The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) announced violations in the case of the embezzlement of the products of the Kirovles enterprise, the guilty of which the opposition Alexei Navalny and Pyotr Officerov was found guilty. The text of the decision is published on the court website. The court found that Navalny and Officer were tried for acts that cannot be distinguished from ordinary entrepreneurial activity.

Russia lost to the DPRK the place of the “main threat of the United States” in 2016. This is evidenced by the data of the sociological survey Gallup published on the organization’s website. According to the poll, 16% of residents called North Korea the main threat to the country. 15% - they called such Russia. At the same time, in 2015, 18% of Americans voted for Russia. For the DPRK - 15%.

Former President of Poland Lech Valens signed an agreement on cooperation with special services in order to help one of their employees. It is reported by Radio Poland. He also stated that he signed two documents on which security officers were allowed to assign a fee for agents. “They took money for themselves, not for me and, lo and lo, different people did this in turn and long enough. I have long stopped maintaining contact with him, ”he said.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) decided to prohibit the transport of lithium-ion batteries as baggage in passenger aircraft, reports Reuters . It is reported that the ban was introduced in connection with the fears of pilots and manufacturers of aircraft on fire hazard of lithium-ion elements. This ban will enter into force on April 1, 2016. It is assumed that it will act until new security standards are developed to transport such batteries.

Türkiye welcomes the ceasefire agreement in Syria, but will be ready to answer shelling from the Kurds and after February 27. This was stated by Vice Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmush, reports Associated Press. “We hope that the Democratic Union (political association of the Syrian Kurds. - Slon ) will not attack Turkey after the Sabbath. Turkey, of course, has the right to protect its territory, ”said Deputy Prime Minister.

London Stock Exchange (London Stock Exchange, LSE) and Deutsche Boerse are negotiating. This is reported on February 23 to Reuters with reference to unnamed sources. According to the interlocutors of the agency, negotiations are at an early stage. Representatives of both exchange platforms refused to comment. Later on February 23, LSE confirmed that the possibility of combining exchanges is being discussed, reports Reuters.

The authorities of Kazakhstan reduced the forecast for GDP growth in 2016 to 0.5%. This was stated by the Minister of National Economics, Yerbolat Dosaev, Interfax reports. Dosaev explained that the revision of the forecast is associated with a conservative development scenario emanating from the average annual oil price $ 30 per barrel. Earlier, the government of the republic suggested that with the cost of oil $ 40 per barrel, the economy will grow by 2.1%this year.

Over the next year, Iran may sign oil contracts totaling $ 10-15 billion. This was stated by the Deputy Minister of Oil of the Islamic Republic of Roknedin Javadi, Shana reports . With what kind of countries the contracts can be concluded, Javadi did not specify. He added that according to experts, Iran can increase the production of hydrocarbons to 4.7 million barrels per day.

The surplus of Germany’s budget in 2015 amounted to € 19.4 billion. The data of the Federal Statistical Directorate of Germany (Destatis) published on February 23. The indicator turned out to be maximum since the country's unification in 1990, indicates Deutsche Welle. At the same time, the German budget turns out to be a surplus for the second year in a row-in 2014, the state revenues exceeded expenses by € 8.9 billion.

The authors of the report described the history of Kadyrov’s arrival to power and appreciated his financial and power resources The head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov (in the center) during the sermon of the theologian Adam Shahidov on the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad Said Tsarnaev / RIA Novosti Politician Ilya Yashin today presented the report “The Threat of National Security” dedicated to the head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov.

Military personnel during the rehearsal of the parade on November 4 on Red Square Maxim Shemetov / Reuters World history is full of paradoxes, and Russian history, it seems, consists only of them. On February 23, our country celebrates the Defender of the Fatherland - a holiday on which it is customary to praise the military, and all men as potential soldiers and officers as a whole.

Oppositionist Ilya Yashin thanked Ramzan Kadyrov for the premature publication of the report “The Threat of National Security”, which refers to the activities of the head of Chechnya. Yashin wrote about this on his Facebook. “After the head of Chechnya himself published a report, there is no doubt - they will read it in the republic. This bravado will be good for us. So I welcome the “cunning move” of the Kadyrovites. Well done, Ramzan, ”added Yashin.

Australia authorities approved the sale of Van Dieman's Land, the largest milk producer in the country, Chinese investors. It is reported by Marketwatch. The buyer will be the businessman Lu Xianfan and Moon Lake controlled by him. The amount of the transaction will be 280 million Australian dollars ($ 202 million).

Former JPMorgan Chase & Co. Bruno Michelle Ixil, known as the London Whale, interrupted four years of silence and stated that he was not guilty of the multibillion losses of the bank. About this writes The Wall Street Journal with reference to the letter of Ixil, which he also sent to other business media, including Bloomberg .

US President Barack Obama announced the completion of the development plan to close the prison at the military base in Guantanamo in Cuba. The head of state made a special statement that was broadcast on the White House website. The plan proposed by the Ministry of Defense for the consideration of a part of prisoners into the United States involves one -time expenses of $ 475 million.