On Tuesday, the British government announced the intention to hold early elections on June 8. The media lively discuss this unexpected decision. From the last parliamentary elections, writes The Economist , two years have passed. Ten months ago, a referendum on Britain’s membership in the EU took place. Nine months ago, Teresa May replaced David Cameron as Prime Minister of Britain. The next significant event in this series may be early parliamentary elections on June 8, 2017.

In 2016, the government learned to use sanctions and low oil prices in the interests of the economy - and their efforts are noticed by international rating agencies. This is one of the main achievements that Dmitry Medvedev told the state Duma during his report. Among other achievements, which, as Medvedev is sure, can also be merit of his government - the growth of the life expectancy of Russians, this indicator has reached 72 years.

Kommersant posted a video from the first interrogation of one of the accused of the murder of Boris Nemtsov Zaura Dadaev. During him, a man recognizes his participation in a crime. Meanwhile, at the hearing on April 18, Dadaev refused the initial testimony, noting that he was at home on the day of the murder and was ill. In addition, during the criminal process, Dadaev mentioned that the testimony was knocked out of it under torture.

The Higher Electoral Commission (CEC) of Turkey rejected the request of representatives of opposition movements to cancel the results of the referendum held on Sunday on amendments to the country's constitution. This is written by the newspaper Hurriyet Daily News . According to her, only one member of the commission supported the initiative of the opposition, 10 CEC members spoke out against.

Relatives of the suspect in the organization of the attack in St. Petersburg Abror Azimov said that his brother Akram was called for interrogation to the State Committee of the National Security of Kyrgyzstan, but he disappeared. It is reported by Interfax .

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev during his report to the State Duma deputies commented on the situation with protests against the system of charging from the Plato heavy trucks. His words are given by TASS . According to Medvedev, only a few hundred people out of about 800 thousand registered heavy trucks protest against the system. He explained the protests by the reluctance of carriers to leave the "gray" zone of the economy.

Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika was asked to verify the legality of the order of the Committee of Property Relations (KIO) when transferring the ROC nine real estate objects of the Sampsonievsky Cathedral, which is part of the Isaakievsky Cathedral museum complex. About this on Wednesday writes " Kommersant ". The head of the Commission on the Education, Culture and Science of the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly Maxim Reznik applied to the department.

For more than two decades, paleontologists believed that the tail of the Rakoscorpio ( Slimonia Accuminate ) was used by him only to protect against enemies. But the new find made it possible to establish that the sharp jagged end of the tail was a formidable weapon with which the Rakoscorpio hit its prey. Rakusquens, or eurepterida ( Eurypterida ), despite the name, only very distant relatives of modern scorpions.

The Russian defense department denied reports of a number of Western media that the Russian authorities allegedly underestimate data on their losses in Syria. This was reported by Interfax with reference to the official representative of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation Igor Konashenkov. “Beware of fakes,” Konashenkov said.

The UN International Court did not take temporary measures against Russia in the lawsuit of Ukraine. The court session was broadcast on the site.

The editors of Novaya Gazeta received a letter from Grozny with a suspicious “white powder” inside. This was reported on the website of the publication. The general director of the publication is named the recipient on the letter envelope. There is no return address on it, it is only indicated that the letter from Grozny. The editorial office called the operational services of the Ministry of Emergencies and the police.

The Supreme Court did not consider the complaint of the former governor of Sakhalin Alexander Khoroshavin and his relatives, who, on the initiative of the Prosecutor General’s Office, was confiscated most of the property. It is reported by RBC . Earlier, the prosecutor’s office has achieved the transfer of the family of the ex-official for more than 1 billion rubles, but the Supreme Court refused to consider the cassation complaints of Khoroshavin's lawyers.

The Governor of the Novosibirsk Region Vladimir Gorodetsky decided to cancel the resolution on raising housing and communal services tariffs in the region by 15%at once. He announced this on the morning of April 19, Taiga.info reports. In accordance with the new decision of the governor, tariff growth will not exceed 4%. “From the recommended 4%, we decided to increase to 14.9%. This decision has been an official check of the FAS. The growth of tariffs was recognized as objective.

In recent years, a number of studies have shown that some forms of behavior: from altruism to overeating - can spread among people, like infections. Under the influence of their acquaintances, people also change their own behavior. In the next work, scientists have checked whether this effect is acting on sports. As material, researchers used data from a social network, uniting more than a million fans of running in the United States.

Russian Minister of Agriculture Alexander Tkachev estimated Russia's losses from the introduction of duties on Russian grain and sunflower oil of $ 1.3–1.5 billion. This was reported by the TV channel " Russia 24 ". According to the minister, the restrictions on deliveries are a "blow to the back." “We did not expect this. This is such a certain extent blow in the back, and we very much hope for the normalization of Russian-Turkish relations, ”he said on the air of the channel.