Новости за 17.04.2018

Moscow has repeatedly voiced concern over the situation in Raqqa following its liberation by the US-led coalition, with the Russia Defense Ministry saying that the former Daesh terrorist group's self-proclaimed capital does not have running water, no humanitarian demining, no electricity, no hospitals and pharmacies, the shops also do not work.

Russian embassy in London, UK, expressed its suspicion that the so-called disinfection in Salisbury could be attempt to destroy evidence in Skripal poisoning case.

US President Donald Trump confirmed Tuesday that talks between the United States and North Korea are taking place at "very high levels."

Researchers have accidentally engineered a plastic-eating enzyme that could potentially be used to solve one of the world’s biggest environmental problems - plastic pollution. More than 8 million tons of plastic are tossed into the world’s oceans every year, according to non-profit organization Plastic Oceans Foundation.

The US Department of State acknowledged Tuesday that it “can’t comment” on whether or not it has samples from Douma where Washington, Paris and London alleged that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gassed his own people.

Eric DeKeyzer, a white man from the US state of Georgia, was arrested by the Johns Creek Police Department earlier this month after he hurled racial slurs at Terrence Stover, a black high school teacher, during a road rage incident.

The US’ total losses from fuel theft in Afghanistan are likely higher than $154.4 million, according to a US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) report released Friday. Authorities aren’t quite sure where all the fuel has gone.

RAMALLAH (Sputnik) - The Israeli army used tear gas and flash grenades against protesters in the West Bank city of Al-Bireh, injuring several people, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Tuesday.

The joint US, British and French assault on Syria last week was an abject failure in terms of wiping out Syria’s chemical weapons capabilities, Israeli intelligence officials said Tuesday.

Adult film actress Stormy Daniels released a composite sketch on Tuesday of the man who threatened her in 2011 to stay silent about her alleged 2006 affair with Donald Trump, who was elected US president in 2016.

Cambridge, Massachusetts, police are reviewing the charges lodged against a 21-year-old black Harvard student who was violently arrested last week after calls were made saying he was behaving aggressively.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US Senator Rand Paul said he has not seen any evidence that proves that Syrian President Bashar Assad waged a chemical attack on civilians in Douma, nor does he understand what could possibly motivate such an attack.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The multiple US cruise missile attacks on Syria on April 13 appear to have hit or destroyed or damaged no chemical weapons sites and appear to have been based on bad target selection and intelligence, former CIA officer Phil Giraldi told Sputnik.

The woman's statement comes over a week after she claimed that Yulia Skripal, Sergei Skripal's daughter, wants to come to Russia as soon as possible.

US authorities are considering increasing pressure on China in the trade war as retaliatory action in response to China's limitations on US tech companies.

PARIS (Sputnik) - France’s National Assembly passed a controversial bill on reforming the state-owned SNCF railway company, which has caused massive strikes by railway workers.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - A group of 34 digital companies has signed an agreement to increase cybersecurity and refrain from helping any government in the world wage cyber attacks against innocent people and entities, Microsoft President Brad Smith said in a statement.

With the operation of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen going on for three years without much success and growing combat-related casualties, the two countries may seek alternative ways to replenish their troops.

Nikki Haley, US ambassador to the United Nations, said that the US will remain in Syria until its goals there are accomplished. Radio Sputnik discussed US plans in Syria with Saikrishna Bangalore Prakash, professor of law, senior fellow at the University of Virginia.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - A total of 37 percent of the UK public opposes the country's participation in the recent Western attack targeting Syria, while 35 percent support the involvement in the operation, a recent survey showed Tuesday.

Granting a legal status to robots is nonsensical and not pragmatic. This is what leading experts in robotics, AI, ethics, law and medical science told the European Commission in an open letter. The warning comes following the European Parliament's approval last year of a resolution that would grant legal status to autonomous robots.

Many displaced women are being forced into sexual intercourse and denied access to food and healthcare, a recently published report said.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Russian banks seem to be able to absorb possible credit losses from the sanctions that the United States imposed against Russian entities and individuals earlier in April, Fitch Ratings said in a press release.

A woman was arrested Friday after she breached the grounds of the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, with a loaded 9mm pistol. Neither the woman nor any CIA officers were injured.

Users of the Viber messenger have reported problems with access for the second day in a row after the blocking of another popular messenger.