The Board of Directors of the Bank of Russia decided to increase the key rate from 10.5% to 17% per annum from December 16, 2014. In addition, in order to strengthen the effectiveness of interest rate policy, loans secured by non-market assets or guarantees for a period of 2 to 549 days from December 16, 2014 will be provided at a floating interest rate set at the level of the key rate of the Bank of Russia, increased by 1.75 percent point.

In the case of "Yves Rocher" the brothers Navalny interrogated: report "Medusa" Photo: Dmitry Lekai / Kommersant The Zamoskvoretsky court of Moscow interrogated the accused in the case of Yves Rocher Alexei Navalny and his brother Oleg. The court investigation in the case was actually completed - it remains only to hold the debate of the parties (they are scheduled for December 19), after which the court will leave for the sentence.

Two hostages were killed in Sydney, the police said officially. A 34-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman died. They died after they were taken to the hospital. The police gave the exact number of hostages: on the morning of December 15, 17 people were taken in the Lindt cafe. The 50-year-old man who took the hostages was killed during the assault. The police explained that they launched an assault, because shots from a gun were heard inside the cafe. Four people were injured.

The Zamoskvoretsky Court of Moscow ruled that on December 19, the former general director of the Russian representative office of Yves Rocher, Bruno Leproux, be subjected to forcible arrest as part of a criminal case against brothers Alexei and Oleg Navalny, accused of embezzling the company's funds. This decision was made on the evening of December 15 by Judge Elena Korobchenko.

The Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA) proposes to create within the structure of the Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the Investigative Committee of Russia a specialized unit for investigating financial crimes, including those related to the withdrawal of assets abroad. Thus, the DIA expects to strengthen government measures to identify and prevent illegal operations of Russian banks and their managers to transfer assets abroad.

A well-known journalist, former member of the European Parliament Giulietto Chiesa said that the Estonian police detained him on December 15 for 48 hours, while he was not charged. Chiesa arrived in the capital of Estonia to speak at the Impressum media club in Tallinn with a lecture on the topic “Should Europe be afraid of Russia?” Igor Teterin , head of the media club, told Interfax that Chiesa had already given lectures in 2008 and 2011 in Impressum.

Relatives of nine people killed in a 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, have filed a lawsuit against the gun manufacturer. The lawsuit, which was also joined by one of those injured in the shooting, has been filed against Bushmaster in a Connecticut state court. The plaintiffs charge Bushmaster with "wrongful death." Whether any financial claims against the weapons manufacturer are put forward in the lawsuit is not reported.

Chechen war in the memoirs of Hussein Iskhanov and Musa Lomaev Photo: Antoine Gyori / Sygma / Corbis / All Over Press A series of materials about the first Chechen is approaching the end.

Photographer Oleg Klimov - about the history of one photo The photojournalist Oleg Klimov went through many “hot spots” and worked in Chechnya during the first war. At the request of Medusa, he told the story of one of his photographs taken in January 1995. Then Klimov managed to withdraw the meeting of soldiers' mothers with captured by the fighters of the GRU special forces - one of them recognized her son in the printer.

The RTS dollar index, one of the main Russian stock indicators, lost 10.12% following the trading session on December 15, falling to 718.32 points. Similar values ​​of the RTS index were recorded last time in the spring of 2009. The MICEX ruble index also fell by 2.38% to 1424.99 points. Blue chips, the most liquid stocks, lost a total of 2.82% on the Moscow Exchange on December 15. Shares of Russian companies are getting cheaper abroad as well.

The Belarusian authorities have banned the import of a number of food products from Russia. In particular, the fast food Golden Noodles, Dungan Lagman and Big Lunch produced by the Russian company BioFood were embargoed. In addition, Mokka ground coffee produced by Paulig Rus is prohibited. All these goods were found to be non-compliant with sanitary standards.

RELATED: Two hostages die in Sydney A terrorist who took hostages in a Sydney cafe was shot dead during a special operation. There is no official confirmation of this information yet. The police said only that the storming of the building was completed. According to unconfirmed reports, two people, including a terrorist, were killed as a result of the operation. Four or five people were injured. One policeman was among the wounded.

The "speculative motive" in the depreciation of the ruble is 8-10 percentage points of the total fall. This assessment was given by the Central Bank of Russia in the monthly report on monetary policy, published on December 15. According to the Central Bank's calculations, 30 percentage points of devaluation is associated with a fall in oil prices, another 20 percentage points - with sanctions and 10 percentage points - with a general weakening of currencies from developing countries.

Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin - about why the media should not delve into Sony: The New York Times Photo: Torru Hanai / Reuters / Scanpix Three weeks ago, the Haucca Group "Guardians of the World" gained access to the documents of Sony and personal correspondence of the top managers of the film company.

Police have launched an assault on Sydney's Lindt Café, where a group of hostages are being held. There are reports of shootings and explosions at the establishment. 6 hostages ran out of the cafe. The police confirmed that live weapons and stun grenades were used in the special operation. Following the police, paramedics entered the cafe. Several people were carried out of the building on stretchers. Hostages at Sydney's Lindt Café were taken on the morning of 15 December.