* DARPA is funding an initiative to connect soldiers' minds to computers * Technology could control UAV's, monitor security networks, and communicate * Devices will likely take the form of a helmet that can read users' brain signals * The agency says it is aiming to have a preliminary device ready in four years
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is funding research that could give a future generation of soldiers the power to control machines and weapons with their minds.
The agency said it will fund six organizations through the Next-Generation Nonsurgical Neurotechnology (N3) program who will work to design and build interfaces for application in the U.S. military, that could be worn be soldiers and translate their brain signals into instructions.
Those instructions could be used to control swarms of unmanned aerial vehicles, wield cyber defense systems, or facilitate military communications.
* Every six months, DARPA stages mock cyber attacks a highly restricted island off the coast of New York. * Specialists war game a major cyber attack of the power grid on Plum Island, which people need US government clearance to set foot on. * The exercise involves figuring out how to jumpstart a large electricity system if it gets suddenly taken offline by enemy hackers. * A DARPA official sent Business Insider photos of the site during one of the drills.
Only a few have gone through the extensive background checks needed to access Plum Island — where a secretive branch of the US government runs exercises to prepare for all-out cyber war.
The speck of land in the Long Island Sound, owned by the Department of Homeland Security is largely deserted. The main attractions are a defunct lighthouse and a center that studies infectious animal diseases.
It is also the perfect setting for the US government to stage mock cyber attacks on the power grid.
WASHINGTON, May 24 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Defense is close to expanding its legendary future warfare and technology agency DARPA by combining it with the Pentagon office in charge of adapting existing weapons to new uses, people familiar with the plans said.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency would absorb the Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO) and centralize more research units under the Pentagon's Chief Technology Officer Michael Griffin.
The combination would end an experiment with SCO that began as an attempt to adapt to future threats quickly and with less bureaucracy. SCO reported directly to the defense secretary, removing it from traditional bureaucratic channels at the Pentagon.
If all of SCO's $1.3 billion 2020 budget request were transferred to DARPA, DARPA would gain control over 37 percent more funding on top of its 2020 funding request of $3.5 billion.
BEIJING (Reuters) - The United States has called on China to curb the development of its state-owned enterprises (SOEs), a demand that China sees as an "invasion" on its economic sovereignty, Chinese state news agency Xinhua said on Saturday.
Trade tensions between Washington and Beijing escalated sharply earlier this month after the Trump administration accused China of having "reneged" on its previous promises to make structural changes to its economic practices.
Washington later slapped additional tariffs of up to 25% on $200 billion of Chinese goods, prompting Beijing to retaliate.
As trade talks stalled, both sides have appeared to be digging in. China has denied it had walked back on its promises but reiterated it would not make concessions to "matters of principles" to defend its core interests, although no full details were given.
"At the negotiating table, the U.S. government presented a number of arrogant demands to China, including restricting the development of state-owned enterprises," Xinhua said in a commentary.
WNU Editor: This trade war is already entrenched .... Risk of entrenched U.S. trade war with China is rising, economists say (CBS). And with China continuing to refuse to lower its trade deficit with the U.S. while maintaining restrictive trade barriers, this economic war is only going to continue. The only thing that I find perplexing about this entire story is China' willingness to gamble its annual $400 billion trade surplus with the U.S. by continuing to break promises to buy U.S. products and to lower barriers to American goods. I do not understand where they get their confidence that the status quo will return if they stand their ground, because from my perspective they will lose.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel talks to soldiers from the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force after an exercise in Munster, Germany, on Monday. Photo: dpa via AP
* Xinhua reporters covered Merkel visit to NATO unit in Germany * They're said to have filmed hardware and interviewed soldiers
Germany's military is investigating what information three Chinese reporters collected while Chancellor Angela Merkel visited a NATO unit, signaling heightened mistrust of the state-run Xinhua news agency.
The Xinhua reporters raised suspicion by filming military equipment and interviewing soldiers about their daily routines, according to a person familiar with the incident who asked not to be identified discussing security matters. They were accredited along with other journalists to enter the base and report on Merkel's visit to the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force training area at Munster, Germany, on May 20.
WNU Editor: The Chinese rarely let foreign reporters cover President Xi when he makes a visit to a military base. Everything is scripted and planned, and foreign reporters (if permitted) are always kept at a distance.
NANCY PELOSI has appeared in a doctored Facebook video that shows her slurring her speech and acting "drunk" but the social media site has refused to remove the fake video.
WORLD WAR 3 could have been a genuine reality on more than one occasion, with a nuclear missile launch threatening to mark the end of humanity as we know it.
MEMORIAL DAY 2019 is fast approaching and store opening times are likely to be affected by the United States federal holiday - what time will Target be open on the day?
Iran’s foreign minister said an order by the U.S. president to send 1,500 additional troops to the Middle East was “extremely dangerous” and threatening to international peace and security.
“Increased U.S. presence in our region is extremely dangerous and a threat against international peace and security and it must be addressed,” Foreign Minister Javad Zarif was cited as saying by the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency.
Zarif made the comments after U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed the military deployment and Pentagon officials said they believed that Iran was behind a number of recent attacks on oil tankers, a Saudi pipeline and the diplomatic quarter of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
“The Americans make such allegations in order to justify increasing tensions in the Persian Gulf and to justify their hostile policies,” Zarif said, in reference to the Pentagon’s claims. He made the comments as he departed Pakistan.
Tensions between Iran and the U.S. have escalated dramatically over the past months after the White House vowed to force Iran’s oil exports down to zero and revoked a series of key sanctions waivers for the OPEC-member’s crude sales and its civilian nuclear program.
In response, Iran has said it will scale back some of its commitments under the 2015 nuclear accord and set a deadline to start its own gradual withdrawal from the deal unless Europe can guarantee it can function and survive.
Earlier on Saturday, an adviser to the Guards, General Morteza Qorbani, was quoted by semi-official Mizan Online news saying Iran could sink a U.S. aircraft carrier with “new weapons” at the “slightest” provocation by the vessel.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered a historic second five-year term — with a single-party majority — for the Bharatiya Janata Party this week. He campaigned in 2014 promising economic growth and job creation, and prioritized business-friendly outreach to lure investment and manufacturing to India.
The continuity of a second Modi term, then, suggests to some that a bold economic reform agenda may be what comes next. But equally possible, based on the recent track record, might be stepped-up development projects in lieu of tough reforms, and a more nationalist approach to economic matters. In an atmosphere where trade differences between New Delhi and Washington have slowly escalated, the latter prospect would suggest even rougher economic roads ahead.
Will Modi make the tough choices?
Due to his pro-business orientation and road-show pitches for investment, Modi has gained a reputation among U.S. industry as someone with a reformist mindset. In his first three years of office, he raised foreign direct investment caps in a wide range of sectors, reduced petroleum subsidies, cut red tape, got a bankruptcy law passed and a constitutional amendment to unify India’s states into a common market. These are all significant steps. But tougher reforms that could boost the Indian economy—for example, reforms to India’s onerous land acquisition and labor laws that could unleash manufacturing—have languished after early-term efforts failed to secure lasting support.
It’s precisely these politically difficult reforms that could make a difference to the Indian economy now. The Indian economy is not hitting the growth rates needed to create jobs for its large, youthful and growing workforce. Unemployment is at a 45-year high. In recent years, the Modi government has shifted away from politically contentious further reforms, and emphasized development projects (toilet-building, housing, infrastructure) and welfare programs, such as the world’s largest health insurance scheme. Such projects are important for Indian quality of life, but do not address more macro-level policy reform questions.
In addition, although the Indian economy has incrementally become more open since the onset of economic reforms in 1991, the Modi government moved backwards on trade in the past two years by raising tariffs on some goods. And debates about data localization and new regulation in the fast-growing e-commerce space suggest the prospect of a more economically nationalist approach to the important digital economy.
A complicated trade relationship with the U.S.
Meanwhile, the U.S.-India economic dialogue, for decades fraught at the best of times, is in a tough place. The longstanding list of trade complaints—many of them U.S. complaints about India’s market—contains a mind-numbing array of issues. Some are familiar, like intellectual property rights and concerns over patents, tariffs and foreign direct investment caps. But some are arcane, like price caps on medical stents, or certifying that dairy products came from cows that never ate animal feed containing “tissues of ruminant origin”––i.e. beef. None are easy to solve, and so they have languished on the agenda while trade negotiators attempt resolution.
Exacerbating the tough atmosphere in the trade and economic arena, President Donald Trump’s approach to trade adds new issues to the many unresolved problems. Trump wants to cut trade deficits, so a new complaint from Washington concerns the bilateral trade deficit with India—for 2018 around $22 billion, down 7% from 2017.
In an unrelated global review, the Trump Administration concluded that steel and aluminum imports presented a national security threat to the United States, and imposed 25% and 10% duties, respectively. This step turns out to have affected steel and aluminum imported from India. In response, India drew up a list of goods for reciprocal tariffs, although New Delhi has held off applying the higher tariffs given ongoing trade negotiations.
In March, the Trump Administration issued a notification of intent to remove India from a trade-preference program known as the Generalized System of Preferences due to India’s failure to “provide equitable and reasonable access to its markets.” The mandatory 60-day notice period for this removal has elapsed, so the preference could be removed at any moment.
Temper expectations for liberalization
Returning to the Indian election verdict, the notion that Modi has now received a fillip from Indian voters for further reforms needs some nuance. It is not clear that voters’ preference for Modi and the BJP necessarily indicates interest in further trade liberalization. It may very well reflect entirely unrelated preferences on national security, or Hindu nationalism, or a sense that Modi is a strong leader, not corrupt and focused on enhancing prosperity. It may also reflect an understanding of “reform” as demonstrated through the many development projects and quality of life improvements that the Modi government has delivered for the country.
We may well see the new Modi government storm into its new term with a bang, tackling market access problems and liberalizing the economy further to boost economic growth. It could happen. But equally possible might be an approach that continues a focus on infrastructure, sanitation and other development projects necessary for improved prosperity but not necessarily keys to unlocking greater bilateral trade and investment.
In other words, a mandate for improved quality of life might not imply a mandate for further opening markets. It’s a distinction that matters, not least because expectations internationally might assume the latter.
Alyssa Ayres is senior fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations. She served as U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for South Asia from 2010 to 2013, and is the author of Our Time Has Come: How India is Making its Place in the World.
Germany’s military is investigating what information three Chinese reporters collected while Chancellor Angela Merkel visited a NATO unit, signaling heightened mistrust of the state-run Xinhua news agency.
The Xinhua reporters raised suspicion by filming military equipment and interviewing soldiers about their daily routines, according to a person familiar with the incident who asked not to be identified discussing security matters. They were accredited along with other journalists to enter the base and report on Merkel’s visit to the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force training area at Munster, Germany, on May 20.
A German intelligence official said Xinhua has been under observation for some time due to its links to China’s ruling Communist party. German intelligence views Xinhua reporters as feeding Chinese propaganda efforts and helping collect data and information abroad that’s subsequently put to official use, the official said.
A representative for Xinhua’s foreign affairs bureau said its reporters aren’t under investigation and were carrying out normal on-site interviews in Germany. Phone calls to China’s foreign ministry outside of business hours were unanswered, and there was no immediate reply to a fax seeking comment.
The U.S. government ordered Xinhua and broadcaster China Global Television last September to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. As a result, Xinhua is required in the U.S. to disclose activities and spending and to introduce disclaimers regarding its journalistic content.
Germany doesn’t have such a classification for media organizations, though reporters are liable to prosecution if they commit a crime.
(TOKYO) — President Donald Trump opened a state visit to Japan on Saturday by needling the country over its trade imbalance with the United States. “Maybe that’s why you like me so much,” he joshed.
Trump also promoted the U.S. under his leadership, saying “there’s never been a better time” to invest or do business in America, and he urged corporate leaders to come.
The president’s first event after arriving in Tokyo was a reception with several dozen Japanese and American business leaders at the U.S. ambassador’s residence. He said the two countries “are hard at work” negotiating a trade agreement .
“I would say that Japan has had a substantial edge for many, many years, but that’s OK,” Trump said, joking that “maybe that’s why you like me so much.”
His comments underscored the competing dynamics of a state visit designed to show off the long U.S.-Japan alliance and the close friendship between Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe even as trade tensions run high.
Trump landed from his overnight flight shortly after a magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck just south of Tokyo and rattled the city.
Abe has planned a largely ceremonial, four-day visit to suit Trump’s whims and ego. It’s part of Abe’s charm strategy that some analysts say has spared Japan from the full weight of Trump’s trade wrath.
Abe and Trump planned to play golf Sunday before Abe gives Trump the chance to present his “President’s Cup” trophy to the winner of a sumo wrestling championship match. The White House said the trophy is nearly 5 feet (1.5 meters) tall and weighs between 60 pounds and 70 pounds (27 kilograms and 32 kilograms).
On Monday, Trump will become the first head of state to meet Emperor Naruhito since he ascended to the throne this month.
“With all the countries of the world, I’m the guest of honor at the biggest event that they’ve had in over 200 years,” Trump said before the trip.
The president is threatening Japan with potentially devastating U.S. tariffs on foreign autos and auto parts. He has suggested he will go ahead with the trade penalties if U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer fails to win concessions from Japan and the European Union.
Trump had predicted that a U.S.-Japan trade deal could be finalized during his trip. But that’s unlikely given that the two sides are still figuring out the parameters of what they will negotiate.
He nonetheless portrayed the negotiations in a positive light in his remarks to the business group.
“With this deal we hope to address the trade imbalance, remove barriers to United States exports and ensure fairness and reciprocity in our relationship. And we’re getting closer,” Trump said. He also urged the business leaders to invest more in the U.S.
He praised the “very special” U.S.-Japan alliance that he said “has never been stronger, it’s never been more powerful, never been closer.”
Abe made a strategic decision before Trump was elected in November 2016 to focus on Japan’s relationship with the U.S.
Abe rushed to New York two weeks after that election to meet the president-elect at Trump Tower. Last month, Abe and his wife, Akie, celebrated first lady Melania Trump’s birthday during a White House dinner.
Abe and Trump are likely to meet for the third time in three months when Trump returns to Japan in late June for a summit of leading rich and developing nations.
Behind the smiles and personal friendship, however, there is deep uneasiness over Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on Japanese autos and auto parts on national security grounds. Such a move would be more devastating to the Japanese economy than earlier tariffs on steel and aluminum.
Trump recently agreed to a six-month delay, enough time to carry Abe past July’s Japanese parliamentary elections.
Also at issue is the lingering threat of North Korea, which has resumed missile testing and recently fired a series of short-range missiles that U.S. officials, including Trump, have tried to play down despite an agreement by the North to hold off on further testing.
Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton , told reporters Saturday before Trump arrived that the short-range missile tests were a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions and that sanctions must stay in place.
Bolton said Trump and Abe would “talk about making sure the integrity of the Security Council resolutions are maintained.”
It marked a change in tone from the view expressed by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a recent television interview. He said “the moratorium was focused, very focused, on intercontinental missile systems, the ones that threaten the United States.” That raised alarm bells in Japan, where short-range missiles pose a serious threat.
Bolton commented a day after North Korea’s official media said nuclear negotiations with Washington would not resume unless the U.S. abandoned what the North described as demands for unilateral disarmament.
(BEIJING) — The U.S. ambassador to China urged Beijing to engage in substantive dialogue with exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader the Dalai Lama during a visit to the Himalayan region over the past week, the U.S. Embassy said Saturday.
Terry Branstad also “expressed concerns regarding the Chinese government’s interference in Tibetan Buddhists’ freedom to organize and practice their religion,” an embassy statement said.
“He encouraged the Chinese government to engage in substantive dialogue with the Dalai Lama or his representatives, without preconditions, to seek a settlement that resolves differences,” it said.
Branstad also raised long-standing concerns about the lack of consistent access to the Tibetan Autonomous Region. The rare visit to the TAR and neighboring Qinghai province ran from Sunday through Saturday.
Hosted by the Tibet Autonomous Region government, Branstad was given access to important religious and cultural sites, including the Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple, Norbulingka, and Sera Monastery in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa. He also met with senior Tibetan religious and cultural leaders, the embassy said.
China tightly restricts access to Tibet by foreigners, especially journalists and diplomats. In response to those restrictions, the U.S. Congress last year passed an act that would deny entry to the United States for those involved in formulating or enforcing such policies.
There was no immediate response from Beijing, although Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang last week said China welcomed Branstad to witness the “earth-shaking changes in the people’s production and life since Tibet’s peaceful liberation more than 60 years ago.”
“I hope that this visit to Tibet can help Ambassador Branstad make a conclusion without prejudice in the spirit of respecting the facts … instead of being confused and disturbed by some long-standing hearsay and defamatory speeches,” Lu said at a regularly scheduled briefing.
China says Tibet has been part of its territory for centuries, but many Tibetans say they were effectively an independent nation for most of that time. Beijing’s control was most recently asserted when the Communist Party’s military wing, the People’s Liberation Army, invaded the region in 1950.
The Dalai Lama fled to India amid an abortive uprising against Chinese rule in 1959 and calls for genuine autonomy for Tibet under Chinese rule. Beijing labels the 83-year-old cleric a dangerous separatist, has refused contacts with his representatives for more than a decade and objects strongly to any meetings between him and foreign politicians.
In recent years there has been a significant tightening of control over Tibetan Buddhism, use of the Tibetan language and traditional cultural expression. Following anti-government protests in 2008, Beijing imposed a policy of “grid policing” that substantially reduces travel and social life for Tibetans, even while China ramps up domestic tourism in the region.
Those methods have been subsequently imposed in the neighboring region of Xinjiang, where an estimated 1 million members of its native Muslim ethnic groups have been confined to detention centers.
(VATICAN CITY) — Pope Francis said Saturday that abortion can never be condoned, even when the fetus is gravely sick or likely to die, and urged doctors and priests to support families to carry such pregnancies to term.
Speaking to a Vatican-sponsored anti-abortion conference, Francis said the opposition to abortion isn’t a religious issue but a human one.
“Is it licit to throw away a life to resolve a problem?” he asked. “Is it licit to hire a hitman to resolve a problem?”
Francis denounced decisions to abort based on prenatal testing, saying a human being is “never incompatible with life.”
Even those babies destined to die at birth or soon thereafter deserve to receive medical care in the womb, Francis said, adding that their parents need to be supported so they don’t feel isolated and afraid.
While one can argue about using medical resources this way, there is value to it for the parents, he said.
“Taking care of these children helps parents to grieve and not only think of it as a loss, but as a step on a path taken together,” Francis said.
Francis has spoken out strongly against abortion but also has expressed sympathy for women who have had them and made it easier for them to be absolved of the sin of abortion.
His comments come as the abortion debate is again making headlines in the U.S. with state initiatives seeking to restrict the procedure.
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PM Modi asks NDA MPs to work without discrimination, reach out to minorities In his over 75-minute address after being elected the leader of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, Modi said the massive mandate has multiplied responsibilities, and advised lawmakers on their public conduct, saying they should avoid speaking to the media for publicity and shun the "VIP culture".
Jaganmohan Reddy invites Telangana CM KCR to attend swearing-in ceremony The swearing-in ceremony would be held at Indira Gandhi Municipal Corporation stadium, Vijayawada, on May 30 at 12.23 PM, a Raj Bhavan communique said.
BJP mocks Mamata Banerjee#39;s offer to quit the CM post as #39;drama#39; Banerjee offered to quit as chief minister following her party#39;s drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls, but the TMC rejected it.
Hope Gautam Gambhir meets people on dusty roads, not cheat them by using duplicate: AAP "Gambhir was cheating (the) public (by) using his duplicate to campaign in (the) hot afternoon while he was sitting in an air-conditioned car. The public will forgive him if he himself meets people on dusty and sunny roads of Delhi."
2019 mandate liberated India from ailments of dynasty, casteism and appeasement: Amit Shah Addressing the NDA parliamentary party meeting where Narendra Modi was formally elected as the leader of the alliance, Shah said Modi has been elected for a second term because he governed the country by rising above vote-bank politics.
India is not Hindi speaking states alone: MK Stalin Buoyed by his party#39;s performance in the Lok Sabha election, the Dravidian party chief for the first time said his party would take the initiative to oppose the BJP -albeit without naming it explicitly- in other states by working with outfits in those regions.
Mamata Banerjee revamps party organisation to counter BJP#39;s rise The Trinamool Congress also clipped the wings of her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, considered number two in the party. All the districts under him where the BJP has won have been taken away and given to other leaders.
Narendra Modi appointed as PM-elect The outgoing Union council of ministers had tendered its resignation on Friday night and Kovind had asked Modi to continue as caretaker PM.
President Kovind asks PM Modi to decide council of ministers, date of swearing-in ceremony Kovind requested Modi to advise him about the names of others to be appointed members of the Union Council of Ministers; and indicate the date and time of the swearing-in ceremony to be held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Surat Coaching Centre Fire: Delhi fire dept to conduct audit of coaching institutes in national capital Earlier on Friday, a massive fire engulfed a four-storey commercial complex in Gujarat#39;s Surat, killing at least 22 teenage students at a coaching centre, many of whom jumped and fell to their deaths while some were suffocated, officials said.
Telangana government releases draft block-chain policy The main features of the policy include how to attract firms working on block-chain to Telangana, encouraging start-ups in block-chain in the state and the technology#39;s use in government processes wherever there was scope, he said.
Hollywood scores over Bollywood again, Aladdin opens stronger than Modi biopic Aladdin has all elements to draw large audiences to theatres with the film having Bollywood style dance sequences, something that is very hard to find in Hollywood productions
Gujarat Congress dubs Surat fire incident as murder, asks CM Vijay Rupani to quit Congress leader Hardik Patel too termed the incident as "murder" and demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.
We will now begin a new journey to build a new India: PM Modi In his over 75-minute address after being elected the leader of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, Modi also stressed on the need to win over the trust of minorities, saying they were made to live in "fear" and "exploited" during elections for vote-bank politics, apparently a dig at the opposition parties.
A day after being appointed prime minister for a second term, Narendra Modi on Sunday called on Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu. Sources described it Source: BHT
Seven of the 10 most valued Indian firms together added ₹1.42 lakh crore in market valuation last week, propelled by a broad rally in the equity mark Source: BHT
Infrastructure major Larsen and Toubro (L&T) has raised its stake in IT firm Mindtree by about 2 per cent between May 20-24 by picking up shares Source: BHT
The Telangana government has released a draft block-chain policy under the overall IT policy, focussing on attracting firms and encouraging startups Source: BHT