Moscow authorities have banned the use of subcontractors for major housing repairs In the capital's department of capital repairs of the housing stock, apparently, they are afraid of new scandals related to the implementation of an expensive program for the reconstruction of apartment buildings.

Iran has imposed its first death sentence against participants in the June anti-government protests. Iranian newspapers reported that 37-year-old Mohammad-Reza Ali Zamani recently learned about this verdict of the Revolutionary Court. He is accused of “attempting to undermine Islamic foundations” and active participation in a “terrorist monarchist group.” He still has the opportunity to challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court.

The European Court of Human Rights came to the defense of Primorye journalists The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) yesterday ruled in favor of journalists from the Primorsky Territory, recognizing that local authorities violated their right to freedom of expression. The weekly newspaper Arsenyevskie Vesti published an open letter in which officials were accused of illegal timber transactions.

An assassination attempt on a Russian politician is being investigated in Germany Berlin police carried out searches in 26 houses and apartments in the capital's districts of Kreuzberg and Neukelln, where alleged members of a criminal Islamist group lived. According to German intelligence services, we are talking about three suspected Islamists. Their names have not been disclosed. Police say only that the men are 28, 30 and 36 years old.

The head of Total does not believe that the project will start working before 2015 French Total CEO Christophe de Margerie said yesterday on the sidelines of the World Gas Conference that the final investment decision on the first phase of development of the Shtokman field in the Barents Sea will appear in the next 12 months. “If we accept it by the end of next year, then it is unlikely that we will be able to start gas production earlier than in 2015-2016,” he said.

Members of two antipodean nationalist groups were sentenced The Dorogomilovsky District Court of Moscow yesterday handed down a verdict in the scandalous case of an attack in May 2008 in the capital's metro by a group of people from the Caucasus on two Muscovites, whom they mistook for skinheads. The court decided that the brutal beating was motivated by national hatred and sentenced the six defendants to terms ranging from four to seven years in prison.

“Forbidden Reality” on Moscow screens Military intelligence agent Matvey Sobolev (Igor Petrenko) is considered killed in the line of duty, but in fact he whiles away his days outside the city, as if in the first half hour of Solaris. But harsh reality pulls him out of the pastoral paradise: dark forces are going to use secret psychotronic weapons, and behind this is not only the material world behind the scenes, but also completely supernatural beings...

12 Russian universities have been assigned a new status Another 12 Russian universities received the title of “National Research University”. The press service of the Ministry of Education and Science reported this yesterday.

The government will conditionally ban incandescent light bulbs from 2014 The energy efficiency bill will be submitted for second reading in the State Duma within a week. Minister of Economic Development Elvira Nabiullina told reporters about this yesterday. According to the economic department, the total cost of completely replacing incandescent lamps with modern energy-saving ones for industry and the population could reach about 100 billion rubles.

Banned gambling business now has to be banished from the Internet The gambling business in Moscow is very battered, but it is not giving up yet. He uses surrogate lottery technologies, goes online, and hides underground in the Moscow region. The capital's authorities are full of passion to bring the war with casinos to a victorious end, not only in real life, but also in the virtual space.

LUKOIL will accept Iraqi conditions for the West Qurna-1 field Yesterday it became known that LUKOIL is ready to return to negotiations with the Iraqi government on the West Qurna-1 field. Moreover, the largest Russian oil company is even ready to accept the operating conditions for the field previously announced by Baghdad. Let us recall that earlier representatives of the Russian company called the financial risks of the project too high.

Pletnev and Rudin performed on the same stage The Pletnevsky Orchestra played a wonderful program in the Tchaikovsky Hall, not even entirely in its own spirit - without rarities and without symphonic bulks; only textbook romanticism, and still rare in Moscow: Schubert’s Ninth Symphony and Saint-Saëns’ First Cello Concerto with Alexander Rudin as the soloist.

Russian banks are getting more opportunities to attract loans from foreign markets Following the example of their Western colleagues, Russian banks are more actively returning emergency loans to the Central Bank. Yesterday, banks' debt on unsecured loans fell for the first time to almost 250 billion rubles. At the beginning of the year, this amount was close to 2 trillion rubles.

The next round of regional and local elections will show the impact of economic difficulties on the will of voters Election commissions across the country are preparing on October 11 to adequately reflect the influx of electorates fulfilling their civic duty on a single voting day. A total of 6,696 votes will be held in 75 constituent entities of the federation on various issues - from elections of deputies to regional parliaments to voting on changes to the boundaries of municipalities.

Moscow choirs performed in Italian Catholic cathedrals While the Russian Orthodox Church struggles with sentiments in its own canonical territory, outside this territory Russia’s largest denomination is pursuing a line that in Soviet times would have been called “the policy of public diplomacy.” An example of this is the cultural program blessed by Patriarch Kirill, which is taking place these days in many cities in Italy - from Rome to L'Aquila, which became known to the whole world due to a