The Islamic State (IS, banned in Russia) group is again threatening the United States with terrorist attacks, according to a new IS video message, excerpts of which were shown by CNN. It follows from them that the terrorists' next target could be New York. The released footage shows a homemade explosive device, a zipped jacket, and then Herald Square in downtown Manhattan. A CNN reporter did not rule out that the Herald Square frame could have been taken from an image bank.

The European Union is planning to extend sanctions against Russia, but three options are being considered: an extension for six months, a year, and three or four months, sources tell The Wall Street Journal. According to them, extending sanctions for a shorter period would signal to Moscow that the EU is ready to make some concessions on Ukraine. The issue of sanctions is expected to be discussed at the EU summit in mid-December if it is not resolved before then, the newspaper writes.

November 19, 2015, 16:36 / Economy / News The fall in Russia's GDP over nine months amounted to 3.7% undefined Vedomosti The decline in the Russian economy, according to preliminary estimates from Rosstat, in January - September of this year amounted to 3.7%. Thus, the department’s assessment turned out to be better than the Ministry of Economic Development data published in October (a decline of 3.8%). In January - September 2014, the Russian economy grew by 0.7%.

The heads of the State Duma and the Federation Council, the heads of all four parliamentary factions, as well as the heads of two regional parliaments of St. Petersburg and Tatarstan will speak at a joint session of both chambers of the Russian parliament on Friday, November 20, State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin told journalists on Thursday.

November 19, 2015, 11:22 am / Finance / News People's Bank of China restricts cross-border lending to banks - Bloomberg undefined Vedomosti The People's Bank of China recently demanded that some banks stop cross-border financing of credit institutions located outside mainland China, Interfax reported , citing Bloomberg and its informed sources.

Bill Marriott Jr. is celebrating: his company Marriott International has bought one of its main competitors, Starwood Hotels & Resorts. The $12.2 billion acquisition will create the world's largest hotel chain by number of rooms: 5,500 managed (or franchised) hotels with 1.1 million rooms. "We've competed with and admired Starwood for decades," said the 83-year-old patriarch of the global hotel industry.

The Russian track and field team is very likely to miss the 2016 World Indoor Championships, according to a press release from the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Currently, Russian athletes are deprived of the right to participate in international competitions under the auspices of the IAAF.

November 19, 2015, 13:42 / Business / News Largest diamond since 1905 found undefined Vedomosti See also: Shot of the day 2017 Canadian company Lucara Diamond says it has found a 1,111-carat diamond at its Karowe mine in Botswana. It is the largest diamond found in the world since 1905, when a 3,106-carat diamond was discovered in South Africa, named the Cullinan, and presented to King Edward VII of England two years later.

A partial evacuation was carried out at the Baltic Station in St. Petersburg due to an unattended sports bag. As a source in law enforcement agencies told TASS, the bag was found at 9:10 Moscow time. A source for Fontanka.ru in the transport department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Northwestern Federal District reported that nothing dangerous was found in the bag and the cordon was lifted at 10:50 Moscow time. According to the publication, the bag was covered with a special agent.

Rostelecom is buying 75% of the shares of the company Aikumen - Information Business Systems to enter the Big Data market, TASS reports with reference to the operator's press service. "With the closing of the deal, Rostelecom intends to actively enter the Big Data market," the company said. Rostelecom is currently doing Big Data projects "for itself, for example, to analyze video traffic." The parties intend to close the deal by the end of 2015. The amount of the deal is not disclosed.

The Arbitration Court of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region declared entrepreneur Alexander Kazartsev, who owed Sberbank 649 million rubles, bankrupt, Interfax reports. The bank filed a claim for personal bankruptcy of the businessman on October 1, 2015. As part of the bankruptcy procedure, Kazartsev’s debts will be restructured.

November 18, 2015, 23:56 / Business Aeroflot cargo handling went to the structure of Arkady Rotenberg The airline's former counterparty is trying to invalidate this contract Alexander Vorobyov Sheremetyevo-Cargo is trying to return the Aeroflot contract / Marina Lystseva / RIA Novosti Moscow Cargo, a joint company of Sheremetyevo Airport (25.1%) and the Russian structure TPS Avia, won Aeroflot's cargo handling contract in March, which began operating on August 30.

November 19, 2015, 14:30 / Finance / News Sberbank shares renewed their maximum in 2.5 years undefined Vedomosti Ordinary shares of Sberbank on Thursday afternoon reached a new maximum for the last 2.5 years (since May 2013), exceeding the level of 107 rubles. per piece against the background of the strengthening of the ruble and the global rise in stock exchanges. On the Moscow Exchange, by 14.09 Moscow time, Sberbank shares jumped to 107.31 rubles.

On November 14, a high-speed TGV train derailed at 243 km/h in France due to a driver error. The accident occurred in the east of the country near Strasbourg (in the province of Alsace), BFMTV reports. The driver failed to brake in time. The accident killed 11 of the 53 people on board. The TGV crashed while testing high-speed rails. The accident occurred near the town of Ekversheim, with some of the carriages falling into the river. There were technical personnel on the train conducting tests.

Before arriving at the state border, the column will split into two parts. One of them will proceed to the Donetsk checkpoint, the second to Matveyev Kurgan to go through customs procedures. Then the column will proceed to two destinations - Luhansk and Donetsk regions. In total, about 54,000 tons of humanitarian aid was delivered to residents of these regions.