The vicious real-life gangsters behind Martin Scorsese's chilling mega-budget movie 'The Irishman'

These are the real life gangsters behind Martin Scorsese's mega-budget movie "The Irishman" - whose main character will be played by Robert De Niro.

The violent story of mobster Frank 'The Irishman' Sheeran is based on gruesome real-life events, as Sheeran, played by De Niro, killed 25 people and claimed to have murdered labor union leader Jimmy Hoffa.

Dubbed at costing between $120 million (£98m) and $150 million (£122m), the film is becoming one of the director's biggest budget movies ever, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Much of the money will go towards the film's cast which includes Robert De Niro, 73, Joe Pesci, 74, Al Pacino, 76, and Harvey Keitel, 77.

China calls on N’Korea to suspend missile, nuclear tests

China has proposed that North Korea suspend its tests of missile and nuclear technology to “defuse a looming crisis”.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that in exchange, the US and South Korea could halt annual joint military drills, which consistently infuriate the North.

The appeal comes after North Korea test-launched four missiles on Monday, breaking international sanctions.

In response, the US began rolling out a missile defence system in South Korea.

Speaking on the sidelines of China’s annual parliamentary meeting, Wang said the Korean peninsula was like “two accelerating trains, coming toward each other with neither side willing to give way”.

“Are the two sides really ready for a head-on collision?” he asked.

A mutual halt of military operations would be the first step towards easing tensions and reopening negotiations, he said.

Three of the North Korean missiles came down inside Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) on Monday, prompting Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and US President Donald Trump to say the region had entered “a new stage of threat”.

Mum of trans woman beaten by mob and shot dead in homophobic attack describes heartache after "very cruel lynching"( WARNING - UPSETTING CONTENT)

The family of a trans woman who was beaten and shot dead in a sickening homophobic attack has paid tribute after the "very cruel lynching."

Dandara dos Santos begged for her life as she was dragged from her home and dumped in a wheelbarrow before being rolled to a back alley and shot dead amid cheers and laughter.

Two men suspected of shooting Dandara, 42, and three teenagers that allegedly appeared in a sickening video of the attack have been arrested. A sixth suspect is still on the run.

Dandara's mother, Francisca Ferreira, spoke about the moment she found out her daughter had been attacked.

She said: "I was very desperate. Crying and asking God what had happened. What did this boy do, my God?

"I became so crazy I could not believe it if there was a fight or not."

Dandara's sister, Sonia Maria, said her sister was selfless and was always going out her way to help people - but she said she was always a victim of prejudice.

French teen jailed for machete attack on Jewish teacher

A teenager who attacked a Jewish teacher in France with a machete was sentenced to seven years in jail on Thursday by a French juvenile court, judicial sources said.

The 17-year-old was convicted at a closed-doors trial for slightly wounding the teacher who was wearing a traditional Jewish skullcap, or yarmulke, while walking to school in January 2016 in the southern city of Marseille.

Prosecutor Brice Robin said shortly after the attack that the teenager, who has not been identified because of his age, said he had acted in the name of the Islamic State militant group.

New NOAA satellite imaging allows unprecedented tracking of lightning strikes

A new lightning tracker that is hovering above the Western hemisphere in geostationary orbit has sent back its first images of lightning storms, NASA announced today.

The new instrument on a weather satellite called GOES-16 will give forecasters an unprecedented view of lightning strikes, and will allow them to give better warnings to the public when a storm is strengthening, scientists said.

The images released today show lightning flashes over the course of an hour on Feb. 14 around the Gulf of Mexico and in South America.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which runs the satellite that NASA parked 22,300 miles above Earth in December 2016, also released a video today showing ghostly lightning strikes along the southeast coast of Texas captured on Feb. 14.

The Iditarod trail sled dog race, in pictures

Seventy-two mushers, ages 20 to 63, are racing across the Alaskan wilderness, 1,000 miles in total, to win the prestigious 2017 Iditarod Trail International Sled Dog Race.

For some of this year's mushers, completing the race means more than taking home the title.

Cindy Abbott takes part in the grueling event as an affirmation of life after she was diagnosed with a rare and incurable disease.

Like Abbott, Alan Eischens has a bigger goal than finishing in the top ranks: He races to raise awareness for pediatric diseases. "We do this for kids ... For us, it's about the kids," he told US

US deploys defence system after North's ballistic missile test

The United States started to deploy the first elements of its advanced Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system to South Korea following North Korea's test of four ballistic missiles, U.S. Pacific Command said on Tuesday.

The announcement came as North Korean state media said leader Kim Jong Un had personally supervised Monday's missile launches, stepping up threats against Washington as U.S. troops conduct joint military exercises with South Korea.

"Continued provocative actions by North Korea, to include yesterday's launch of multiple missiles, only confirm the prudence of our alliance decision last year to deploy THAAD to South Korea," U.S. Pacific Commander Admiral Harry Harris said in the statement.