let's start with a not-so-winter topic, the outgoing year is marked by climate records and has become the warmest in the entire history of observations, as well as the eight previous years, with a plus of almost 1.5°. greenhouse gas concentrations are at record highs and global temperatures are at record highs. sea ​​level rise is at a record

high, sea ice in antarctica is at a record low, a deafening cacophony of broken records. more than just statistics, says the world meteorological organization, extreme weather conditions occur almost daily ruin people's lives. this year we have seen fires, floods, searing heat ravage communities around the world, and record global heatwaves should make world leaders wince. but even if... there is no snow, which , of course, i don’t want to believe, humanity is unlikely to stop brightly celebrating the most popular and desired winter holidays. until the end of the 19th century, christmas was a purely religious holiday, but savvy marketers realized that it was also a good way to make money. winter itself is gray, quite dull, against this background bright window decorations look great, and then santa claus was added. one of the creators

of the image of modern santa claus is considered to be the american cartoonist thomas nast, who was very popular in the second half of the 19th century, who drew a lot for newspapers and magazines. and already from the 1980s, entering the twentieth century, the image of the bearded old man santa claus created by him began to acquire associations and attributes, deer, gifts, christmas, new year, snow. today santa claus is the most recognizable international brand and the most expensive. gifts, promotions, merchandise and other related products bring in more than $2 trillion a year, according to brandfinance. 10 years ago , the british conducted a study on spending, the numbers are fantastic, especially during the pre-new year rush. americans spent $57 billion this year through black friday next weekend. britons in mannick monday spent £2.6 million a minute to buy a gift. for

the holiday. there are no more recent data, but barely have you started spending less for the new year? by the way, the legend of santa claus is supported with incredible detail. so last year the wizard gave 7.623 million gifts to the inhabitants of the planet. the us military is tracking santa's movements live on the norrod santa website. the tracking santa project was launched in 1955. one of the largest department stores in colorado advertised. since then, the good grandfather on the pencil of the military according to our grandfather moroz , alas, there are no such statistics, but in terms of the number of gifts of popularity he is hardly behind his western colleague. by the way, people from social networks have always noticed a new trend: christmas tree decorations from the soviet union, for example, hanging a real soldier or a sixty-year-old parrot on your christmas tree. costs

almost 18,000 belarusian rubles per piece. the cost of christmas tree decorations depends on the degree of their preservation and uniqueness. the smaller the circulation they were produced at one time, the more attractive they are now for collectors. very expensive, for example toys from the chipalin collection of pushkin's fairy tales, late production 1950s. in the ussr, glass christmas tree decorations were blown and painted by hand, which is why they became more valuable over time. the most expensive decorations are generally a special trend; the cost of new year's decor from individual western brands can even reach $100,000. holmark jeverless products are recognized as the most expensive in this market segment. 10-15 thousand dollars per toy is the usual price for christmas tree decorations of this brand, which are officially included in the guinness book of records. the company's pride is the ball cast from. in a composition of two gold

rings. you shouldn’t be surprised, but a rating of the most expensive christmas trees is also underway. in first place, while green. the beauty that was installed in one of the hotels in abu dhabi, it was in 2010, together with all the decorations, the symbol of the new year was estimated at 11 million dollars, on the branches there were threads, pearls, diamonds and various jewelry, how many people guarded the spruce is not specified, here the largest snowman in the world cost much less, the residents of the american city of bettel went down in history, they built a new year's miracle a nine-story building... took 6 tons of snow, the arms were made of trees, the lips were made of five car tires, and the eyelashes were made of skis, the only pity is that the winter giant only stood for a week. residents of rio de janeiro also decided not to waste time on trifles and in 2008 they officially organized the largest new year's party, of course, on

the beach, their native sand at +35. new year's fireworks brought 4 million people to the water. but the title of the most christmas house is in the australian city of forest. david and janine richard decorated their home with a huge number of different colored light bulbs. just imagine, the creation of such beauty, according to the owner, took 4 years of work and approximately 330 thousand glass assistants. should we go so crazy for the new year? of course, it’s up to everyone how much to spend on it, of course. the olivet index is here to help you.

in reality, an index that calculates inflation is, in fact, inflation calculations, well, even if we take food inflation calculations, they take into account the consumption structure of different citizens. in general, the products that make up the olivier salad, they are generally so universal and it is clear that most people, including perhaps the least affluent members of our society, use these products, and

perhaps the olivier index for many people, it even better characterizes the change in prices over the year than traditional inflation rate. politics politics. economy, but it’s nice that in 2023 people have become even faster, taller, stronger, as well as more creative and fun. the guinness book of records this year was replenished with various achievements. one of the most amazing record holders, for example, managed to create an edible dress cake weighing more than 130 kg. at the same time, it could also serve as a full-fledged outfit. the miracle was presented at the swiss world wedding fair. they managed to set a romantic record in india. it recorded the largest number of couples who got married in 12 hours. during the mass wedding ceremony , 2,143 new families were formed. in a similar way, residents of canada and south africa entered the book of achievements; beth neal and miles cloutier became

record holders in underwater kissing, managing to last 4 minutes in the pool and 6 seconds. we all want it. in a new year's miracle, but for some this same miracle actually happens, and not even just once and not at the end of the year. brooklyn resident wayne murray won a $10 million lottery jackpot this year, a man who bought a lottery ticket for $30 earned the prize, everything would have been fine, but last year at christmas, murey also won a jackpot of exactly the same amount, $ 10 million . the man immediately became a star on local television. one can only envy such luck, as well as the skill of courage pilot of ural airlines, thanks to sergei bilov, 161 passengers will be able to celebrate the new year with family and friends. he masterfully landed the plane in an open field. an airbus

a-320 aircraft operated by ural airlines, flying from sochi to omsk, made an emergency landing in the novosibirsk region on september 12. according to the pilot, the plane would reach its destination. didn’t make it, the decision was made due to the risk of engine failure, while the plane was landed outside the airport so skillfully that the plane didn’t even received serious injuries, and none of the passengers... were injured. “it’s just a miracle,” said the passengers of the belavia flight, which arrived from egypt. belarus helped evacuate dozens of belarusians from the gas sector. where there is war, where there is death, where you don’t know what will happen tomorrow. our citizens and their families, including 22 children, set foot on peaceful soil. the youngest was barely 3 years old. the president’s order has been fulfilled, although we understand how difficult it was. despite their fatigue, they smiled at the journalists and they said a simple and understandable word, “thank you.” for salvation and a chance for a new calm life, for the fact that belarus,