Royal Bank of Scotland, the largest state-owned bank in Great Britain, is going to lay off 30 thousand people in the next 3-5 years. The Financial Times writes about this, citing unnamed sources. The staff of the financial organization is 120 thousand people, that is, every fourth will be fired. The cuts will be part of a tough cost-cutting program led by the bank's new chief executive, Ross McEwan.

The online publication Techradar has announced the release date for the virtual reality helmet for PS4, which was developed by Sony. According to him, the device will be presented at the GDC video game developer conference, which will be held from March 17 to 21, 2014. The exact date for the presentation of the device has not yet been announced. Techradar's source, however, spoke positively about its quality.

The former deputy chief of police of the Murmansk Region Ministry of Internal Affairs, Vladimir Globus, was sentenced to one and a half years in prison and a 500 thousand ruble fine for fraud. agency reported this on February 21 The Interfax . In December 2012, Globus, on the basis of an order from the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, received a social benefit in the amount of 3.56 million rubles for the purchase of housing.

The Moscow authorities intend to unite into one structure all controlled institutions involved in the design of civil construction projects. As the Vedomosti newspaper writes in its issue dated February 21 , the designer will have to work according to a “unified urban planning policy.” In particular, we are talking about the merger of Mospromproekt, Mosproekt-2, Mosproekt-3, Mosproekt-4 and the State Unitary Enterprise MNIITEP.

A battalion of marines has moved to Kyiv, where in recent days there have been clashes between radical opposition supporters and employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. This was reported by “Left Bank” with reference to its own sources. Similar information, also citing its (unnamed) sources, was disseminated by Glavkom . According to the publications, the Marines “in full combat readiness” are traveling by train from Feodosia.

In Nizhny Tagil, the court closed the administrative case of the creator of the Children-404 support project for LGBT teenagers, journalist Elena Klimova. this on February 21 She herself announced on her Facebook. Klimova wrote: “There was just a trial. The case of gay propaganda was dropped due to the lack of an administrative offense. Sorry, Milonov." The police drew up a report against Klimova at the end of January.

Internal troops, who kept the parliament building cordoned off, were urgently withdrawn from the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. reports this LB.ua . “The withdrawal of the security forces took place in incredible haste. The commander literally pushed the soldiers onto the bus. He kept shouting: “Faster, faster. 40 seconds. Faster,” the publication’s correspondent reports. After the servicemen left, the mattresses on which they slept, clothes and garbage were left on the ground.

Russia's permanent representative to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, said that the rise of opposition forces to power in Ukraine would lead to “deep chaos” and division of the country. Churkin stated this in an interview with CNN. The threat of dividing the country, according to the diplomat, will arise “if these so-called democratic opposition leaders succeed and come to power “on the shoulders” of thugs.” He added that radical sentiments in Ukraine could “infect” Europe.

Venezuelan prosecutors have charged Leopoldo Lopez, the leader of the local opposition, with arson and conspiracy, CNN reports. At the same time, suspicions of terrorism and murder, previously voiced by the authorities, were removed from the oppositionist. Lopez's lawyers have already stated that they approve of the decision to drop the most serious charges against their client, but they intend to prove that he did not set fires or conspire.

The two largest mobile operators in Ukraine - MTS-Ukraine (part of the Russian MTS) and Kyivstar (a subsidiary of VimpelCom, owner of the Beeline trademark) - have closed sales offices in the center of Kyiv. reported this on February 21 Prime . As MTS representative Dmitry Solodovnikov explained, the company has closed two offices in the center of the Ukrainian capital, close to the “zone of ongoing events.” He also noted that the collisions in Kyiv did not affect the sales dynamics.

The capital authorities are considering the possibility of legislatively limiting construction periods in the Central Administrative District to two years. Moscow 24 reports this with reference to the deputy head of Moskomekspertiza Roman Maslov. The mayor's office expects that this requirement will make it possible to more effectively combat long-term construction.

Rupert Murdoch has agreed to purchase two apartments occupying the top four floors of the One Madison high-rise building under construction in Manhattan. According to The Wall Street Journal, the media mogul will pay $57.25 million for the property. According to the publication, Murdoch purchased a three-bedroom apartment with a private elevator on the 57th floor and a three-level penthouse on the 58-60th floors. The total area of ​​the apartments is 945 square meters.

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on the evening of Friday, February 21, approved a law providing for a return to the 2004 constitution. Ukrayinska Pravda reports this. The Rada's decision means that part of the current presidential powers will be transferred to parliament. The bill was considered without preliminary discussion. 386 deputies voted for him, with the required minimum of 300 votes.

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on the evening of Thursday, February 20, decided to work daily, seven days a week, until the end of the political crisis in the country, Interfax reports . 229 deputies out of 232 present at the meeting voted for this schedule. Shortly after the vote, Vice Speaker of the Rada Ruslan Koshulinsky announced a break until 10:00 Friday local time (12:00 Moscow time), clarifies .

What are blue strays and why do astronomers care about them? How does the presence of large-scale structure in the Universe affect life in galaxies? What exactly are fast radio bursts? Finally, how can we assess the influence of dark energy on the formation of the Universe in a simple and clear way? This and much more is in the latest astro review of Lenta.ru.