Новости за 05.05.2017

Only half of Europeans aged 16-26 believe democracy is the best form of government. That's according to a Europe-wide survey by YouGov, which also found that apathy among many Europeans means that 1 in 5 would advocate for an EU exit for their country, following the example of Brexit.

Russian party of the Russia-Turkey Commission on violations of the Joint Agreement has registered 20 ceasefire violations in Syria, while the violations registered by the Turkish party of the commission were not confirmed by the Russian side, according to the statement of the Russian Defense Ministry.

The Sputnik news agency on Friday rejected accusations by French presidential hopeful Emmanuel Macron's En Marche! (EM!) party of spreading "fake news" about the candidate's alleged offshore bank accounts.

Tentatively, it’s good sign that US President Donald Trump had a productive phone call – again – with Russian leader Vladimir Putin this week, vowing to push for a diplomatic settlement in war-torn Syria.

A helicopter crashed in UK Buckinghamshire, inflicting injuries to three men, who were on board of the aircraft, according to local media.

MEPs investigating the fallout from the Panama Papers leaks say that many European banks and law firms are actively involved in the setting-up of offshore structures for dodging taxes or laundering dirty money and that not enough is being done to regulate offshore tax havens.

During their meeting in Sochi, President Putin and Chancellor Merkel devoted a great deal of attention to Ukraine, and the ongoing civil war in the country's east. Commenting on the state of Russian-German ties, political scientist Vadim Trukhachev explained why the Ukraine issue is likely to remain a sore spot in relations for a long time to come.

A leaked document reveals the UK government has drawn up yet further, disturbingly dystopian draft bulk surveillance powers, which would give authorities carte blanche to monitor citizens' live communications, and effectively illegalize encryption. A cybersecurity expert told Sputnik this has terrifying implications not merely for internet privacy.

There is no need to raise the alarm over Russia's routine air patrol missions, military expert Alexander Zhilin told Radio Sputnik, commenting on the media fuss surrounding Russian flights near Alaska. For his part, Russian academic Stanislav Ivanov emphasized that the US military perceived the incident calmly.

As the US government ponders whether to attempt to establish control over several of Russia’s Far Eastern ports, it remains unclear how such a feat could be accomplished without causing severe consequences.

The possible purchase of Russia's S-400 missile defense system was among the issues topping the agenda of talks between Presidents Putin and Erdogan in Sochi on Wednesday. Turkish journalist and expert on Russia Cenk Başlamış suggested that a delivery such as this one would signal the start of Turkey's estrangement from NATO.

Britain could become a "bargain basement economy" after Brexit, leading to a "race to the bottom" for low-pay and low-productivity sectors across the EU if countries seek to compete by cutting workers' protections, warns a new report out this morning from Britain's Trades Union Congress (TUC).

Russian lawmakers have taken a dim view of the latest US House of Representatives bill enhancing sanctions against North Korea, which pushes for establishing control over a number of Russia's Far Eastern ports.

Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj of the Government of National Accord of Libya and Commander of the Libyan National Army Khalifa Haftar have agreed to create a presidential state council and hold early presidential and parliamentary elections in the country in six months, according to the Arab satellite channel Al-Hadath.

Pakistan summoned on Friday the Afghan charge d'affairs to the country over a border incident that killed several Pakistani citizens, Pakistan’s Foreign Office said in a statement.

Senator Rand Paul requested the White House to provide information on whether he had been surveilled by the Obama administration or intelligence agencies.

The US House of Representatives has voted overwhelmingly to impose new punitive sanctions on North Korea. The vote come after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged the US' South East Asian allies to further isolate Pyongyang.

A robot tax was floated by French Socialist candidate Benoit Hamon in the first round of France's presidential elections. Bill Gates supports the idea and this week a politician in San Francisco launched a taskforce to explore how to go about taxing robots in Silicon Valley.

On Tuesday, Iran voiced its intention to send more military advisors to Syria to support the Syrian government in the fight against terrorist groups. Military analysts suggested that the aim of the move is to succeed Russia in restoring the combat efficiency of the Syrian army. Tehran, however, might have some other goals in mind.

The work of ten schools in Paris was disrupted due to partial or attempted blockades by sturents who protest against both presidential candidates, centrist Emmanuel Macron and right-wing Marine Le Pen, who entered the run-off election, according to local media.

The relocation of US army forces further from the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) might seem counter-intuitive given Washington's recent saber-rattling in the Korean Peninsula, but the move is sound from a military-tactical point of view, analyst Dmitry Verkhoturov told Sputnik.

Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport told Sputnik on Friday it considers cooperation with the United States possible only within the scope of Russia's interests despite continued limitations on Russian arms purchases by the US congress.

National Transportation Safety Board said that an investigation has been opened into a cargo plane crash at Yeager Airport in the US state of West Virginia that reportedly killed two people.

The US convoy providing 48 units of military transport and 250 soldiers to the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) and Democratic Union Party (PYD) crossed the Syria-Iraq border through the Semalka gate and arrived in the Syrian town of Haseke, according to Turkish media.

Many Gmail users fell victim to a phishing attack on May 3, with phony "Google Docs" emails gaining access to their contact lists, and blasting out another round of scam emails in a ripple effect. The scam was made possible by Google's open system, and raises serious, potentially irresolvable questions about how the company structures products.