History Rustam Alexander 14 January 2025 A year ago, Russia's Supreme Court declared the “International LGBT movement” an “extremist organization.” Although such an organization does not exist and never has, the ruling effectively puts all LGBT people in Russia at risk of persecution, along with activists defending their rights. The development is not entirely without precedent in Russia's history. For over half a century — from 1934 to 1993 — “sodomy” was treated as a criminal offense.

At least 65 tankers anchored around the world after the US announced new sanctions, Reuters reports . This could be one of the first pieces of evidence confirming experts' assessments that the new restrictions will lead to serious problems in Russian oil supplies. According to ship tracking services MarineTraffic and LSEG, at least five tankers stopped off the coast of China, seven more off Singapore, and the rest anchored off the coast of Russia.

RU A fictitious “movement” known as the “Belgorod People’s Republic” (“BPR,” or “Belgorodskaya Narodnaya Respublika” / “BNR”) has been classified as a terrorist organization, according to a report by the Telegram channel Fonar . The BPR was added to Russia’s list of terrorist organizations as a structural unit of the “Forum of Free States of Post-Russia.” Fonar (lit.

The UK Competition Authority (CMA) has announced it has launched an investigation into Google's search services to examine their impact on consumers and businesses, Reuters reports. The regulator intends to evaluate how the services affect advertisers, news publications and competing search engines. Search engines play a key role in economic growth and it is important that competition in this area is fair, according to CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell.

27 people have been charged as defendants in the case of the terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall. This was announced by the head of the RF Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin. “The Main Investigation Department has charged 27 defendants in this case. The investigation of other persons who may have been involved in the organization, preparation and financing of the terrorist attack continues.

A Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) counterintelligence officer was shot dead inside a Ministry of Defense-run building in central Moscow, multiple Russian media outlets reported on Tuesday, citing anonymous sources in law enforcement. The building where the killing occurred houses Ministry of Defense departments as well as the FSB Directorate for the Moscow Military District, according to the security service-affiliated Telegram channel VChK-OGPU .

More than 200 UAVs and other air targets were shot down over Russian territory on the night of January 14, SHOT reports , citing sources. These are drones of the PD-2, Beaver, Fierce, UJ-22 types and five more ATACMS missiles. Reports of explosions came from Saratov, Tambov, Rostov, Oryol, Tula, Voronezh regions, as well as from Tatarstan.

Chinese authorities are considering the possibility of acquiring the American segment of TikTok by Elon Musk if the company fails to avoid a ban on operating in the United States, according to a Bloomberg source familiar with the situation. At the same time, Beijing prefers that TikTok remain under the control of its parent company, ByteDance Ltd. She is trying to challenge the ban in the US Supreme Court, but judges, judging by recent hearings, are inclined to support the law.

Special prosecutor Jack Smith, who charged President-elect Donald Trump with trying to cling to power after losing the 2020 election, released the final report of his investigation on Tuesday morning, The New York Times writes . In the document, Smith said the evidence he obtained would have been sufficient to convict Trump in court if his success in the 2024 election had not made it impossible for the trial to continue.

The Joe Biden administration, in the final days before the handover of power to Donald Trump, is actively trying to freeze hundreds of billions of dollars in Russian assets to use as leverage in future negotiations with Russia on Ukraine, CNN reports . Moving about $300 billion belonging to the Russian Central Bank to a special escrow account is being discussed, according to senior sources. These funds will be released only if a peace agreement is concluded with Ukraine.

The State Duma Commission to investigate the facts of interference by foreign states announced new changes to the “foreign agency” legislation. She has prepared new bills aimed at even greater “protection of Russian educational institutions from the influence of foreign agents.” It is also planned to amend Article 1.8 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, which will make it possible to bring to justice “foreign agents” located abroad.

Director of the Coordination Center for Domains .RU/.РФ Andrey Vorobyov, in a conversation with RT, said that the operation of the Internet in Russia in the organization’s area of ​​responsibility has not been disrupted. “I can’t give any comments, because we don’t see any failure in our, so to speak, part,” the TV channel quotes him.

The "movement" "Belgorod People's Republic (BNR)" was included in the register of terrorist organizations, the Telegram channel "Fonar" drew attention . BNR was included in the list of terrorist organizations as a structural subdivision of the Forum of Free States of Post-Russia. Lantern clarifies that the Supreme Court made the corresponding decision back in November 2024, and it came into force at the end of December.

A year ago, Russia's Supreme Court declared the “International LGBT movement” an “extremist organization.” Although such an organization does not exist and never has, the ruling effectively puts all LGBT people in Russia at risk of persecution, along with activists defending their rights. The development is not entirely without precedent in Russia's history. For over half a century — from 1934 to 1993 — “sodomy” was treated as a criminal offense.

The main weakness of a satellite signal lies in its vulnerability to jamming. This risk can be mitigated either by an inertial navigation system (which is costly) or by using patch antenna arrays. With multiple antennas and low-noise amplification, these add-ons can significantly improve reception quality.