Any decision on sanctions against Russia will depend on improving the situation in the east of Ukraine and on the implementation of the Minsk agreements. This was stated by the head of the diplomacy of the European Union Federica Mogherini, Interfax reports. Mogherini said that the discussion in Russia is one of the main issues on the agenda of the meeting of ministers, which will be held on January 19. She also called the bad news the renewal of battles in the Donbass.

The border guards of Kyrgyzstan opened fire on armed violators on the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border, RIA Novosti reported with reference to the head of the public relations department and the media of the State Border Service of the Kyrgyzstan Gulmira Borubaev.

Two police lieutenants were detained in the center of Moscow for a bribe, the press service of the metropolitan police reports . “On Sunday, the operatives of their own security department of the Internal Affairs Directorate in the Central District were detained by two traffic police officers on suspicion of obtaining illegal monetary rewards in the amount of 48 thousand rubles from a citizen to notify him to administrative responsibility,” the press service employee said.

The leadership of the European Union intends to maintain sanctions against Russia. This was stated by the head of the EU foreign policy, Federica Mogherini, writes The Wall Street Journal. After participating in the EU Council for Foreign Affairs, she once again confirmed that “any decision on sanctions will be made only with improving the position on the ground” in the eastern regions of Ukraine. This was also stated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Grzegozh Schetin.

The European Union has not yet seen the reason for the abolition of sanctions against Russia, but in this retains the mood to normalize relations with Moscow, said the EU Beda-Chairman in Russia Vigaudas Ushaskas on the air of the Russia-24 television channel. According to him, “all EU countries, regardless of the geographical location, are interested in normalizing the situation”, that is, in stabilizing the situation in Ukraine and in normalizing relations with Russia.

As a result of floods in the east of Malaysia, more than 3.2 thousand people were evacuated, the electronic version of the Star newspaper reports. The most dangerous situation is in the largest state of the country of Saravak, where classes have been canceled in many schools and transport communication has been broken.

Egypt can switch to ruble mutual statements with Russia in the field of tourism. This was announced by Interfax on November 19, a press secretary of the Russian Union of Trade, Irina Tyurina with reference to the Minister of Tourism of Egypt Hisham Zaaza. “As the Minister of Tourism of this country said, in a situation of serious devaluation of the Russian national currency, such a step could become an incentive to support tourist flow from Russia to Egypt,” Tyurina explained.

The press secretary of Russian President Vladimir Putin Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with Kommersant FM that at the moment, there is no talk of talking about Russia's disqualification in international tournaments.

The new batch of secret materials from the archive hiding in Russia, the former-analytics of the US National Security Agency Edward Snowden, was released by the German magazine Der Spiegel . Thanks to these documents, it became known that the global surveillance of US special services for users of the Internet, the information about which was published in previous Snowden earlier, was only the first stage of American military cyber strategy.

The famous annual flights of butterfly monarchs ( Danaus plexippus ) from Canada and northern states of the United States to Mexico may stop . Paradoxically, this can lead to this, aimed at preserving this type. The number of butterflies decreased for a long time. This is caused by a reduction in forest areas, both in the USA, where butterflies live in the summer, and in Mexico, where they winter.

Deputies of the Samara Provincial Duma, public and religious figures demanded that the Minister of Culture of the region of Olga Rybakova stop stopping allocating the money to the chief director of the Samara Academic Drama Theater Valery Grishko, who played in the film "Leviathan" of the Orthodox bishop.

Yuri Slyusar was dismissed from the post of head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia. This was reported on the government website . “To dismiss Slyusar Yuri Borisovich from the post of Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation in connection with the transition to another job,” the government said, signed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on January 17.

The North American International Auto Show for Auto Exotics Fans has opened in the United States, this year, the Web Sit of the Autosalon reports. About 800 thousand people visit the salon annually. The Michigan car dealership takes place for the 108th time and this time he got racks for car dealerships. He opened at the beginning of the calendar week.

The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (National Security and Defense Council) said that two battalion-tactical groups of the Russian armed forces were crossed by the Ukrainian border. This was reported on the website of the information and analytical center of the National Security and Defense Council.

The film "Leviathan" directed by Andrei Zvyagintsev won the London film critics Prize in the nomination "Best Foreign Language", the newspaper The Guardian reports. In this nomination, “Leviathan” competed with the films “Two Days, One Night” by Jean-Pierre and Luke Dardenov, “Winter hibernation” Nuri Bilge Jaylan and “Ida” Pavel Pavlikovsky. Earlier, Leviathan received the Golden Globe, and was also nominated for an Oscar in the category of "Best Foreign Language Film".