A gunman opened fire at an education authority building in Saudi Arabia, killing six staff members. This was announced by the representative of the Saudi Ministry of Internal Affairs, General Mansour Turki, reports Reuters . The incident occurred in the Jizan province in southwestern Saudi Arabia. According to General Turki, the authorities regarded the attack as criminal. The attacker was arrested. Two people were also wounded as a result of the attack, the Interior Ministry spokesman added.

The United States plans to send the Virginia-class attack submarine SSN-777 to South Korea next week due to a threat from North Korea, Yonhap news agency reported , citing an unnamed military official in Seoul. In addition, Washington is also considering sending the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis. It could join exercises in South Korea next month, agency sources said.

The finalists of the 2018 World Cup mascot competition were a tiger, a wolf and a cat. The winner will be determined during an all-Russian vote in the fall of 2016 The official hashtag of the 2018 FIFA World Cup (Photo: RIA Novosti) The three finalists in the competition to determine the mascot of the 2018 FIFA World Cup included a tiger, a wolf and a cat. This is stated on the official website of the tournament. Three finalist characters were selected by members of a special jury.

The Venezuelan government has asked more than 100 shopping centers to close or generate their own electricity for four hours each day, reports the Associated Press . Such measures will be in effect in Venezuela for three months, Reuters reports citing Electricity Minister Luis Motta Dominguez. As the publication Sumarium points out , they are introduced for those centers whose consumption exceeds 100 kW.

St. Petersburg investigators are conducting an investigation into the death of a six-year-old girl in a kindergarten. This was reported by the press service of the ICR department for St. Petersburg. According to the department, on the afternoon of February 11, the director of the kindergarten, located at Lensoveta Street, 45, building 2, called an ambulance because the girl felt ill. Doctors arrived at the kindergarten, however, despite the measures they took, the child died.

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' and Pope Francis agreed on the text of a joint declaration. This was announced by the head of the synodal Department for External Church Relations, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, Interfax reports . “The text of the declaration was agreed upon by the parties until late yesterday evening, and the final amendments were made.

Over the period from 2010 to 2015, the share of local brands in the Russian beer market increased from 14.9 to 26.5%. The four largest international brewers have reduced both their total sales and market shares over the past year.

The US Senate voted for new sanctions against North Korea, Reuters reports . Restrictive measures are related to the DPRK's nuclear program, the development of technologies for launching ballistic missiles and the human rights situation. As Bloomberg notes , they will affect both individuals and companies and foreign countries that are involved in these violations. The White House has not yet said whether the president will sign the bill.

The Ministry of Defense will again begin purchasing Meridian satellites due to problems with new generation communications spacecraft, Kommersant writes , citing sources in the rocket and space industry and the defense department. According to the publication, it is planned to purchase four new devices, 14 billion rubles have been allocated for this. At least another 8 billion rubles. will be spent on means of launching satellites into orbit - Soyuz-2.1 launch vehicles and Fregat upper stages.

Dozens of people died in a riot at the Topo Chico prison in the state of Nuevo Leon in northeastern Mexico. This was reported by Reuters with reference to local media. It is reported that the riot began in the early morning of Thursday, February 11. At least 50 people were killed, according to Mexican television channel Milenio TV. Several more prisoners may have escaped. No other details of what happened were provided. There are no comments from law enforcement agencies in Nuevo Leon yet.

The government is not considering the possibility of weakening the ruble, told Lenta.ru. the Prime Minister’s press secretary Natalya Timakova “There cannot be such plans, this is complete nonsense, because the exchange rate relationship between the ruble and other currencies is determined by supply and demand. The volatility of the ruble exchange rate is largely predetermined by the dynamics of oil prices,” she emphasized.

Opposition MP Dmitry Gudkov on Thursday sent a request to Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev in connection with the attack on the leader of the PARNAS party, former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov. In the document (available from RBC), Gudkov asks for instructions to identify the attackers in order to bring them to justice.

Hotels in Altai, where the 15th annual forum “Western Siberia: Region, Economy, Investments”, which bears the unofficial name “Siberian Davos”, is scheduled for February 12, refuse to accept participants of the event. The organizer of the forum, former co-chairman of RPR-PARNAS, Vladimir Ryzhkov, told Radio Liberty about this. He said that in all cases, wherever the organizers tried to book a hotel, they were refused.

US Air Force aircraft were responsible for the bombing of the Syrian city of Aleppo last Wednesday, the Russian Ministry of Defense said. Previously, the Pentagon blamed Russia for these strikes US Air Force A-10 attack aircraft (Photo: Reuters/Pixstream) The official representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Igor Konashenkov, said that US Air Force attack aircraft carried out strikes on the Syrian city of Aleppo last Wednesday, February 10.

In 2015, the share of online microloans increased from 3 to 7.5%, as calculated by the largest self-regulatory organization of MFOs, Mir. Is it worth using microloans online? Photo: Lori Microfinance organizations have begun to actively develop online lending. In the first nine months of 2015, the portfolio of these loans increased 3.2 times, to RUB 1.7 billion, compared to 2014.