Russian Post will not be able to begin providing banking services from the beginning of 2015. reported this on February 27 ITAR-TASS with reference to the general director of the organization Dmitry Strashnov. According to him, the postal operator must first go through the corporatization procedure. Earlier, Deputy Minister of Communications and Mass Communications Mikhail Evraev stated that Russian Post could begin providing financial services from the beginning of 2015.

The Federal Antimonopoly Service has not ruled out initiating cases against airlines due to their pricing policies. This was stated by the head of the FAS Igor Artemyev, Interfax reports . According to Artemyev, the service is giving air carriers another week.

Police in the Indian city of Agra in the state of Uttar Pradesh detained the killer of a local resident following a tip from her parrot. This was reported by the Press Trust of India. In turn, the relatives of the murdered woman, Neelam Sharma, were able to understand the bird’s anxiety when a criminal appeared next to him and convey information about him to law enforcement agencies. The murder of Sharma, the wife of the editor of a local publication, took place on February 20 at her home.

Journalist for the German publication Spiegel Benjamin Bidder apologized for insulting Party of Regions deputy Elena Bondarenko. Bidder wrote on his Facebook that he allowed himself to be excessively emotional and rude when he obscenely suggested that Bondarenko “shut up.” The conflict arose due to an interview that Bondarenko gave to Bidder on February 20 and in which the deputy stated that, in her opinion, Kiev law enforcement agencies acted “not tough enough” the day before.

British insurer Standard Life will consider moving offices, staff and assets from Scotland to England if Scots vote for independence in a referendum in September. This is stated in the official press release of the insurer. As noted in the report, Standard Life intends to establish offices outside Scotland in order to transfer its business there if necessary.

At one of the intersections in Nizhny Tagil, the tank collided with a VAZ-2112 car. An accident involving a combat vehicle occurred on February 26, reports E1.ru. The tank, the model of which was not specified, was heading from Uralvagonzavod to the test site along a special driveway at the time of the collision.

On February 27, the Ukrainian flag was lowered from the Sevastopol city council. reports this Interfax . The crowd that gathered near the building greeted this event with jubilation, the media noted. Now only the city flag flies above the Council. Thus, as the agency notes, there are no Ukrainian flags left above any government institution in the center of Sevastopol. Earlier, on February 23, protesters lowered the flag from the city administration.

Italian fashion house Versace has agreed to sell 20 percent of its shares to American investment company Blackstone. This was reported by Agence France-Presse with reference to the press service of the fashion house. As Bloomberg indicates, Blackstone will pay 210 million euros for the asset; thus, the entire Versace group is valued at approximately one billion euros.

Astrophysicists have found that some super-Earths may be unsuitable for the existence of life. The scientists' article appeared in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society . A summary of it is given in a press release on the Royal Astronomical Society website. As part of the work, scientists simulated the process of formation of planets with masses from 0.1 to 5 Earth masses.

In St. Petersburg, police decided to fine a man who tried to start a car by attaching it to a trolleybus for illegal parking. Komsomolskaya Pravda reports this with reference to the press service of the city traffic police. Police officers became interested in two men who were trying to start a Zhiguli when they crashed into two cars parked on the side of the road. The fine for the driver of the Zhiguli was 2.5 thousand rubles.

The US Border Patrol rejected proposals to change its methods of work expressed in an independent study of gun violence on the Mexican border, writes The Los Angeles Times, which obtained the department's response to the experts' recommendations. Border guards explained that the commission's two main proposals could lead to an increase in the number of casualties among personnel.

Armored personnel carriers near the village of Ukromnoye near Simferopol. Photo: Oleg Kryuchkov’s personal Facebook page The Security Service of Ukraine intends to use its employees to “intercept Russian armored personnel carriers” near Simferopol. reports this UNIAN . According to the agency, we are talking about armored vehicles located in the village of Ukromny, Simferopol district.

The official website of the Russian President turned out to be unavailable for a number of users on the evening of Thursday, February 27, due to “temporary difficulties with the Internet.” Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov stated this on the air of the Ekho Moskvy radio station. Peskov did not say what caused the difficulties with the Internet.

The official website of State Duma deputy Alexey Mitrofanov alexeymitrofanov.com has gone offline. When trying to access the main page of the resource on Thursday, February 27, a message was displayed stating that the browser “cannot open the page.” At 17:00 Moscow time, problems with access to the site were confirmed by checking its address using the downforeveryoneorjustme.com service. According to TJournal, the website first became unavailable around 15:30 Moscow time.

The Interfax-Ukraine agency stated that it does not share the position of the head office in Moscow, which continues to call Viktor Yanukovych the president of Ukraine. “Interfax-Ukraine, in accordance with Ukrainian legislation, refrains from mentioning V. Yanukovych as the President of Ukraine,” the agency’s website says . We are talking about today's statement by Yanukovych, which was broadcast through Interfax channels.