Russian biathlete Ekaterina Avvakumova received the citizenship of South Korea and will now be able to represent this country at international performances. Avvakumova had never competed at the World Cup or the World Championship before, but she won medals at the Russian Championship and the national cup stages. In addition, she has the gold of the Summer Biathlon World Championship and the silver medal of the 2015 Universiade.

Update: One of the protesters was detained by the police. Several truck drivers blocked passages at the Western High-Speed ​​Diameter checkpoint in St. Petersburg. As one of the organizers of the action, Andrei Bazhutin, told BFM.ru, drivers are protesting against tolls. He also noted that drivers have the legal right to stop at toll booths. He told the Rosbalt publication that there were several “one might say random” collisions of trucks with barriers at toll booths.

In the Turkish city of Izmir, several armed men organized an attack on a courthouse. Explosive devices were set off during the attack. According to preliminary data, at least 11 people were injured, including policemen. In the shootout, two attackers were shot dead, while another remained at large. Update: according to updated data, at least two people (a policeman and a court employee) died. There is no information about the possible organizers of the attack and their motives.

A terrorist attack took place in the city of Jabla in the Syrian province of Latakia, as a result of which at least nine people were killed. The bomb was planted in a car. According to the Associated Press, the attack was the first such incident since the announcement of a truce between the armed opposition and the Syrian authorities in late December 2016. So far, none of the armed groups has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Interdistrict Environmental Prosecutor's Office of Moscow began an investigation into the fact of fixing an increased content of hydrogen sulfide in the Maryino region. During the inspection, it is supposed to establish the source of air pollution. Interfax, citing GPBU Mosekomonitoring, reports that the level of hydrogen sulfide in the evening of January 4 was exceeded in Maryino by 28 times. The content of hydrogen sulfide dropped to normal values ​​only by one in the morning.

Deputy head of Russia’s Penitentiary Service Valery Maksimenko has said the whereabouts of prisoner Dadin Ildar would be revealed after January 7. Maksimenko said this in a telephone conversation with Dadin’s wife Anastasia Zotova. Dadid was transferred out of a penal colony in Segezha over one month ago. According Maksimenko, all of December, Dadin was being transported to a new penal colony.

An oil platform caught fire in the Gulf of Mexico, 130 kilometers off the coast of Louisiana. At the time of the fire, there were four people on it, all of them were evacuated. There is no information about the causes of the fire, which occurred on the night of January 5. Four rescue vessels are involved in extinguishing the fire. An investigation is underway. There were no reports of a possible oil leak.

The exchange rate of the dollar at auction on the Moscow Exchange on January 5 fell to below 60 rubles per US dollar, RBC reports. The euro exchange rate is also significantly falling, which at the time of writing is about 62.5 rubles. The exchange rate of the dollar has not fallen below 60 rubles since July 2015. The last time the dollar is below 60 rubles. dropped on July 31, 2015. Then the dollar reached a minimum value of 59.88 rubles. per dollar.

The British government has appointed diplomat Tim Barrow as the Kingdom's Ambassador to the European Union. He will take the place of Ivan Rogers, whose resignation became known on January 3. Barrow was British Ambassador to Ukraine from 2006 to 2008, and from 2011 to 2015 he headed the British Embassy in Moscow. A Downing Street spokesman called the diplomat "a balanced and strong negotiator with extensive experience in defending the interests of the UK in Brussels" (Eng. lang.).

The Russian Ice Hockey Federation filed a complaint with the International Ice Hockey Federation about a shootout in the semifinal match between the youth teams of Russia and the USA. As stated in the message of the FHR, after the execution of three bullets from each team in the arena, a signal sounded to end the match, although according to the regulations, the series should go up to five shots.

Google DeepMind has completed online testing of the AlphaGo algorithm, which can beat the best players in the world. The algorithm, playing on Chinese online platforms under the pseudonym Master, won 60 victories, never lost, and one meeting was counted as a draw due to the fact that the opponent stopped playing ahead of schedule. None of AlphaGo's competitors knew they were playing with a computer.

The educational channel for children Kids Learning Tube has published an animated map of Russia. The video tells about all the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Regions, republics, regions and autonomous districts sing a song in English in which they are presented. And this is very strange. Watch with sound Published by Denis MedvedEV January 5, 2017 The channel also laid out the singing map of the United States. In the video, the States declare themselves and the capital.

Deputy head of the Federal Penitentiary Service Valery Maksimenko promised after January 7 to tell where the prisoner Ildar Dadin was transferred from the Segezha colony. Maksimenko said this in a telephone conversation with Dadin's wife Anastasia Zotova.

The main discoveries and achievements of archaeologists in 2016 Photo: Jason Quinlan / AP / Scanpix / Leta Female figurine found in Turkey, it is more than 8 thousand years old In 2016, there were many not only archaeological news about interesting finds, but also stories exposing the sensational discoveries of previous years. It turned out that many sensations of 2015 turned out to be a soap bubble.

Sherlock co-creator Mark Gatiss has published a poem in The Guardian in which he responds to the "obscure critic" who compared the first episode of the new season to the James Bond films. In the poem, Gatiss recalls that in the books of Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes never hesitated to use force and knew the fighting techniques with which Moriarty won, and also boxed well.