Struggling Russia cuts military spending — and it could weaken its forces worldwide

Russian military spending fell by a fifth last year, its first decline in nearly two decades, with tighter purse-strings likely to affect Moscow's military activity ahead.
But while global military spending rose one percent to $1,739 billion last year, Russia's fell 20 percent in real terms to $66.3 billion.
Russia's finances are still fragile following a two-year economic downturn brought on by Western sanctions and a collapse in global oil prices.
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Russian military spending fell by a fifth last year, its first decline in nearly two decades, with tighter purse-strings likely to affect Moscow's military activity ahead, a report by defense think-tank SIPRI showed on Wednesday.

Russia has flexed its military muscles during the last few years with its 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimea and deep involvement in the Syrian conflict serving as examples of its more belligerent stance.

Fatal encounters: 97 deaths point to pattern of border agent violence across America

 

For six long years the family of Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez have been caught in a legal saga seeking justice for the 16-year-old who was killed by a US border patrol agent who fired 16 times from Arizona into Mexico.

Ending criminal proceedings that have dragged on since 2012, a jury last week cleared agent Lonnie Swartz of second-degree murder and could not agree on a verdict for two lesser charges of manslaughter. The shooting has compelled judges up to the US supreme court to deliberate whether the American government can be sued in civil court for wrongful deaths on Mexican soil – placing the incident, and eight other cross-border fatal shootings, at the center of scrutiny surrounding the use of force by agents in response to allegedly thrown However, lesser known are similar shootings which have occurred inside the US. Such as that of Francisco Javier Dominguez Rivera, who was shot and killed “execution-style”, in the language of a wrongful death complaint the government paid $850,000 to settle. An Arizona agent responding to an alert from the National Guard in 2007 alleged Rivera threatened him with a rock.

Whatsapp now lets you shut up annoying friends by locking down group chats

WhatsApp has rolled out a new feature which will give users a lot of power over their irritating friends. The chat app has unleashed a ‘restricted groups’ function which lets anyone named as an administrator of a group silence other members.
Anyone who invokes this dreaded option will force all members of the group to press a ‘message admin’ button to send messages. If the admin doesn’t approve the message, it won’t be seen by other members of theMeanwhile, the despot in charge can send as many messages as they want. If they switch on the restricted group function, they can also stop other members changing the name of the group. ‘All participants can normally edit the group description, icon and subject, but finally the administrator can restrict this feature today, preventing no-administrators to modify the group description,’ wrote WABetaInfo, a website which specialises in covering Whatsapp updates.

Driver jailed for five years crashing and leaving family with life-changing injuries

A driver who smashed his powerful car into a family’s front room and caused life-changing injuries has been jailed for five years, police have said. James Andrew Sparham’s high-performance VW Golf R burst into flames when it came off the road in Rawcliffe, York.

North Yorkshire Police said David Garnett, who was watching television at the time of the crash, suffered serious life-changing injuries and had to endure a long stay in hospital, while his wife Claire is still recovering from the stress of the incident. The 29-year-old driver’s two passengers – a woman in her 30s and a man in his 20s – also sustained broken bones and lacerations. The labourer, of Geldof Road, Huntington, York, was jailed at York Crown Court after he pleaded guilty to three counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and criminal damage.

Cardinal George Pell, Australia's highest ranking Catholic, to stand trial on historical sex offence charge

Cardinal George Pell will stand trial over one historical sex offence charge.

Melbourne magistrate Belinda Wallington on Tuesday found there is evidence of sufficient weight on one of multiple charges against Australia's most senior Catholic cleric for him to stand trial.

Several other charges against the 76-year-old were struck out.

Pell has strenuously denied all charges, and Tuesday's committal comes after a four-week-long hearing to determine whether the allegations would go to trial in the County Court.

Pell, who took leave from his position as Vatican treasurer to fight the charges, was in court to hear the decision.

Foul play suspected in the death of Black college student found hanging in Atlanta

A Black man was found hanging off the MLK Bridge in Atlanta and initial report from local authorities was that the man "committed suicide". However some evidence suggest he may have been killed.

A video shared online shows the Morehouse College student hanging by his neck with a metal chain, not a rope or belt. He is also seen wearing his backpack.

Atlanta police were called to MLK Drive at about 6:30 p.m. Friday and wiithin hours of the body being located and without any witnesses, police closed the case and classified it as a suicide. But reports say someone around the area claim they heard someone yelling, "don't do it."

London-born scientist flies to Swiss euthanasia clinic from his Australian home to end his own life because he 'regrets having lived to 104'

Australia's oldest scientist plans to fly business class to Switzerland next week to end his life.

Dr David Goodall, a former university lecturer from Western Australia, doesn't have a terminal illness but says he regrets having reached the age of 104 as his quality of life continues to deteriorate.

'I greatly regret having reached that age,' he told the ABC.

'I'm not happy. I want to die. It's not sad particularly. What is sad is if one is prevented.

'If one chooses to kill oneself, then that should be fair enough. I don't think anyone else should interfere.'

'Infinity War' sets record with biggest opening weekend ever

A whole lot of superheroes added up to a whole lot of ticket sales. The superhero smorgasbord "Avengers: Infinity Wars" opened with predictable shock and awe, earning $250 million at the box office over the weekend and passing "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" for the biggest opening weekend of all time.

"Infinity War," which brings together two dozen superheroes in the 10-year culmination of Marvel Studio's "cinematic universe," also set a global opening record with $630 million worldwide, even though it has yet to open in China, the world's second-largest movie market. It opens there May 11.

According to Walt Disney Co.'s estimates Sunday, "Infinity War" overwhelmed the previous global best ("The Fate of the Furious," with $541.9 million) but narrowly topped "The Force Awakens" in North America. The "Star Wars" reboot opened with $248 million in 2015, which would translate to about $260 million accounting for inflation.

French museum discovers half of its collection are fakes

An art museum in the south of France has discovered that more than half of its collection consists of fakes, in what the local mayor on Sunday described as a “catastrophe” for the region.

The tiny 8,000-strong community of Elne just outside Perpignan re-opened its Etienne Terrus Museum, dedicated to the works of the local artist who was born in 1857 and died in 1922, on Friday after extensive renovation work.

But an art historian brought in to reorganise the museum following the recent acquisition of around 80 paintings, found that nearly 60% of the entire collection was fake.

“Etienne Terrus was Elne’s great painter. He was part of the community, he was our painter,” said mayor Yves Barniol.

“Knowing that people have visited the museum and seen a collection, most of which is fake, that’s bad. It’s a catastrophe for the municipality.”

Are our online lives about to become 'private' again?

There's a strong chance you've recently seen an email or pop-up box offering "some important updates" about the way a social media company or website plans to use your data. Are we about to regain control of our personal information?

In our increasingly connected world, data has come to be seen as something to buy and sell.

Businesses offer personalised goods and services to consumers, raising the possibility of data driving economic growth and even improving wellbeing.

But this optimistic picture about the rise of data science is incomplete.

The scandal involving the improper sharing of the data of 87 million Facebook users with political consultancy Cambridge Analytica made it painfully obvious that data is sometimes shared without our knowledge.

In May, tough new privacy laws are being introduced across Europe, offering EU consumers far greater control over their data and large fines for firms which break the rules.

It is worth pausing to think about how we got to this point.
To begin to understand, we must remember that data can easily be copied, shared and collected from multiple sources.

Whenever we use digital devices - everything from web browsers, to phones, loyalty cards and CCTV cameras - we create data that allows advertisers, insurers, the police and others to understand aspects of our lives.

Only its availability and the ingenuity of its handler limits what it can tell us.

Diego Maradona sacked at UAE’s Fujairah SC after failing to secure automatic promotion for the club

Diego Maradona has left his position as coach of Al Fujairah after they missed out on automatic promotion from the United Arab Emirates' second division.

The 57-year-old former Argentina international and World Cup winner had been in charge since May 2017. A 1-1 draw with Khorfakkan on Friday meant they could not finish higher than third in the table.


It was Maradona's second managerial spell in the UAE, after spending a year in charge of Al-Wasl. He also managed the Argentina national team from 2008 to 2010.

Nine school children stabbed to death, 12 injured, by "bullied pupil" in China

Nine students have been stabbed to death and 12 others were injured after a former student attacked them outside a school in northern China.

The former student allegedly stabbed them in a revenge plot after being bullied at the school in Shaanxi province. It took place outside the No3 Middle School in the rural area as classes were being dismissed for the evening.

The Mizhi county government reports the 12 people who suffered injuries during the stabbing rampage and are in hospital.

Cardi B Sued By Former Manager For $10 Million!

Did Cardi B shaft her former manager??

According to Variety, new court docs have been filed on behalf of the rapper's ex-rep Klenord "Shaft" Raphael, whom she left late last month for Solid Foundation. As of late March, the expecting artist is now repped by the Quality Control management team led by Kevin "Coach K" Lee and Pierre "Pee" Thomas (both are listed in the suit as well).

Woman shares story about how she gave birth in a hotel all by herself with the help of YouTube, shoelaces, and knives

A Virginia woman has made international news headlines after she gave birth all by herself in an Istanbul hotel room by watching YouTube and using shoelaces and knives.

She has now become an internet sensation and she has shared her story, which is too good to be missed.

Tia Freeman had no idea she was pregnant until the last trimester. The type of birth control she takes made it so she didn’t have a cycle so that wasn’t an indicator for her. When she eventually found out she was pregnant, she had already planned a trip abroad and booked her ticket so she refused to let that go to waste.

However, while traveling to Istanbul, Turkey, she started cramping but had no idea it was labor. When she landed, she managed to make it to her hotel room and at this point, it became obvious she was in labour.

Neville Brothers Saxophonist Charles Neville Dies at 79

New Orleans-born saxophone player Charles Neville, who once backed up B.B. King and later gained fame with the Neville Brothers band and their rollicking blend of funk, jazz and rhythm and blues, has died. He was 79.

His death came Thursday, months after he disclosed he was fighting pancreatic cancer.

Neville's career dated to the 1950s when he performed with King and other musical greats. Yet he was best known for three decades of performances with his siblings Aaron, Art and Cyril as the Grammy-winning Neville Brothers band. The band was formed in the 1970s and gained fans with high-energy performances featuring a distinctive fusion of funk, jazz and New Orleans rhythm and blues.