In New York, a shoplifting sparked panic among shoppers and led to the temporary evacuation of a shopping center, CBS2 reports. Photo: Global Look Press A crush of people shopping at one of the Macy's stores was caused by the fall of a massive shelf. The structure collapsed to the floor after a careless robber tried to steal the goods displayed on it. Shop visitors mistook the sound of a breaking shelf for gunshots, causing panic.

Trading on the Russian stock market began with growth in the leading stock indices. As of 10:10 Moscow time, the MICEX index rose by 0.16% to 1508.81 points. index The RTS rose to 1,455.68 points, which is 0.11% higher than the closing level of the previous trading day.

The Investigation Department of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs has completed an investigation into a high-profile criminal case of theft of funds allocated from the budget for preparations for the 2012 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. True, the amount of damage caused from the original was almost 100 million rubles. decreased to 29 million rubles, writes the Kommersant newspaper.

The Arctic Thirty may receive visas to travel outside the Russian Federation as early as Thursday. As stated on the Greenpeace microblog on Twitter, visas for foreign citizens from Arctic Sunrise should be ready before the weekend. Photo: greenpeace.org The Arctic Thirty may receive visas to travel outside the Russian Federation as early as Thursday. As stated on the Greenpeace microblog on Twitter, visas for foreign citizens from Arctic Sunrise should be ready before the weekend.

The North-Western regional center of VTB Bank hosted an award ceremony for the winners of the bank's personalized scholarship program. This was reported by the press service of the North-West regional center of OJSC VTB Bank. This year, according to the results of the competition, out of 77 participants, 13 students from St. Petersburg and 6 from other cities of North-West Russia received awards. The competition within the framework of the personalized scholarship program is held annually.

Photo: ERA The Ministry of Justice has figured out how to get out of the situation with the construction of correctional centers in which criminals sentenced by the court to forced labor will live. The beginning of the use of this type of punishment has already been postponed several times precisely due to the lack of correctional centers. Officials decided to build (and add somewhere or allocate existing barracks) such centers directly on the territory of existing colonies.

Uruguayan President Jose Mujica signed a law creating a regulated legal marijuana market, the Associated Press reports. The press service of the Uruguayan leader reported that the document was signed and thus came into force on the evening of December 23, 2013. Photo: AP Government of the country until April 9, 2014. must develop a detailed plan to regulate every aspect of the marijuana market, from cultivation to sale through specialty pharmacies.

Bad weather in Western Europe ruined Christmas Eve for local residents. On December 24, a storm paralyzed transport links in a number of countries, flights were delayed at Paris and London airports, and hundreds of thousands of homes were left without electricity, the Associated Press reports. Photo: AP Four people have died in a storm in the British Isles, including a man who jumped into a river to save his dog.

VTB organized Multi-merchant acquiring in the shopping complex “On Okruzhnaya” in Arkhangelsk The branch of VTB Bank in Arkhangelsk installed acquiring equipment and organized a system of payments by bank cards for CJSC Trade Complex Na Okruzhnoy. Card turnover for the period from September 1 to November 30, 2013 exceeded 33 million rubles.

Chinese border guards, as part of a joint operation with Hong Kong police, discovered a 40-meter tunnel dug by smugglers. The BBC reports this. The Hong Kong Tunnel was used by criminals to smuggle goods into mainland China. The underground hole began in a garage in the city of Shenzhen and led to reed thickets in the territory of a special administrative region. The smugglers took care of security issues by equipping the tunnel with electricity and its own ventilation system.

Deputies of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg propose to introduce criminal penalties for correspondence with children on the Internet. The draft federal initiative was adopted as a whole at today's meeting of the city parliament. 33 deputies voted in favor. The document providing for amendments to the Criminal Code was introduced by deputy Vitaly Milonov.

A ship carrying illegal migrants capsized in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of the British Turks and Caicos Islands. The incident killed 18 people, reports the Associated Press. The ship, which was carrying more than 50 people, sailed from the coast of Haiti. It capsized shortly after setting out to sea. The causes of the accident are currently unknown, however, most likely, the disaster occurred as a result of the ship being overloaded.

Border points in eastern Lapland are preparing for an influx of Russian tourists wishing to spend the Christmas holidays in Finland. As reported by yle.fi, according to estimates from the border service of the northern region of the country, 15% more border crossings are expected this year than last year. Photo: RBC Border points in eastern Lapland are preparing for an influx of Russian tourists wishing to spend the Christmas holidays in Finland.

In Tomsk, two air incidents happened overnight. First, information was received that a UTair Boeing 737 plane had crash-landed at Bogashevo airport. The plane was flying from Vnukovo airport in Moscow to Tomsk. Photo: RBC The Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations for the Tomsk Region clarified that the plane’s left landing gear malfunction sensor was triggered.

The Arbitration Court of the Krasnoyarsk Territory yesterday made a decision on the claim filed back in September by businessman Oleg Deripaska against the governor of the Kaluga region Anatoly Artamonov. This was reported today in court documents.