Pentagon asks for major budget increase amid threats from Russia, China and North Korea
Updated 0818 GMT (1618 HKT) February 13, 2018
Citing increasing threats from China and Russia, the Pentagon is asking for a major boost in military spending for 2019, requesting Congress approve a budget of $686 billion -- one of the largest in US history.
At the same time the Trump administration's budget proposal included major cuts for international diplomacy and overseas aid.
Touting the proposal on Monday, President Donald Trump said the US military would be the strongest it has ever been, including "increasing arsenals of virtually every weapon."
The Defense Department's budget is $686 billion, an increase of $80 billion from 2017, which the Pentagon says is primarily aimed at countering Russia and China.
Philippines: Rodrigo Duterte orders soldiers to shoot female rebels 'in the vagina'
President branded a misogynist and macho-fascist after saying mutilating women fighters would make them “useless”
President Rodrigo Duterte has been branded a misogynist and “macho-fascist” after he ordered soldiers to shoot female communist rebels in the vagina.
In a speech to over 200 former communist soldiers in Malacañang last week, the Philippines president gave a directive of what to do with female guerrilla fighters.
“‘There’s a new order coming from the mayor, ‘We will not kill you. We will just shoot you in the vagina,’ ” said Duterte. He went on to say that without their vaginas, women would be “useless”.Jacob Zuma 'given 48 hours to resign presidency of South Africa' amid corruption allegations
Party leader reportedly delivered message to head of state in person
South Africa's ruling African National Congress has reportedly given Jacob Zuma 48 hours to resign as head of state.
After a marathon eight-hour meeting of the party's top leadership, party leader Cyril Ramaphosa delivered the message to Mr Zuma in person, the SABC state broadcaster said.
Mr Ramaphosa's motorcade returned an hour later to the venue of the ANC meeting debating Mr Zuma's fate.
Mr Zuma has faced mounting calls from his party to end his scandal-plagued second term a year early since Mr Ramaphosa was voted in as party leader in December.
Sea level rise is real and accelerating: PNAS study
A new report based on 25 years of satellite data says that sea levels are rising at an increasing pace. The findings are "roughly in agreement" with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change projections.
A new report in the US-based Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) journal released Monday, says that sea level rise is accelerating and could reach 66 centimeters (26 inches) by the end of the century.
The projected sea level rise is in line with United Nations estimates and will be enough to cause significant problems for coastal cities.
According to the report, the past annual rate of sea level rise — about three millimeters per year — may more than triple to 10 millimeters per year by 2100.
Youth on both sides mobilise ahead of Irish abortion referendum
As Ireland prepares to hold a May referendum on the Irish constitution’s anti-abortion amendment, the youth vote is front and centre of the debate – and young activists on both sides are gearing up for a fight.
A previous national referendum in 1983 approved the Irish constitution’s Eighth Amendment, which recognised an unborn child’s right to life. Women who have an abortion in Ireland can face up to 14 years in prison – leading thousands of women each year to seek to terminate their pregnancies in England and Wales.
Last week marked 26 years since a 14-year-old Irish girl travelled to London with her parents to seek an abortion after being raped by a neighbour. Her plight led to the Irish Supreme Court's landmark 1992 "X" case, which established the right to an abortion if a woman's life was at risk, including at risk from suicide. Although the decision sparked outrage across much of Ireland, thousands of others took to the streets to express their support for the girl (known only as "X"), and the case remains a key turning point in the country’s abortion debate.
Israel boycotts film festival over Foxtrot screening
Israel is boycotting a film festival in Paris which plans to screen "Foxtrot", an acclaimed drama which depicts the Israeli army covering up the deaths of Palestinian teenagers.
Israel's embassy in France will not attend the March 13 opening ceremony of the Israeli Film Festival, when director Samuel Maoz's movie will be screened, because organisers ignored advice to find a "more suitable" picture for the event "which will include an audience of Jewish donors", Israel's foreign ministry said.
According to The Times of Israel, the statement said: "The festival's management, due to its own considerations, chose not to accept the recommendation. Therefore, the foreign ministry ordered the ambassador not to be present at the opening ceremony."
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