Explosion in the Caspian Sea, the Russians are stuck in Cuba. Highlights of the night

A video of an unknown explosion in the Caspian Sea has appeared on social networks, apartment prices in Moscow have updated a record for 12 years, 150 Russians are stuck in Cuba with positive tests for covid - an incomprehensible explosion occurred in the RBC top news review

An explosion occurred in the Azerbaijani part of the Caspian Sea near the village of Alyat, the video of which was shared on social networks. The publication konkret.az reported that the explosion allegedly occurred on the Umid gas platform, after which a fire broke out, which was visible from the shore.

However, the Azerbaijani authorities and the state-owned SOCAR claim that the company's offshore platforms, from where oil and gas are produced , or ships that transport oil products, were not damaged, and the eruption of a mud volcano was the reason for the colorful videos. The Ministry of Emergency Situations of Azerbaijan launched an investigation in connection with the fire.

Prices for apartments in Moscow reached a record for 12 years

In the first quarter of 2021, the price of 1 sq. m in the secondary housing market in Moscow reached almost 210 thousand rubles, follows from the calculations of the consulting company Knight Frank. Compared to the same period of the previous year, the growth was 22.4%. Ready-made housing in the capital grew more expensive only in the first quarter of 2009, when prices rose by 23.8%.

Housing prices in the world are growing in sync with commodity assets and stocks, and now there is a “commodity rally” on world markets: iron ore, steel and sawn timber, food, etc. are becoming more expensive. The same trends can be traced in RUSSIA. In addition, prices are being accelerated by low mortgage rates and a shortage of housing caused by a slowdown in construction due to the pandemic, an increase in the cost of building materials and rising labor costs due to a shortage of labor migrants. Read on RBC Pro Mark Manson - RBC Pro:usa lost $20 billion Founder of VkusVill: if an employee is not mistaken, he should be fired

What to expect from prices for apartments in the global and Russian real estate markets, read the material RBC.Pro:

Rising prices for apartments in Moscow set a record for the last 12 years Pro

150 Russians stuck in hotels in Cuba due to COVID

More than 150 tourists who flew from Russia to Cuba passed positive PCR tests for CORONAVIRUS infection and are now in isolation in their hotel rooms, said Russian Consul General in Cuba Nana Mgeladze. Now they are waiting for retests. All tourists arrived on vacation from June 30 to July 2.

Tests made at the airport showed a positive result in 133 people, including crew members. When re-analyzed , covid-19 was confirmed in 33 of them. About 130 more people were isolated in the following days. Mgeladze suggested that the problem could be related to the laboratories where Russian smears were analyzed. The tourists themselves say that none of them are sick, as they took PCR tests before departure and the results were negative.

What else happened:

The coronavirus pandemic has caused damage to the Russian economy in the amount of almost 1 trillion rubles. in cost terms, Rospotrebnadzor calculated. These are the costs of COVID treatment in hospitals and the organization of medical care, measures to support the population and business, etc. The Indian strain of coronavirus is more deadly and contagious than other mutations, says Anthony Fauci, DIRECTOR of the US National Institute of Allergic and Infectious Diseases. The United Arab Emirates came out on top in the world in terms of the proportion of the population vaccinated against coronavirus - 72.3%, BLOOMBERG calculated. In Russia, according to agency estimates, 38 million doses of the drug have been administered, and 12.9% of residents have been vaccinated. Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman believes that the agreement to reduce oil production for OPEC+ member countries should be extended until the end of 2022. Mudflow came down in the Bakhchisarai region of Crimea after heavy rains, in the area of ​​​​three rural settlements - Kuibyshevo, Sokolinoe and Golubinka - a state of emergency was introduced. The consequences of the mudflow are in the RBC photo report.

Consequences of a mudflow in the Bakhchisarai region. Photo report Photo gallery 

What events to follow today:

The ministerial meeting of the OPEC+ countries, postponed on Friday, will resume, the participants of which have not yet been able to agree on quotas for oil production. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos will step down as the company's CEO on its founding day. In the Japanese prefecture of Yamaguchi will suspend the work of the factory automaker Mazda due to a shortage of semiconductors. In the US state of Michigan, the Ford plant will be suspended for the same reason.