The X -ray outbreak of the highest class of power X occurred the night before in the sun. About two days later, the plasma cloud thrown out during the outbreak will reach the Earth and cause a magnetic storm, the representative of the Institute of Applied Geophysics of Roshydrometer told RIA Novosti .

The Olympic champion in mountain skis American Lindsay Vonn on Tuesday announced on the Facebook page that she would miss the games in Sochi due to injury. “I am extremely upset, but I must announce that I can’t compete in Sochi. I did everything possible to somehow restore strength and overcome the absence of a front cross-shaped ligament, but the realities are now clear: my knee is too unstable to compete at this level,” the 29-year-old champion of Vancouver RIA Novosti quotes.

Former US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates prepared a book of memoirs, in which, in particular, he criticized President Barack Obama for uncertainty in the correctness of his own, head of state, strategy in Afghanistan.

The number of people who want to attach to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior brought from Athos in Moscow Gifts of the Magi, on Wednesday reached 20 thousand people, reports Interfax with reference to the press service of the Organizing Committee of the Sanctuary.

Under the guise of the Eurasian Union (EAS), which is declared as a "family business" of the universal states, Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to revive the USSR and renew the Cold War, writes the British newspaper The Financial Times .

The American analytical agency Around the Rings took the second place to President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin in the Golden 25 ranking, which included people who in 2014 will be able to have the greatest influence on the International Olympic Movement. As the agency recalls, the Russian leader “fascinated the IOC in 2007 to win the right to hold winter games,” and now he will be “in the center of attention in Sochi”.

The Russian women's team won gold in the 4x6 km relay at the fifth stage of the Biathlon World Cup in German Rupolding, the press service of the SBR reports. Ekaterina Glazyrina, Olga Zaitseva, Irina Starykh and Olga Vilukhina fought for our team in the race. The second was finished by the German team (+7.7 seconds), the third - Norwegian (+28.2). Note that the Russians won the relay race at the World Cup stage for the first time in the current season.

In the Stavropol Territory, three killings committed using firearms are being investigated at once. In one case, the body of the victim was found in a car, next to which an explosive device was laid. The crime was committed on the federal highway "Caucasus" near the village of Tambucan in the Potornoye district.

The prosecutor of the French city of Alberville Patrick Kinsey said that the video seized with French investigators, made by Michael Schumacher, lasts about two minutes. As ITAR-TASS reports, the prosecutor confirmed that the moment of falling was recorded on the video. However, the image does not allow with confidence to say that at the moment before the fall, Schumacher headed for a specific face.

The American newspaper The New York Times discovered "extra people" in Russia that are not built into power institutions, but determine the Kremlin’s policy and the activity of political parties, and can also become a barometer of systemic changes in the country.

The head coach of the St. Petersburg football club Zenit, Luciano Spalletti, expressed an interest in working in Milan, reports Interfax . “From a coaching point of view, now the ideal time is to accept Milan. Everyone knows that the red -blacks are waiting for serious changes. One cycle has come to an end, and now a new one begins. My contract with Zenit will last until June 2015, but everything can change very quickly in football.

“On the satanic-demonic Internet, the average person, whose moral health the Orthodox patriarch cares so much about, can find a lot of things that do not exist in the world of Channel One, Rashi Today and in the Church Bulletin of the Patriarchate. Every year, Russia loses an entire region in population, approximately equal to Pskov, a republic like Karelia, or a large city such as Krasnodar. Over the past 10 years, the population in the Far East has decreased by 40% and in the Far North by 60%.

In London, applicants for the prestigious awards of the British Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (BAFTA) were announced. The leader was the space thriller director Alfonso Kuaron "Gravity" - the film received 11 nominations. For one nomination, Steve McQueen’s film drama “12 years of slavery” and the criminal tragicomedy of David O. Russell “American scam”, the Russian Air Force Service .

Israeli parliamentarians have adopted a law prohibiting the spread of photo and video materials on the Internet without a "complete and voluntary" consent of the actors. Violators of this establishment face up to five years in prison, and the victims are equated with victims of sexual harassment, RIA Novosti reports with reference to the Knesset press service.

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar will be held in the winter, said General Secretary of the International Football Federation (FIFA) Jerome Valka, quoted by RIA Novosti with reference to AFP . Traditionally, the World Cup is held in the summer. In June-July in Qatar, which is located in the east of the Arabian Peninsula, the average temperature is about 38 degrees Celsius. “The World Cup will not be held in June -July.