In recent years, global military expenditure has increased again and is now comparable to Cold War levels. Recent data shows global spending at over $1.7 trillion, despite the global economic conditions. It is still approximately 1% increase since 2008 when the financial crisis began, for example.

Not all nations have felt the impacts of the global financial crisis in the same way. Some have grown economically, including many Asian countries, which has allowed some of them to increase their military spending. There are geopolitical interests at stake for various powers, so economic troubles or not, military spending is seen as important to maintain, or at least to minimize possible reductions.

The highest military spender is the US accounting for 39% of the world’s spending, more than the next top 10 countries combined, and more than all its potential enemies, combined. But this represents a slight decline over previous years as other nations, especially China and Russia, increase their spending. At the same time, the US has reduced military spending for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, while Western Europe’s austerity programs affect their military spending budgets.

This update includes new and updated figures, graphs and charts exploring this further.

Read full article: World Military Spending

EXCLUSIVE: Justin Rose opens up on applauding the NHS from afar, supporting online fundraising efforts with fellow celebrities and why the Ryder Cup should not take place behind closed doors.

MONEY saving hacks are something which many people will look to adopt in their lives, be it for a financial milestone or for a rainy day fund. And, there may be a way in which some soon see their spare cash add up.

SAMSUNG has just revealed full pricing for its new 4K and 8K TVs and there's a very big incentive if you buy one this month.

BROADBAND companies might not have handled the huge increase in users at home as well as many hoped. Whether you're using Virgin Media, BT broadband, Sky, TalkTalk or others, it seems vast numbers of people have experienced web problems, new research shows.

THE poor handling of a motor insurance claim left an NHS nurse, under intense work pressures as she cared for others, having to fend off a £1,400 liability demand to pay for something she had never had.

ALARMING levels of plastic have been found on the Mediterranean seabed, scientists revealed yesterday.

HALVING the "arbitrary" two metre social distancing rule would make a huge difference to the economy without jeopardising health, a government pandemic advisor said last night.

IF IT wasn't so serious, it would make you roar with laughter. That we were unable to boot out of the country a "brutal" killer, a "devious" rapist, a child rapist, other sex offenders, and drug and gun dealers due to a faulty mobile phone mast is the stuff of comedy writers.

THERE's yet more evidence that climate change protesters clearly believe there is nothing they can do nor protest they can stage that cannot be justified by the validity of their cause.

IT WAS the moment a nation came together to show its appreciation to an unbelievably brave group of people faced with an unenviable challenge.

Silver Reef Brewery adjusts production, provides sanitizer to St. George community

PENSIONERS spend just five years of their retirement in good health, warns new research.

Out this weekend: Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber's new duet, Michelle Obama's documentary on Netflix and the season finale of "Saturday Night Live."

The lawyer for William "Roddie" Bryan, the Georgia man who recorded video of two white men shooting Ahmaud Arbery, says his client is not a vigilante.

"He was eating dinner in his own home and did absolutely nothing to bring this upon himself," IMPD Detective Chris Edwards said.

Tense crowds chanted at Indianapolis police officers hours after an officer fatally shot a man following a pursuit partially caught on Facebook Live.

Protesters gather in Indianapolis near the scene of a fatal police shooting after a pursuit that seemingly was captured in part on Facebook Live.

Kamar Baldwin talks about his winning 3-pointer

All across Indiana, first responders are getting sick from the novel coronavirus, even as agencies strengthen precautions.

It may not be out on the asphalt, but Robert Wickens is energized to be back competing against the IndyCar paddock this weekend.

They've piled up more on-track success than any other drivers over the past three years. But adjusting to sim-racing has been another task entirely.

Sandy Rivera is one of roughly 800,000 DACA program participants whose futures hang in the balance of a congressional debate.

Many Indianapolis area districts started eLearning this week only to learn that school closures will be longer than expected due to COVID-19 concerns.

A fixture in IU's starting lineup for most of the past two years, Smith averaged 10.4 points and 5.2 rebounds per game in 2019-20.

A fixture in IU's starting lineup for most of the past two years, Smith averaged 10.4 points and 5.2 rebounds per game in 2019-20.

Indiana will issue unemployment benefits to workers who do not typically qualify. But distributing new federal stimulus money will take time.

Jimmy Kimmel tweeted and deleted a video clip that purportedly showed Vice President Mike Pence delivering empty PPE boxes to a health care center

Trump might shut down the coronavirus task force. This won't do anything to boost our response to the pandemic.

Los Angeles' mayor allows wholesale dealers to start selling under strict social distancing guidelines.

LAPD leaders are concerned about a looming decline in black officers, particularly as pandemic-related restrictions undercut recruitment efforts.

Gov. Eric Holcomb's plan to reopen Indiana puts the burden on individuals instead of government.

Most patients recover from Covid-19 quickly - but for some, symptoms linger for weeks.

It's difficult to count the number of video games in which someone is standing around a corner clutching a weapon and waiting for their mortal enemy to pass. But until recently it wasn't possible to physically experience that scenario.

Margot Robbie's over-the-top character makes her much-anticipated return to the screen.

A team of researchers at the University of California at San Diego have created a soft robotic lens that responds to eye movements.

The goal, researchers say, was to create a robot that learns the way humans do — through trial and error. Eventually, those robots could be used to complete tasks — in a warehouse or perhaps on the surface of a new planet — with more autonomy.

The Patriots quarterback has been sensational for years, but with everything on the line for your fantasy season in Week 16, he's a liability.

When it comes to getting schooled on plastic water bottles, look no further than Aquaman.

Messages between a GOP strategist and a Census Bureau official make clear the politics and bias behind the proposed citizenship census question.

How best for the party to get its message across to voters.

The administration has cracked down on all migrants, even those with the most to contribute.

Maybe it was the altitude at Davos.

New cuts are actually expansions, according to Mike Pence.

oscon: Just 1 week left to take advantage of #OSCON early registration prices. Register by 6/6 to save http://t.co/E0JKpcj1Rp #opensource

As some of you may have noticed, last100 has been dormant of late and even off-line for a few weeks. The truth is that other blogging and work commitments have kept me very busy recently but more serious, the site was hacked. Badly. Malware was installed through a back door exploit and I had to [...]

velocityconf: @tsantero @garethr No, there's just a lot that goes into producing #velocityconf. Plus the chairs are getting ready for Santa Clara + NY! :)

velocityconf: @da3mon Sorry! We were just doing some followup with past Velocity attendees. Sorry to intrude. No harm intended. :-(

Andrew Yang has dropped out, which means the presidential campaign just got a lot less fun (you must watch this appreciation from The Recount, embedded above). The race also lost a credible and important voice on issues related to the impact of technology on our society.  The fact that Yang’s campaign didn’t make it past … Continue reading "For Now, America Just Doesn’t Want to Think That Hard"

Google's video chat app got new features this week. No, the other one. No, the other other one.

In a Friday blog post, Google announced some snazzy new features for Duo, one of its three video chat services. Let's get this out of the way early: Duo is the one that's mobile-friendly and resembles FaceTime more than Hangouts and Meet.

The new features make more sense with that in mind. Google added something called "Family Mode" to Duo, in which you can draw silly little doodles on the video feed, presumably to amuse the little ones on the call. There are also AR effects you can use on one-on-one calls on Android and iOS, similar to those available on Facebook's video calls. Read more...