Residents of the village of Verkhniy Karbush in the Omsk region received a response from the German authorities to their appeal to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in which they asked to pave the main village road. A response to the village residents was sent by a representative of the German authorities, Nadine Wachter, deputy of the Troitskoye rural settlement and initiator of the appeal, Irina Drozdova, told the publication Siberia.Realii .

In Russia, more than nine million people do not have enough food or they are malnourished, according to a report ( .pdf ) prepared by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). According to official data for 2018-2020, there are about 400,000 people living in Russia who are experiencing an acute shortage of food. These people are on the verge of starvation, due to lack of money they limit the amount of food and skip meals, writes BBC Russian Service.

The Taliban movement has allegedly captured the Spin Boldak checkpoint on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, near Kandahar, BBC News reports. The Taliban raised their flag over a key border crossing between the two countries, according to videos posted on social media, which also showed Taliban members talking to Pakistani border guards.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was hospitalized on July 14 due to chronic hiccups that lasted almost two weeks, the Associated Press reports, citing the presidential press service. Bolsonaro is in an army hospital in the city of Brasilia and "feels good," the president's office said. He must stay under the supervision of doctors in the hospital or at home from 24 to 48 hours.

The Moscow Arbitration Court fully satisfied the claim of the oil company Rosneft, filed against the publication Important Stories and journalist Roman Shleinov because of the material Dancer for Rosneft . This is stated in the case card on the website of the court. In its lawsuit, Rosneft demanded to delete the investigation of the publication, which claimed that in 2014 they bought a stake in the Italian tire manufacturer Pirelli for the company.

We asked professional historians to weigh in on Putin’s ‘historical article’ “Ukrainians and Russians are generally one people,” Vladimir Putin proclaimed during his annual call-in show at the end of June. About two weeks later, the Kremlin published an article authored by the Russian president titled “On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians” (it’s now available in Russian , Ukrainian , and English , but you can just read our summary here ).

A district court in Murmansk has ordered the forced hospitalization of Violetta Grudina, the former head of Alexey Navalny’s local campaign office, who is currently running for City Council. On July 14, the Oktyabrsky District Court satisfied a suit from Rospotrebnadzor (Russia’s consumer protection and human well-being agency) seeking to forcibly hospitalize Grudina for allegedly violating quarantine while recovering from COVID-19.

Michael Probst / AP / Scanpix / Leta The European Commission on July 14 published the concept of a plan to combat climate change. It involves a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in Europe by 2030 to the level of 55% of the value of 1990 (now emissions in Europe are at the level of 76% of this value). Key points of the plan: The introduction of customs fees from imported goods depending on their carbon trace.

Russia’s Central Election Commision (CEC) has decided to restrict access to online broadcasts from polling stations for the September elections. According to a presentation published on the CEC’s Telegram channel, broadcasts from polling stations will be conducted via the official portal and be accessible to election commissions at all levels, political parties, candidates, and election monitoring centers. However, unlike in previous years, they won’t be publicly accessible.

In the largest cities of France on the afternoon of July 14, protests were held against the new government measures, according to which it will not be possible to visit public places without a coronavirus vaccine or a PCR test, and mandatory vaccination for medical workers.

The Oktyabrsky District Court of Murmansk has granted the claim of Rospotrebnadzor for the forced hospitalization of the former head of Alexei Navalny's headquarters in Murmansk, Violetta Grudina, who is accused of violating isolation conditions during treatment for COVID-19. The court ordered Grudina to be hospitalized until she tests negative for coronavirus, said Agora CEO Pavel Chikov, citing lawyer Vladislav Zheynov, who represented Grudina.

The Russian Investigative Committee has dropped the “Sanitary Case” charges against municipal deputy Konstantin Yankauskas, his lawyer informed Mediazona on July 14. What’s the Sanitary Case? A number of Alexey Navalny’s associates are facing criminal charges for allegedly violating sanitary and epidemiological restrictions during a pro-Navalny rally in Moscow on January 23.

In Yekaterinburg, the Akvarel printing house refused to print photos and stickers of two K-pop groups BTS and Stray Kids, suspecting boy band members of being gay. This was announced by the owner of the K-pop coffee shop Pinky Pop Pavel Kungurtsev, who ordered the printing of photos, writes Znak.com.

Maya Kovaleva ( "More oil!" ) Hot July weather is the perfect time for cold drinks. The simplest is, of course, lemonade, for which nothing is needed but lemons and water. But lemonade can be made not only from lemons, herbs with a “cool” taste and aroma are ideal for him - mint, popgon, aka ordinary Tarkhun, thyme, even lavender. In addition, unexpected combinations of “hot” spices such as ginger, cloves, cinnamon, a bady and even Kayen pepper or Chile are interesting.

Meduza uncovers how the Belgorod region became the most vaccinated part of Russia Anton Bergun / TASS / Scanpix / LETA The Belgorod region has the highest coronavirus vaccination rate in Russia — nearly 35 percent of the population, more than half a million people, have received their first dose. By comparison, even Moscow and the Moscow region are lagging behind, with just over 25 percent of their residents vaccinated against COVID-19.