Leaked recording implicates Lukashenko in authorizing use of lethal force against Belarusian protesters Natalya Fedosenko / TASS / Scanpix / LETA Nikolai Karpenkov at a rally in Minsk on September 6, 2020. He’s holding a truncheon in one hand and a red-and-white flag — an opposition symbol — in the other.

Russian director Kantemir Balagov (“Dilda”) has been appointed director of the pilot episode of the HBO series “The Last of Us,” based on the video game of the same name for PlayStation consoles. This was stated in a press release from the Non-Stop Production company received by Meduza. “I write with shaking hands. Dreams Come True. I'm a big fan of The Last of Us and I'll never forget how this game opened up something new in me, showed me something I hadn't seen in myself before.

Users of the Signal messenger are faced with the inability to send messages, writes The Verge. According to Downdetector, the service crash affected users in Europe and the United States. The company confirmed in a tweet that the service is experiencing technical difficulties. The failure is due to the fact that the messenger has "millions and millions" of new users, explained . Signal a year ago The Signal messenger was used by about 15 million people .

The number of deaths from COVID-19 worldwide has reached 2,000,905 people. These are the data from Johns Hopkins University, which collects data in real time. Most deaths were recorded in the United States - 389,581. In second place in terms of the number of deaths is Brazil (207,095 deaths), followed by India (151,918 deaths). In total, according to Hopkins University on January 15, 93.4 million cases of coronavirus infection were recorded in the world during the epidemic.

Apple plans to release two new MacBook Pros in 2021 with faster processors and updated displays. Bloomberg was informed about this by sources familiar with the company's plans. The new laptops will be released in two screen sizes: a 14-inch model codenamed J314 and a 16-inch version internally named J316. They will be equipped with Apple's own next-generation processors with more cores and improved graphics.

Employees of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) signed an open appeal calling for the release of MSU graduate student Azat Miftakhov, who was arrested on charges of attacking the United Russia office. The appeal was published on Facebook by Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Belavin, drew attention to the letter. MBKh Media The letter was signed by 54 academicians, professors and corresponding members of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

What you need to know when switching to Signal messenger. What was remembered by the government of Mikhail Mishustin for a year of work. Coronavirus vaccinated from coronavirus should continue to wear masks Good evening, This is the daily newsletter "Medusa", in which we talk about the main news of the day. Good news: Friday today. Another good news: Wikipedia is 20 years old. Hurray!

Moscow prosecutors have issued a warning on their website urging people not to take part in an “unauthorized mass event” at Vnukovo International Airport on the day opposition figure Alexey Navalny is set to return to Russia from Germany. This event hasn’t been coordinated with the city of Moscow’s executive authorities in the manner prescribed by the law.

European countries, including the UK, will receive fewer coronavirus vaccines from Pfizer than expected starting next week. This is reported by the Financial Times (FT). This is due to the company's plans to increase production capacity in order to release two billion doses in 2021, and not 1.3 billion, as planned. In particular, Norway next week will receive 18% fewer doses than expected (36 thousand instead of the expected 43.9 thousand), writes FT.

Pavel Zelensky, a member of Alexey Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), has been remanded in custody on extremism charges until February 28. Zelensky was taken from his home to the Moscow branch of the federal Investigative Committee earlier in the day on Friday, January 15, the FBK’s head of legal, Vyacheslav Gimadi, told Mediazona. Initially, the reason for Zelensky’s arrest was unknown.

The Moscow Prosecutor's Office has warned against participation in an "uncoordinated mass event" at Vnukovo Airport on the day of politician Alexei Navalny's return to Russia from Germany. The message was posted on the agency's website. The said event was not coordinated with the executive authorities of the city of Moscow in the manner prescribed by law.

The participants in the storming of the Congress building wanted to “capture and kill elected officials in the United States government,” according to a motion filed by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona to extend the arrest of QAnon “shaman” Jacob Anthony Chansley. The petition, which was noted by The Washington Post, says that the intentions of the storming party are supported by Chansley's actions.

YouTube has blocked the channel of FC Akhmat Grozny, a Russian professional soccer club linked to Chechnya’s leader Ramzan Kadyrov (the club is named after his father, former Chechen leader Akhmat Kadyrov). The block was reported by RIA Novosti on Friday, January 15. Trying to access the Chechen soccer club’s channel prompts a message saying “this page is not available” and it no longer comes up via the search function.

Kremlin-linked catering magnate Evgeny Prigozhin has offered to pay to build a memorial at the site where Russian journalists Alexander Rastorguyev, Orkhan Dzhemal, and Kirill Radchenko were murdered in the Central African Republic (CAR). On Friday, January 15, spokespeople for Prigozhin’s company “Concord” announced this in a statement on the social network VKontakte, attaching a copy of a letter from Prigozhin addressed to the CAR’s Culture Minister, Dieudonne Ndomate.

Moscow’s Vnukovo International Airport, where opposition figure Alexey Navalny is set to land on Sunday, January 17, will not be allowing journalists on its property to cover his arrival. In an email to the news portal Sota Vision, spokespeople for the airport attributed this decision to anti-coronavirus measures.