Russia’s economy is “on the brink of going into a recession,” the country’s economy minister said Thursday, according to Russian media reports.

Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov delivered the warning at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, the annual event in Russia’s second largest city designed to highlight the country’s economic prowess and court foreign investors.

Russian business news outlet RBC quoted the official as saying “the numbers indicate cooling, but all our numbers are (like) a rearview mirror. Judging by the way businesses currently feel and the indicators, we are already, it seems to me, on the brink of going into a recession.”

The economy, hit with a slew of sanctions after the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, has so far outperformed predictions. High defense spending has propelled growth and kept unemployment low despite fueling inflation. At the same time, wages have gone up to keep pace with inflation, leaving many workers better off.

Large recruiting bonuses for military enlistees and death benefits for those killed in Ukraine also have put more income into the country’s poorer regions. But over the long term, inflation and a lack of foreign investments remain threats to the economy, leaving a question mark over how long the militarized economy can keep going.

Spain balks at NATO budget proposal

Spain has rejected a NATO proposal to spend 5% of gross domestic product on defense needs that’s due to be announced next week, calling it “unreasonable.”

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, in a letter sent on Thursday to NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, said that Spain “cannot commit to a specific spending target in terms of GDP” at next week’s NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands.

Any agreement to adopt a new spending guideline must be made with the consensus of all 32 NATO member states. So Sánchez’s decision risks derailing next week’s summit, which U.S. President Donald Trump is due to attend, and creating a last-minute shakeup that could have lingering repercussions.

Most U.S. allies in NATO are on track to endorse Trump’s demand that they invest 5% of GDP on their defense and military needs. In early June, Sweden and the Netherlands said that they aim to meet the new target.

A NATO official on Thursday said that discussions between allies were ongoing about a new defense spending plan.

Spain was the lowest spender in the trans-Atlantic alliance last year, directing less than 2% of its GDP on defense expenditure.

Google faces setback in EU fine appeal

Google faced a big setback Thursday in its attempt to overturn a multibillion-dollar European Union antitrust penalty involving Android after a top court’s legal adviser sided with regulators.

The European Court of Justice’s advocate general, Juliane Kokott, recommended in a non-binding opinion that Google’s appeal against the fine worth more than 4 billion euros ($4.7 billion) should be dismissed.

The case dates back to 2018, when the EU’s executive Commission slapped Google with a 4.134 billion euro fine after finding that the U.S. tech company used the dominance of its mobile Android operating system to throttle competition and reduce consumer choice.

After Google filed an initial appeal, a lower court trimmed the penalty to 4.125 billion euros in 2022, which the company also appealed to the Court of Justice.

Kokott advised that the Court of Justice confirm the fine and uphold the lower court’s judgment, according to a press release summarizing her opinion.

Suspect in N.Y. police car fires known to cops

A man suspected of torching 11 New York City police vehicles in Brooklyn last week — the first of two such arson attacks in the last week — was previously arrested at pro-Palestinian protests and is wanted for damaging a statue at Columbia University last fall, police said.

The NYPD on Wednesday released photos and a video of the suspect, a 21-year-old man from New Jersey, and asked the public for help finding him. He remained at large as of Thursday.

Police are also investigating whether he is also responsible for attempting to set fire Wednesday to a police van in another part of Brooklyn.

In the first attack, police said, a man climbed over a gate around 1 a.m. on June 12 and placed fire starters on the windshields, hoods and tires of multiple vehicles in a police parking lot about a block from a police station in Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood.

The man then fled on foot, police said, citing surveillance video they said placed the 21-year-old suspect at the crime scene. None of the vehicles were occupied and no injuries were reported.

On Wednesday, police said, a fire starter was found on a police van parked outside a diner in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg section. NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said the device was similar but not the same brand as the ones used in Bushwick.

SpaceX test rocket explodes; no injuries

A SpaceX rocket being tested in Texas exploded Wednesday night, sending a dramatic fireball high into the sky.

The company said the Starship “experienced a major anomaly” at about 11 p.m. while on the test stand preparing for the tenth flight test at Starbase, SpaceX’s launch site at the southern tip of Texas.

“A safety clear area around the site was maintained throughout the operation and all personnel are safe and accounted for,” SpaceX said in a statement on the social platform X.

It marked the latest in a series of incidents involving Starship rockets. On Jan. 16, one of the massive rockets broke apart in what the company called a “rapid unscheduled disassembly,” sending trails of flaming debris near the Caribbean. Two months later, Space X lost contact with another Starship during a March 6 test flight as the spacecraft broke apart, with wreckage seen streaming over Florida.

Ortega critic fatally shot in Costa Rica

A retired Nicaraguan military officer turned outspoken critic of President Daniel Ortega was shot to death Thursday at his home in Costa Rica, authorities said.

Roberto Samcam, 67, had been living in exile since July 2018 when paramilitaries assaulted his home in Nicaragua.

Police say a man entered the condominium complex where Samcam lived northeast of the Costa Rican capital of San Jose and went directly to the retired major’s home around 7:30 a.m.

Without saying a word, the man shot Samcam multiple times with a 9mm pistol, according to Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Organization. The shooter escaped.

Word of Samcam’s killing spread rapidly among the hundreds of thousands of Nicaraguans who have sought refuge in Costa Rica since Ortega cracked down on widespread protests in 2018.

Author Chabon’s son accused of rape

The 22-year-old son of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon faces rape and strangulation charges after a woman accused him of choking and hitting her while sexually assaulting her, court records show.

The man, Abraham Chabon, was arrested last week in connection with an episode last year, according to a criminal complaint filed by prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney’s office.

The younger Chabon, a New York University student whose mother, Ayelet Waldman, is also a well-known writer, pleaded not guilty to first-degree rape and second-degree strangulation charges in Manhattan Criminal Court last Friday, court records show.

Chabon, who sometimes uses his mother’s surname, was released after Judge Kacie Lally set bail at $45,000 or a $150,000 bond, and is scheduled to return to court in August, court records show.

A lawyer for Chabon, Priya Chaudhry, said in a statement that he “is innocent and was as shocked by these false allegations as anyone.”

— From news services