The trial for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi has begun in Saudi Arabia. At the first hearing, 11 defendants appeared before the court. The prosecutor's office demanded the death penalty for five of them. The US Senate and the CIA believe that the order to kill the journalist was given by Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Saudi Arabia denies this, calling the murder an initiative of individual security officials.

US citizen Paul Whelan , who was detained in Moscow in late December, has been formally charged with espionage, an informed source told Interfax. Whelan does not admit his guilt. The American's lawyer, in turn, reported that the court had arrested him for two months on December 29 and that an appeal had been filed against this decision.

Update. On the morning of January 4, the governor of the Chelyabinsk region, Boris Dubrovsky , announced that all 39 dead had been identified. The Ministry of Emergency Situations has completed a rescue operation at the site of the explosion in Magnitogorsk. According to the first deputy head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation Alexander Chupriyan, there are no more people under the rubble. The death toll was 39 people.

In Perm, a criminal case was opened against Alexander Shabarchin, an activist of the local headquarters of Alexei Navalny. He, along with two other activists, is accused of hooliganism committed by a group of people.

(Spoiler: Consider the woodpeckers in the Kaluga region and swim in a boat in Sicily) Almost all the time in 2018 we spent in the editorial office, so there was simply no time for something. New Year's holidays - a reason to fix it! Medusa employees tell how they will watch films on the ceiling on these holidays, teach children to skate, count the woodpeckers in the Kaluga region, swim in a boat in Sicily, play and read. We hope that one of this will inspire you.

America's unlikely ‘social media’ spy arrested in Moscow, and Meduza summarizes the best Russian journalism in 2018 Thursday, January 3, 2019 This day in history (26 years ago): Presidents George H. W. Bush and Boris Yeltsin signed START II on January 3, 1993, in Moscow, banning the use of multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs) on intercontinental ballistic missiles. Russian news agency says ‘U.S.

The house in Magnitogorsk, in one of the entrances of which a gas explosion occurred on December 31, is planned to be preserved by dividing it into two separate houses, said the head of the city department of architecture and civil engineering, Ilya Rassokha. According to Rassokha, this decision was made on the basis of preliminary findings of experts. The final conclusion on the possibility of further operation will be made within a few days.

Every year, Meduza awards something called the “Riga Balsam” to Russia’s best journalism outside our own newsroom. Like a taste for high-alcohol-content liqueurs, the selection process here is completely subjective. If you’re interested in which Meduza investigative reports our own correspondents liked best, we have a whole separate article for that, which you can read here . What you’ll find below, however, is a summary of other Russian journalists’ top work last year — says us.

France has extradited to Russia former Moscow Region Finance Minister Alexei Kuznetsov, who is accused of fraud, embezzlement and legalization of property obtained through criminal means. Kuznetsov was detained in France at Russia's request in 2013. Over the following years, his extradition was delayed due to appeals in courts of various instances. The final decision on extradition was made on December 28, 2018.

As usual on New Year's holidays, Meduza talks about the best journalistic texts published over the past 12 months - those that have not lost their relevance and are not a pity to spend time on during the holidays. the texts published in Russian We have already listed - now let's turn to those that were published in English in 2018: here are a dozen of those that we especially remember.

Walt Disney Mary Poppins returns to the Russian rental - a continuation of the famous picture of Disney studio, shot 54 years later. The main role in the film was played by Emily Blunt, and Ben Wishaw, Maryl Strip and Colin Ferte also played in it.

US citizen Paul Whelan, a suspected spy, was caught red-handed after receiving a flash card with a list of employees of one of the secret agencies. As a source in the intelligence services told Rosbalt, the list of employees is a state secret and has long been of interest to American intelligence agencies.

Paul Whelan, the U.S. citizen recently arrested in Moscow on espionage charges, was caught “red-handed,” according to the news agency Rosbalt . A source in Russia’s law enforcement reportedly says Whelan spent years using social media to recruit Russians with access to classified data. Whelan’s lawyer, meanwhile, told the news agency that he expects his client to be released on his own recognizance, when the case comes before a judge.

China's Chang'e-4 space probe made a soft landing on the far side of the moon on January 3. This was the first such case in history - before that, all aircraft landed only on the visible side of the Earth's satellite. The tasks of the mission include photographing the surface of the Moon, collecting soil, as well as conducting a biological experiment to create a closed ecosystem - for this, there is a container with silkworm larvae and plants on board the device.

Director Alexei Krasovsky posted on YouTube a black comedy “Holiday”, the action of which takes place in the blockade Leningrad. Alexey Krasovsky holiday (2019) Film As Krasovsky wrote on his Facebook, after the first 12 thousand views, the authors of the film received about 300 donations. Funds for shooting the "holiday" were collected by crowdfunding.