The United States sent a new batch of ammunition of the moderate Syrian opposition before preparing the rebels for the attack on the strategically important city of Ash-Schadadi, which is under the control of the Islamic State terrorist group ( Daish , prohibited in the Russian Federation), Reuters reported. "The ammunition was sent on the land to the fighters of the Syrian opposition, fighting in the north -eastern part of the country," American officials told the agency.

On Thursday morning, the Russian stock market grew after global venues after the expected increase in the US Federal Reserve, as well as in anticipation of the annual press conference of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, Interfax reports. By 11:10 in Moscow, the MMEVB index amounted to 1772.23 points (+1%), the RTS index - 789.98 points (+0.6%), the ruble prices of most Blue Chips on the Moscow Exchange increased within 3%.

Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky said that the demand for paid education in universities is one of the criteria for assessing the quality of education. “If people do not pay money, it means that no one needs a university for FIG,” Rosbalt quotes his statement during a speech at the St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum.

The French prosecutor’s office began an investigation against the leader of the right -wing “National Front” Marine Le Pen after the politician posted on Twitter photographs of the taped victims of the Islamic State group banned in the Russian Federation (IS, ISIS, or Daish ), in particular, American journalist James Fouley, DW reports. According to the representative of the prosecutor's office, a similar case was instituted against the deputy from the "National Front" of Gilbert Collir.

“Dear journalists of Russia. As former editor-in-chief of Lenta and current editor-in-chief of Meduza Galina Timchenko writes absolutely correctly: direct lines with Putin/Medvedev are ritual events, not substantive. We know the answers quite accurately. What is much more important is what questions will be asked and how they will be specified. There is no need to participate in this circus as a backup dancer, what is the point of being journalists at all then?

The curious incident occurred in Australia. Employees of one local state department discovered that for a long time a real treasure was near them - a gold nugget weighing 10.7 kg. A piece of gold the size of a loaf of bread was in a wooden box, which civil servants used in a rather unusual way. According to ABC , with its help, officials played cricket in the office. The stone itself was originally discovered in 1887. Then he was bought by the Department of Mine of the New South Wales.

Russian television can leave Kazakhstan due to tightening local legislation. From January 1, 2016, advertising on foreign television channels will be prohibited in the neighboring state. The Ministry of Communications is negotiating these norms so that Russia does not lose the largest television broadcasting market outside the country.

In Russia in November 2015, 7.8 million square meters were built. m of housing, which is 2% less than November 2014, the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) said on Thursday. Housing construction has been falling in an annual comparison for six months in a row, but due to the shock first quarter, according to the results of 11 months, the “Interfax” notes.

AFK "System" and "LSR group" won the competition for the right to build the southern section of the Moscow industrial zone of ZIL, offering 34.2 billion rubles for the facility. Until 2022, they will build 1.5 million square meters there. m housing, writes RBC . There are no other applicants for participation in the competition, the publication notes.

In the United States, the funeral of the married couple Said Faruk and Tashfin Malik took place, who arranged a massacre in the city of San Bernardino, as a result of which 14 people were killed. The funeral was held on Tuesday, December 15, at one of the cemeteries, located a few hours from the city, Reuters reports with reference to the funeral participant.

US President Barack Obama signed a bill adopted earlier by the House of Representatives and the Senate of the US Congress, which regulates budget financing until December 22. This was reported by Reuters with reference to the White House. If the temporary budget had not been signed until midnight (08:00 in Moscow on Thursday), then all US government structures would have to stop working due to lack of funding.

AvtoVAZ stops the production of Lada Priora (Lada Priora) from December 18 in connection with the implementation of the December issue of this model, TASS reports with reference to the company's press service. "The production of Lada Priora has fulfilled its plan for December and then will be modernized by the assembly line for the release of the five -door Lada 4x4, which since 2016 will also be produced on the Priora line," the agency’s interlocutor noted.

From the Cosmodrome Kuru in French Guiana, the Russian Soyuz-ST launch vehicle with two European navigation satellites Galileo (Galileo) started. In the calculated time, the head block as part of the Fregat-MT acceleration unit and the two spacecraft Galileo FOC M4 separated from the third stage of the launch vehicle and continued the flight, said in Roscosmos .

The Moscow City Duma in a pumped up environment adopted on Wednesday the amendments to the metropolitan city planning code, which, according to the Duma opposition and municipal deputies, will actually cancel the institution of public hearings and untie the hands for spot development in the city. According to the Moscow Agency, the accepted bill gives the norms of the Urban Planning Code of Moscow in line with the provisions of the Town Planning Code of the Russian Federation.

The first in June 2006, the increase in the basic interest rate of the Federal Reserve System (Fed) accelerated the pre-scanning “Santa Claus rally” on exchanges, Interfax reports with reference to Bloomberg data. American stock indices continued to grow the third day in a row. The Standard & Poor's 500 index has practically eliminated the fall since the beginning of December and is expected to complete 2015, until the end of which he left 10 trading sessions, in the Green Zone.