Новости за 19.12.2017

The social media giant is presumably making a fortune from advertising that is based on information retrieved from its users' social connections and posts, which often happens without their knowledge.

Beirut's approval of a bid by a consortium of Russian, French and Italian energy companies will help the Lebanese economy overcome the present difficulties, Muhammed Qabbani, the head of the Lebanese parliamentary committee on energy, has told Sputnik, adding that Russia's involvement is especially important for the project.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Serbia may become an important transit country for Russian natural gas if it joins the Turkish Stream gas pipeline project, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Sputnik News Agency and Radio have launched a modern multimedia press center in Estonia, the agency's press service said Tuesday.

The government of Estonia is seemingly the latest to catch the cryptocurrency bug, with suggestions it will soon launch its own bitcoin alternative. The path could be fraught with great danger.

Senior executives from Facebook, Twitter and Google have been grilled by British MPs about whether they are doing enough to tackle "hate speech" on the network.

A giant, female panda cub called Xiang Xiang has just made its first official public appearance at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, where crowds of fans gathered to see the six-month-old animal. The young panda is so popular that the zoo had to set up a lottery to select guests from a quarter million applicants.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russia may host the first new meeting on the issue of the Middle East, Palestinian presidential adviser Nabil Shaath said Tuesday.

LONDON (Sputnik) - UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd announced on Tuesday a substantial 450-million pound ($600 million) increase in police funding across England and Wales as part of efforts to increase police capabilities to counter terrorism, according to a statement published on the UK government portal.

Residents of a wealthy neighborhood in Bristol have been harshly criticized by wildlife lovers after an extraordinary deed.

An appeal by prominent global figures was made in an open statement marking the 1000th day of the Yemeni conflict. The signatories to the statement said that we’re now at a "tipping point."

Modern slavery and human trafficking remain one of the toughest challenges for the shrinking British law enforcement agencies.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - South Korea has conducted nationwide nuclear disaster drills in order to test the country's ability to respond to the risk of a nuclear disaster in Japan, as Tokyo has recently restarted some of its nuclear reactors following the Fukushima disaster, the Yonhap news agency reported Tuesday.

With today’s increased focus on production from recyclable and biodegradable materials, paper made from panda feces seems to be nothing unusual, right?

The reason for the decision has not been immediately clear.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - North Korea does not intend to discuss its nuclear program with the United States since it sees Washington’s initiative as an attempt to advance a UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution on new sanctions against Pyongyang, the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the North Korean Workers' Party said on Tuesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The United States and Russia have a "limitless" potential to continue cooperation on space exploration despite the fact that political relations between the two states are undergoing a difficult time, US Ambassador to Moscow Jon Huntsman said Tuesday.

A local broadcasting company in Russia’s Yakutia has pitched the idea of filming the closing season of the world-acclaimed Game of Thrones TV series in the harsh winter conditions of the sub-Arctic region, the Saha National Broadcasting Company (SNBC) announced on its website.

It appears that the leadership of the Balkan countries is going to do whatever it takes to join the EU, Serbian political scientists have told Sputnik. Referring to Montenegro and Macedonia they noted that the adoption of unpopular measures in order to appease Eurocrats has not resulted in the long-awaited EU membership for the countries.

Bell Helicopter's V-280 Valor tilt-rotor aircraft’s test flight has been a big step ahead in the development of the next generation of vertical lift aircraft for the US military, the company said in a statement posed on its website.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - More than 220 people in the Gaza Strip have been injured by live ammunition amid protests against US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said Tuesday in a statement.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - President Donald Trump will likely extend for another year the national emergency in response to Russia's alleged cyber interference in the 2016 US presidential election, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Thomas Bossert said in a press conference on Tuesday.

A year ago, on December 19, 2016, a truck driven by self-confessed Daesh member, Anis Amri, rammed into a crowd at a Christmas market in the center of Berlin, killing 12 people and injuring over 40 others. The relatives of the victims keep lambasting the authorities, speaking of their incompetence.

Social media users have actively been publishing their cosplay pictures under the hashtag #некто2017 (#someone2017), depicting a new flash mob that has taken place in Russia.

The unprecedented growth in global military spending is an alarming sign that the dark days of the Cold War may be back, according to the annual Jane’s Defense Budgets Report.