Новости за 15.01.2017

A US airstrike killed several top leaders of the Taliban jihadist group in the southern Afghan province of Helmand, local media reported on Sunday.

US Vice President-elect Mike Pence said that beside one formal and "strictly coincidental" telephone call of Gen. Michael Flynn, the incoming national security adviser of US President-Elect Donald Trump, with the Russian ambassador, there was absolutely no contact between the Trump’s team and the Russian officials.

China has given two patrol vessels to Pakistan's Navy and is expected to hand over two more to help Pakistan ensure the security of the sea route of the $54 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Turkey has agreed to send fuel to alleviate the ongoing electricity crisis in Gaza, a Hamas leader announced January 14.

The Iran nuclear agreement is "on life support," incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said January 15, but he wouldn't say whether, in the end, it might survive a Trump administration.

Canada has named a prominent critic of Russia, Chrystia Freeland, as its new foreign minister. Back in 2014, Freeland was included on Moscow's counter-sanctions persona non grata list and remains banned from Russia.

Members of the EU have backed a draft resolution to grant legal status to robots. The proposal in question was put forward by a socialist MEP from Luxembourg Mady Delvaux-Stehres. Sputnik talked to Professor of Private Law at the Business School of the University of Pisa, Andrea Bertolini, about how can robots be accountable for their actions.

Participants of the conference on the Israeli-Palestinian settlement called on parties of the conflict not to resort to unilateral actions that will not be recognized by the international community, the conference’s Joint Declaration said on Sunday.

This fisherman remained cool as a cucumber as he floated down the river on a chunk of ice.

It seems like some items from museums' collections may raise questions not only about artistic values, but also about the common sense of the organizers.

Improving US-Russian relations will contribute to the fight against terrorism, particularly, to eliminating Daesh terrorist group, US Vice President-elect Mike Pence said Sunday.

Serbia will send its troops to Kosovo if the Albanians kill the Serbs living in the partially recognized republic, Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic said on Sunday.

In 2016, a total of 128 skyscrapers 200 meters in height or taller were constructed around the world; 84 of them are located in China. Sputnik takes a look at some of the most phenomenal towers erected across China in their race to the top.

The outgoing Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director John Brennan said Sunday that US President-elect Donald Trump's spontaneity could harm the US national security interests.

German intelligence has accused Russia of systematically undermining relations between Europe and the US, German Spiegel Online magazine wrote, citing a new report prepared jointly by the Federal Intelligence Service and the German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

Russia hopes that a meeting between representatives of various Palestinian political movements that is being carried out in Moscow will result in a consensus on a common political platform, Vitaly Naumkin, head of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences told Sputnik on Sunday.

Russian singer Victoria Tsyganova has sent a parcel to the wife of newly elected US president Donald Trump containing a jacket made of fur and cashmere. It will be delivered to the US by the Russian Post.

Former UK Minister of State for Europe Chris Bryant claimed that Moscow may accumulate compromising materials on top politicians from the United Kingdom, including UK Foreign Minister Boris Johnson, using the network of people.

Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky, who is on board the International Space Station (ISS), just joined Instagram and now provides a peek into his life in space.

The establishment of a free trade area (FTA) between Egypt and the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) signifies a great importance for the country, because it will increase the bilateral trade, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi said Sunday.

The Moscow metro is one of the most beautiful subways in the world and is vitally important as a means of transportation for the Russian capital, in particular during rush hours.

The Bahraini authorities' execution of three Shiite men accused of a deadly attack on police was strongly criticized by UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that according to their data, 2016 was the second warmest year ever in record in the US. Most likely, the past 365 days will become the warmest in the last 120 years - at least that is what the preliminary evidence suggests.

The Russian monitors of the Syrian ceasefire commission registered a total of nine truce violations in Syria over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry said Sunday.

An overheated battery of a pilot’s iPhone or iPad is unlikely to have caused the crash of the EgyptAir A320 in the Mediterranean Sea in May 2016, local media reported, citing a source in the Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation.