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Haley announces $285M cut in 2018-19 UN operating budget

“The inefficiency and overspending of the United Nations are well known,” Haley said. “We will no longer let the generosity of the American people be taken advantage of or remain unchecked."

he U.N.'s operating budget is separate from its peacekeeping budget, which was cut by $600 million this year, under pressure from President Donald Trump, AFP reported.

Trump last week threatened to cut off financial aid to countries that voted in favor of a draft U.N. resolution calling for the U.S. to withdraw its decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Russian undersea naval activity in the North Atlantic has reached new levels, and NATO is worried that the undersea cables connecting North America and Europe and the rest of the world are being targeted.

"We are now seeing Russian underwater activity in the vicinity of undersea cables that I don't believe we have ever seen," US Navy Rear Adm. Andrew Lennon, commander of NATO's submarine forces, told The Washington Post. "Russia is clearly taking an interest in NATO and NATO nations' undersea infrastructure."

Moscow's subs appear to be interested in the privately owned lines that stretch across the seabed, carrying insulated fiber-optic cables. The cables are strewn across the world's oceans and seas, carrying 95% of communications and over $10 trillion in daily transactions.

Blocking the flow of information through them could scramble the internet, while tapping into them could give eavesdroppers a valuable picture of the data flowing within. The cables are fragile and have been damaged in the past by ships' anchors, though usually in areas where repairs are relatively easy.

Air Chief Marshal Stuart Peach, the UK's defense chief, has also sounded alarm about Russia's apparent focus on the undersea cables. "There is a new risk to our way of life, which is the vulnerability of the cables that criss-cross the seabeds," he said earlier this month.

A British frigate shadowed a Russian warship through the North Sea near UK waters on Christmas Day, the Royal Navy has revealed.

HMS St Albans monitored the Admiral Gorshkov's "activity in areas of national interest", it said.

The Admiral Gorshkov, a new guided-missile frigate, is still undergoing trials, Russian media report.

The Royal Navy reports a recent "upsurge in Russian units transiting UK waters".

Britain also recently warned of a new threat posed by Russia to internet cables under the sea.

HMS St Albans was sent on Saturday to "keep watch on the new Russian warship Admiral Gorshkov as it passed close to UK territorial waters", the Royal Navy said.

The British frigate remained at sea on Monday, monitoring the Russian vessel, and was due to return to Portsmouth on Tuesday.

"I will not hesitate in defending our waters or tolerate any form of aggression," Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said.

"Britain will never be intimidated when it comes to protecting our country, our people, and our national interests."

In other recent activity involving the two navies:

HMS Tyne, a patrol ship, was also called to shadow a Russian intelligence-gathering ship as it sailed through the North Sea and the English Channel on Sunday while a navy helicopter was scrambled to track two other Russian vessels

Last January, a British warship and three RAF Typhoons escorted Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov and a number of other ships up the English Channel

The Admiral Gorshkov, the first of a new class of multi-role blue-water frigates, has still to complete missile tests before entering service with the Russian navy next year, Russian media report.

It has reportedly been sailing regularly between the White Sea off Russia's northern coast and the Baltic.

Reports on the latest interception do not make clear in what direction the Russian ship was heading.

Russian warships have used the international waters of the North Sea in recent times to sail to and from the Mediterranean for deployment off Syria.

Relations between Britain and Russia have remained tense since Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in 2014.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach, the chief of the UK's defence staff, said earlier this month that Britain and Nato needed to prioritise protecting the lines of communication.

He said it would "immediately and potentially catastrophically" hit the economy if they were cut or disrupted.

The cables criss-cross the seabed, connecting up countries and continents.

This is very close to home, and is headlining news reports.