Reuters, Moscow
Russia’s defense budget will be cut by 5 percent in 2016, Russian Deputy Defence Minister Tatiana Shevtsova said, according to the RIA news agency.
Defense spending has been growing as part of a drive by President Vladimir Putin to restore Russia’s military might. The decision to cut shows, however, that even the armed forces are not immune to a slowing Russian economy, which has been hit by falling oil prices and Western sanctions.
The 5 percent cut, if approved by Putin, would be the biggest reduction in defense spending since he took office in 2000.
Woman burnt alive in India
AFP, Jaipur
A woman was burnt to death by her brothers for marrying a man belonging to a different caste, police said Sunday, in the latest incident of a so-called honour killing in India.
Rama Kunwar, 30, had eloped with her lover eight years ago and returned to her village in western Rajasthan state on Friday, hoping her family had forgiven her for marrying against their wishes. But her still enraged brothers barged in as she was visiting her in-laws’ house and dragged her outside before setting her on fire as other villagers watched.
China’s carbon emissions still increasing
Reuters, Beijing
China’s carbon emissions did not peak in 2014 and are still increasing, China’s senior climate change envoy, Xie Zhenhua, said at a press briefing in Beijing on Monday.
Xie said the government’s pledge that emissions would peak “around 2030” is based on national conditions and has a direct relationship with the country’s stage of economic development.
Japanese submarine to visit Philippines
Reuters, Tokyo
A Japanese submarine will visit the Philippines for the first time in 15 years, along with two warships that will then sail on to Vietnam, in a show of support for nations opposed to Beijing’s ambitions in the South China Sea, a person familiar with the matter said.
The Japanese submarine, which is used for training, and the destroyers will arrive in the Philippines in April. The escort vessels will later sail to Vietnam’s strategic Cam Ranh Bay base on the South China Sea, the source said.
