The South Korean military has chosen the civilian airline Korean Air as the main developer of an unmanned aerial vehicle for the army, Satnews Daily reports . Previously, the main contractor of the South Korean military department in this area was Korea Aerospace Industries. However, this time the military chose the country's largest airline, which proposed a better project than its main competitor.

The mayor of Kiev Leonid Chernovetsky came to the celebration of the 95th anniversary of the National Music Academy of Ukraine named after Pyotr Tchaikovsky in clothes that sharply distinguished him from the general mass of invited guests. While the men present at the celebration were dressed in formal suits and professorial robes, the mayor, as can be seen in the photo of his press service, was wearing something that closely resembled a tracksuit or even a diving suit.

Russian Post has begun accepting orders for New Year's greetings and gifts from Father Frost for Russians living in any corner of the country, RIA Novosti reports . According to a representative of the Russian Post press service, you can receive a gift at any of the 40 thousand post offices throughout the country. The mail guarantees delivery of the gift. In addition, the cost of “Congratulations from Santa Claus” is the same for all regions of Russia and depends only on the selected order.

08.12.2008, 11:47:53 version Print | PDA/PDA Sagrada Familia Cathedral. Photo ©AFP Improving masterpieces Spanish cultural figures protest against the continuation of construction of the Sagrada Familia Cathedral More than 400 cultural figures in Spain have signed a manifesto calling for a halt to work on the completion of the Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona, ​​the creation of the Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi.

The international rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) has downgraded the long-term and short-term ratings of the Russian Vnesheconombank (VEB) and its subsidiary, the Russian Development Bank, RIA Novosti reports . The ratings of these organizations for obligations in foreign currency were downgraded to "BBB/A-3", and in local currency - to "BBB+/A-2". The ratings were left with a negative outlook. Earlier, on December 8, 2008, S&P downgraded Russia's sovereign ratings.

London police have given permission to use the Scotland Yard logo for commercial purposes, The Telegraph reports . The first contracts for the use of the logo have already been signed. Toy manufacturers, in particular, have become interested in the Scotland Yard emblem - new “young investigator” sets will go on sale in the near future. Police are also in talks to use the Scotland Yard logo on watches and cufflinks.

British primary schoolchildren will be taught computer skills at the same time as reading, writing and arithmetic, The Times newspaper writes. In particular, they will be taught how to create PowerPoint presentations and record podcasts. Computer skills were previously taught in secondary schools, but senior government education adviser Jim Rose recommended in a report that lessons be moved to primary school.

The Russian patrol ship Neustrashimy is escorting four ships through the Gulf of Aden in order to protect them from a possible attack by Somali pirates, RIA Novosti reports citing the head of the Navy information service, captain first rank Igor Dygalo . According to Dygalo, the Neustrashimy is escorting the Russian-flagged Nadezhda, the Marshall Islands-flagged Fezko Yenisei, the Cayman Islands-flagged Nanami, and the Panama-flagged Symphony.

Trading on American stock exchanges on December 8, 2008 opened with growth in the main indices. Thus, by 17:40 Moscow time, the Dow Jones industrial average rose by 2.6 percent to 8860.1 points, the broad S&P 500 - by 2.93 percent to 901.71 points, and the high-tech Nasdaq - by 2.37 percent to 1545.11 points. The reason for the growth of American stock indicators was the statement by US President-elect Barack Obama that he may soon present a plan to stimulate the country's economy.

The Universal film company has abandoned plans to film the fourth part of Jurassic Park. According to the Comingsoon resource, producer Kathleen Kennedy announced this to reporters at a press conference dedicated to the release of the film “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” “You see, after Michael Crichton died (the author of the literary source - Lenta.Ru note), I thought that this was probably it. Perhaps this is a sign that we shouldn’t bother with a sequel,” she said.

European stock indices rose sharply in the first hours of trading on December 8. By 11:40 Moscow time, the British FTSE index rose by 5.52 percent to 4,272 points. The German DAX added 6.04 percent to 4,645 points, and the French CAC 40 added 6.42 percent to 3,179 points. Russian stock exchange indicators by 11:40 increased by 6.8-7.2 percent. In just the first minutes of trading, the RTS jumped by 5.77 percent to 623.84 points, and the MICEX by 6.57 percent to 599.27 points.

Five former Blackwater security company employees suspected of killing Iraqis will surrender to the FBI on Monday. CNN reported this with reference to an informed source. According to investigators, suspects Donald Ball, Dustin Heard, Evan Liberty, Nick Slatten and Paul Slough shot and killed 17 civilians in Baghdad in 2007. All five are former military personnel. According to sources close to the investigation, another security guard is negotiating with the authorities.

Somali pirates holding captive the Ukrainian ship Faina accused the owners of delaying the payment of the ransom and threatened to cancel the agreement on the release of the ship, AFP reported on Monday, December 8 . A representative of the Somali pirates, who identified himself as Akhmet, said in a telephone conversation with the agency that the agreement with the owners of the ship, reached on November 30 of this year, is in jeopardy because the pirates have not yet received the ransom.

British photographer Catherine Shakespeare Lane used a photograph of the dead Francis Bacon to create her triptych "Tribute to Francis Bacon" ("Francis Bacon Homage Triptych"), reports The Guardian. At the center of the triptych is an inverted photograph of the body of the English expressionist artist Francis Bacon, taken in a Spanish morgue a few hours after his death. The body lies on a gurney, placed in a transparent plastic bag. This image is framed by various photographs of the insides.

Negotiations between NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Boerse ended in failure, Reuters reports. If NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Boerse managed to come to an agreement, the largest exchange operator in the world would be created. NYSE Euronext operates the New York Stock Exchange and a number of exchanges in Europe, while Deutsche Boerse owns the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and other assets.