The court arrested a plot of land and a residential building in the Istra district of the Moscow region, as well as a non-residential building and three non-residential premises belonging to rapper Alisher Morgenstern, as part of a criminal case under the article on “failure to fulfill the duties of a foreign agent” (Part 2 of Article 330.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). This was officially reported by the Moscow prosecutor's office. Morgenstern left Russia in 2021.

Syrian customs announced a ban on the import of goods from Russia, Iran and Israel. This was reported by Al Araby with reference to the Syrian Ministry of Finance. Products from these countries will be confiscated. In December, the Syrian politician, former head of the opposition delegation at the negotiations on Syria in Geneva and Astana, Mohammed Alloush told TASS that the new authorities are calling on the BRICS countries to help the Syrian people in reconstruction.

In Tehran, an unknown person opened fire near the building of the Supreme Court of Iran, killing two judges and wounding another. This was reported by the state news agency IRNA. Tehran Times writes that the attacker committed suicide. Authorities regard the attack as a terrorist attack. The dead judges, according to the publication, were named Ali Razini and Mohammad Moghiseh, the wounded judge had the surname Miri.

This week, the Russian Armed Forces also tried to break into the neighboring Sumy region, but so far without success. In general, according to DeepState , the intensity of hostilities in the Kursk direction has decreased significantly , and the second wave of the Russian counteroffensive, according to the visualization of the Ukrainian OSINT resource “Dnipro Osint ⟨ Garbuz ⟩”, turned out to be less successful than the previous one, despite the involvement of the North Korean military.

The State Bureau of Investigation, in cooperation with the SBU, announced suspicion of treason and inciting hatred against former Verkhovna Rada deputy, oligarch and priest of the UOC (MP) Vadim Novinsky. The security forces' message does not mention the last name, but Novinsky's photograph is given in the preview video attached to the SBI message.

Alexander Lukashenko pardoned another 23 prisoners in prison “for extremist crimes.” This was reported by the Telegram channel “Pul First”. Among those pardoned are three women and 20 men, 13 people are over 50 years old, 14 suffer from chronic diseases, 12 have children, one of the pardoned is a father of many children. This is at least the eighth time since the summer of 2024 that political prisoners have been pardoned.

As a result of an attack by Ukrainian drones in the Tula and Kaluga regions, fires broke out on the territory of oil depots. In the Kaluga region, a blow was struck at an oil depot in the city of Lyudinovo. Regional Governor Vladislav Shapsha said that the fire occurred on the territory of an “industrial enterprise” and there were no casualties.

Politics 18 January 2025 Interviews of candidates for future key positions in the Donald Trump administration have begun in the US Senate. After the inauguration on January 20, they will be confirmed in batches, but there is a nuance: a number of appointees raise big questions among senators, including Republicans.

Donald Trump announced on his social networks the creation of his own memecoin $TRUMP. On the first day, users can purchase 200 million coins; over the next three years, their number should reach 1 billion. “It's time to celebrate everything we stand for: VICTORY! Join my very special Trump community,” Trump wrote. In the first hour of trading, the capitalization of Trump’s cryptocurrency was $3 billion, and after an hour and a half it grew to $4.3 billion.

News The Insider January 18, 2025 About 50 residents of the Sudzhansky district of the Kursk region, forced to leave their homes due to the offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, went to a spontaneous rally on Red Square of Kursk. They demand financial assistance and housing. The Telegram channel “Tin Kursk” published a video in which the acting head of the region, Alexander Khinshtein, talks to protesters.

The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas will come into force on January 19 at 8:30 local time (7:30 Central European time). This was announced on Twitter by the official representative of the Qatari Foreign Ministry, Majid Al-Ansari. “We advise residents to take precautions, exercise utmost caution and wait for instructions from official sources,” he added.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs drew up an administrative violation report under the article on “LGBT propaganda” against the owner of the Podyebar establishment in Ulyanovsk, Vadim Kudyushev. His wife, bar manager Olga Kudyusheva, spoke about this. The reason was a neon lamp, a pillow, candy, cocktail straws and waiters' headbands - all made in the shape of a penis. The security forces also included in the protocol the colors used in the interior - white and black.

In the photo: Arkady Fosman, Alexander Khaidin, Victor Voronin A series of strange deaths occurred at the Blago company, one of the largest vegetable oil producers in Russia, the Agency writes . Over the past four months, several people who held high positions in the company or were associated with it have died, the publication notes. The former head of the “K” department of the FSB of Russia, Viktor Voronin, is associated with Blago.