The celebration of the Independence Day of Kazakhstan in the west of the republic turned into a tragedy. About three thousand inhabitants of the oil city of Zhanaozen (former New Kneen) that on the Mangistau Peninsula (former Mangyshlak) were involved in riots, as a result of which, according to the latest data, about 90 people were killed, 46 buildings were burned. President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev on December 17 introduced a state of emergency in the city.

And in the morning they woke up. It happens, waking up after yesterday, we can hardly recognize the world around us, our loved ones, ourselves. And this happens, I admit, not only from abuse of alcohol. But what to do if the hangover overtook us? The New Times tried to figure out this important issue Everyone says: the Kremlin, the Kremlin. I heard from all about him, but I have never seen it myself.

Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov guessed to be born on December 10, as if he foresaw that this day would be dedicated to human rights activists and dissidents, "enemies of the existing order." Few people celebrated his 190th birthday this year, but in vain. First, he was a great journalist and an excellent editor. Both in Sovremennik, which he edited (1847–1866), and in Fatherland Notes (1868–1877), Nekrasov demonstrated the best examples of biased, oppositional journalism.