements, Khudyakov and Voznesensky, were charged with hooliganism.

The authorities of St. Petersburg have extended the contract with the general director of the Mikhailovsky Opera and Ballet Theater Vladimir Kekhman for five years, according to the city administration website. Kekhman came to work at the Mikhailovsky Theater in 2007 and has been its permanent general director since then. In addition to his work in the theater, Kekhman is known as an entrepreneur and chairman of the board of directors of JFC.

A deputy from the ruling Party of Regions, Oleg Tsarev, ensured that several dozen people were banned from entering Ukraine. He reported this to the Kommersant-Ukraine publication . “There are 36 people in my request. I have not yet received a response from the SBU [Security Service of Ukraine], but, according to my information, all of them have been declared persona non grata,” said a representative of the party in power.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group, which is said to be close to al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the attack on the headquarters of the Salahuddin television channel in Tikrit. reported this on December 24 Agence France-Presse . The reason for the terrorist attack was that the Salahuddin channel, according to the group, “distorts facts and is fighting Sunnis.” The attack took place on December 23 in the city of Tikrit, north of Baghdad.

The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation issued orders to terminate the criminal case in connection with an amnesty to three Arctic Sunrise crew members accused of hooliganism. This was reported by Agence France-Presse with reference to a Greenpeace representative. The names of those involved in the case who were released from punishment are not disclosed. According to Fontanka.ru, the first amnestied was the captain of the ship, Peter Wilcox.

In 2014, the Ministry of Emergency Situations will replenish its fleet with Sukhoi Superjet 100 and Tu-214 aircraft. This was stated by Minister Vladimir Puchkov, Interfax reports . Puchkov did not specify exactly how many aircraft will be purchased, but added that the ordered SSJ-100 will be modified to meet the requirements for search and rescue and other operations, as well as for medical evacuation of people.

Russian forward of the NHL club Dallas Stars Valery Nichushkin scored the winning goal in the match with the Los Angeles Kings. According to the official website of the league, the meeting ended with a score of 5:2, and Nichushkin scored the third goal of his team. In the first period, the teams scored two goals each. Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn scored for Dallas. Los Angeles has Justin Williams and Jarrett Stoll making accurate shots.

More than 330 people became victims of bombing in the Syrian city of Aleppo over nine days. Such data is provided by Agence France-Presse with reference to the human rights organization Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), which is based in London and collects information about the civil war in Syria from witnesses and civil activists. According to SOHR's ​​count, those killed included 99 children, about 30 women and about 30 rebels.

The Ukrainian pop-rock group "Underwood" together with the Creole Tango Orchestra recorded the composition "New Year's Tsar" for the New Year. “Lenta.ru” presents the premiere of the song on December 24. The founders of Underwood, Vladimir Tkachenko and Maxim Kucherenko, talk about the “New Year’s Tsar” and the outgoing year.

The High Court of London sentenced Tyumen businessman Fyodor Khoroshilov, accused in Russia of non-repayment of $776 million in loans to VTB Group banks, to 18 months in prison in absentia, the Kommersant newspaper writes on Tuesday, December 24. A British court found Khoroshilov guilty of deliberately violating a court order to freeze his assets around the world, which he himself signed, as well as contempt of court.

The Moscow government decided to name one of the city streets after goalkeeper Lev Yashin, who is considered one of the best players in the history of Soviet and world football. this on his Twitter announced Alexey Komissarov, head of the Moscow Department of Science, Industrial Policy and Entrepreneurship, . Whether a new street will be named after Yashin or one of the existing streets will be named after him is not specified.

Co-founder of the microblogging service Twitter Jack Dorsey joined the board of directors of Walt Disney Co., the Associated Press reported on Monday, December 23, citing a statement from the company. Dorsey will begin serving as a board member immediately, Walt Disney officials announced, and will vote on a full term at the March 2014 annual meeting of shareholders. Jack Dorsey launched the microblogging service in July 2006.

German researchers have learned to produce volcanic lightning in a laboratory experimental setup. Its description was published in the journal Geology , the contents of the experiment are briefly retold by New Scientist. The installation consisted of a container with volcanic ash under pressure of about 100 atmospheres. A hole was made in the top of the container through which the ash could escape into a chamber with normal atmospheric pressure.

The Investigative Committee announced a competition for the purchase of a system for determining a person’s mental and emotional state based on a speech analyzer. The order is placed on the government procurement website. The initial price of the contract is 745 thousand rubles. The equipment is designed to detect stress in the voice and determine its cause, for example, a lie or uncertainty in what was said.