The first legal casino opened in Russia. It stands in the middle of the bare steppe, which for some reason is called the gambling zone "Azov-City" On a huge stand, installed next to the construction site, there is a building with a beautiful facade and palm trees around. Next to the stand is what looks like a factory floor, surrounded by trenches, excavators and construction debris.

The Kremlin and the Orthodox Church begin a march to the West: the presidential administration buys a piece of land for the patriarchate in the very center of Paris Quai Branly is practically the very center of Paris. Near the Eiffel Tower and Les Invalides, across the Seine - Trocadero and the prestigious Avenue Marceau and Avenue George V leading to the Champs Elysees with their expensive boutiques.

Cutting government spending is the best way to strengthen the economy Why, I asked a director I know, does the audience rush to Avatar and Sherlock Holmes like a tank, while Black Lightning, which was produced by the most intelligent filmmaker in Russia Timur Bekmambetov, does not justify the hopes placed on it. The interlocutor just waved his hand: everyone would have such problems as Bekmambetov.

A real reform of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is still far away. So far, they want to make the police obey orders from the center, and not from local chiefs The head of the regional Ministry of Internal Affairs is a key figure in local political and business life. In 2004, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Bashkiria was led by Rafail Divaev, who was loyal to President Rakhimov.

At first, officials and public figures tried to ban the School series. Now they're trying to figure it out The “School Revelations” forum on the Channel One website, where the series “School” has been airing for the fourth week, is growing with fifty messages every day. “I myself am in the 10th grade and realized after watching several episodes that I am like Budilova, ready to give myself to any “cool guy,” Anzhelika from Krasnodar wrote on the forum.

In search of a national idea, the French stumbled over immigrants and Islam Juliette Bubaiya is a Muslim woman, and praying five times a day is the norm for her. This did not stop her from appearing on the pages of the French tabloid Parisien in a wet bathing suit. The headline read: "I am proud of my religion and proud of my beauty." Even earlier, Bubaia won the Miss Picardy 2009 contest and claimed the title of Miss France 2010.

The most shocking films about what happens at school are not television series. A hard documentary video about teenagers is filmed by teenagers themselves: the happy slapping genre is gaining popularity in Russia, or “beating for fun” Two second-graders with satchels over their shoulders go behind the school. They are followed by a cell phone camera. Suddenly one, blond in a denim jacket, hits the other in the face. The boy in the baseball cap is confused and rubs his broken nose crying.

At the Sundance Independent Film Festival, several films presented a new image of the Russian at once - without the matryoshka and balalaika The Sundance American Independent Film Festival, held in Park City, is very similar to its creator, Robert Redford. On the one hand, Redford is handsome and very popular with the audience.

The life of the leader of the cult group “Zero” Fyodor Chistyakov is similar to a movie script. He was one of the main stars of the Leningrad rock club, hung out in a drug haze, tried to kill his partner, ended up in prison, then in a mental hospital. Then he became a “Jehovah’s Witness” and again gathered and disbanded the “Zero” group. Periodically performed in some clubs with solo projects. In 2003 he recorded the album “Muskrat”, and then disappeared again.

In the West, business leaders torture their employees to save money. In Russia they do it just like that Muscovite Alexandra Davydova got a job at a well-known design company. In the office of this company, to go to the toilet, you have to overcome the turnstile. At the turnstile sits a guard with a magazine. The journal records the time of absence from the workplace.

In Russia, they seriously wanted to create a competitor to Visa and MasterCard. The end result is such a large-scale project that it is unlikely to be realized. This is a legend, but the market is still telling how at the end of 2003, after Mikhail Khodorkovsky was arrested, FSB officers came to the Russian representative office of Visa to check what purchases the head of Yukos made with his plastic card. Suddenly this knowledge would be useful to them.

Ukraine, second round: Tymoshenko is still counting on a miracle, and Yanukovych is already pretending to be a monument Former Defense Minister Anatoly Gritsenko, who did not make it to the second round of the presidential race, says that on February 7 he will vote "against all" or stay at home. There is no point in choosing between Viktor Yanukovych and Yulia Tymoshenko, he said. “What difference does it make whether you die from arsenic or potassium cyanide?” he ironically told Newsweek.

Mintimer Shaimiev left on his own terms. The next candidates for relegation - Murtaza Rakhimov and Yuri Luzhkov - will not be able to leave this way At the northern entrance to Kazan from the Orenburg highway, there is a 20-meter letter “M” in deep snow. The letter remained from the celebration of the 1000th anniversary of Kazan. Residents joke: this is not Millennium, this is Mintimer. Or Minnikhanov - Shaimiev's successor.