The United States has tested a "swarm" of micro-drones - possibly previewing the future development of intelligent, autonomous weapons systems.
Just over 100 Perdix micro-drones were dropped from three F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets over California in October.
The idea is that in future, groups of the small, 16cm machines may be able to overwhelm opponents' defences with sheer numbers.
While they would act together under human direction, they appear to be able to think for themselves.
"The micro-drones demonstrated advanced swarm behaviors such as collective decision-making, adaptive formation flying and self-healing," the Pentagon said.
The test confirmed the drones' reliability under potential deployment conditions - such as speeds of Mach 0.6, and a temperature of -10C.
William Roper, director of the Pentagon's Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO), said: "Perdix are not pre-programmed synchronized individuals.
"They are a collective organism, sharing one distributed brain for decision-making and adapting to each other like swarms in nature."
He added: "Because every Perdix communicates and collaborates with every other Perdix, the swarm has no leader and can gracefully adapt to drones entering or exiting the team."
But Mr Roper said humans would always be involved, while the technology would empower people to make better decisions more quickly.
Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, who created the SCO in 2012, said: "This is the kind of cutting-edge innovation that will keep us a step ahead of our adversaries.
"This demonstration will advance our development of autonomous systems."
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof sentenced to death
Dylann Roof, who shot dead nine black churchgoers who had invited him in to worship with them, has been sentenced to death in South Carolina.
The 22-year-old becomes the first person in the US to be given the federal death penalty for hate crimes.
Roof picked out Charleston's Emanuel AME Church, the South's oldest black church, to target his victims on 17 June, 2015.
It is understood they smiled as they welcomed him in to spend time with them studying the Bible.
About 45 minutes into the study session, as the group closed their eyes to pray, he began firing the Glock .45 he had been carrying.
The 22-year-old becomes the first person in the US to be given the federal death penalty for hate crimes.
Roof picked out Charleston's Emanuel AME Church, the South's oldest black church, to target his victims on 17 June, 2015.
It is understood they smiled as they welcomed him in to spend time with them studying the Bible.
About 45 minutes into the study session, as the group closed their eyes to pray, he began firing the Glock .45 he had been carrying.
Trump's Attorney General nominee denies Ku Klux Klan support
Donald Trump's nominee for Attorney General has been forced to deny he has sympathies for the Ku Klux Klan, describing its ideology as "hateful".
It has been alleged Jeff Sessions once supported the white supremacist group and that he once called a black lawyer "boy".
But he told his confirmation hearing: "As to the KKK, I invited civil rights attorneys from Washington DC to help us solve a very difficult investigation into the... horrendous death of an African American... simply because he was black.
"I actively backed the attorneys throughout that case and they broke that case.... That murdering Klansman was indeed executed.
"I abhor the Klan and what it represents and its hateful ideology."
It has been alleged Jeff Sessions once supported the white supremacist group and that he once called a black lawyer "boy".
But he told his confirmation hearing: "As to the KKK, I invited civil rights attorneys from Washington DC to help us solve a very difficult investigation into the... horrendous death of an African American... simply because he was black.
"I actively backed the attorneys throughout that case and they broke that case.... That murdering Klansman was indeed executed.
"I abhor the Klan and what it represents and its hateful ideology."
Clare Hollingworth: Reporter who broke news of start of WWII dies
Journalist Clare Hollingworth, who broke the news that the Second World War had started, has died at the age of 105.
She was just three days into her first journalism job in August 1939 when she saw hundreds of German tanks preparing to roll into Poland.
The rookie reporter for the Daily Telegraph, who was 27 at the time, scooped the world with her story.
The Daily Telegraph's "scoop of the century", which ran without a byline, was headlined "1,000 tanks massed on Polish border. Ten divisions reported ready for swift strike".
She said the British embassy in Warsaw did not believe her story and she was forced to hold her telephone receiver out of her hotel window in Katowice so the diplomat could hear the German tanks for himself.
She was just three days into her first journalism job in August 1939 when she saw hundreds of German tanks preparing to roll into Poland.
The rookie reporter for the Daily Telegraph, who was 27 at the time, scooped the world with her story.
The Daily Telegraph's "scoop of the century", which ran without a byline, was headlined "1,000 tanks massed on Polish border. Ten divisions reported ready for swift strike".
She said the British embassy in Warsaw did not believe her story and she was forced to hold her telephone receiver out of her hotel window in Katowice so the diplomat could hear the German tanks for himself.
Carrie Fisher's death confirmed as cardiac arrest, but more tests needed
The cause of Carrie Fisher's has been confirmed as a cardiac arrest, but officials say more investigation is needed to determine the underlying cause.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health issued the death certificate for the star on Tuesday, listing the cause of death as "cardiac arrest/ deferred".
This indicates that more investigation is needed by the county coroner, usually in the form of toxicology tests that can take several weeks to complete.
Listed as the notifying party is the actress and writer's daughter Billie Lourd.
The death certificate lists Fisher's occupation as a writer, since it was as a novelist that she spent most her life.
But it was for her role as Princess Leia in the Star Wars franchise that she was best known for.
Fisher had been promoting her latest book, The Princess Diarist, when she suffered a cardiac arrest on a flight from London to Los Angeles.
She died four days later, aged 60, at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.
Her mother, actress Debbie Reynolds, died the following day.
The two actresses had a joint, private memorial service last week.
Fisher's ashes were carried to the funeral by her brother inside a giant Prozac pill urn.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health issued the death certificate for the star on Tuesday, listing the cause of death as "cardiac arrest/ deferred".
This indicates that more investigation is needed by the county coroner, usually in the form of toxicology tests that can take several weeks to complete.
Listed as the notifying party is the actress and writer's daughter Billie Lourd.
The death certificate lists Fisher's occupation as a writer, since it was as a novelist that she spent most her life.
But it was for her role as Princess Leia in the Star Wars franchise that she was best known for.
Fisher had been promoting her latest book, The Princess Diarist, when she suffered a cardiac arrest on a flight from London to Los Angeles.
She died four days later, aged 60, at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.
Her mother, actress Debbie Reynolds, died the following day.
The two actresses had a joint, private memorial service last week.
Fisher's ashes were carried to the funeral by her brother inside a giant Prozac pill urn.
Church and Ferguson refuse 'tyrant' Trump's inauguration invitation
Singer Charlotte Church and former X Factor star Rebecca Ferguson have both turned down invitations from Donald Trump to perform at his inauguration.
Church claimed she had been approached by members of the President-elect's team on Twitter.
In a post directed to the billionaire, the singer wrote: "Your staff have asked me to sing at your inauguration, a simple internet search would show I think you're a tyrant."
Earlier this month, former X Factor runner-up Ferguson announced she had been approached by the President-elect, and said she would "graciously accept" the invitation as long as she could use the platform as "a reminder of how love is the only thing that will conquer all the hatred in this world".
She said she would perform at the ceremony in Washington DC on 20 January if she could sing protest song Strange Fruit.
But on Tuesday, she issued a statement saying she "wasn't comfortable with the song choice made on my behalf".
She added: "As a mother and an artist, I had to defend my stance. That is why I made the decision to sing Strange Fruit when I was invited."
Strange Fruit is a controversial 1930s Billie Holliday protest song associated with the civil rights movement.
"I felt it was the only song that would not compromise my artistic integrity," Ferguson said.
It is unclear from the statement if the singer was in fact denied the right to choose the song.
"There are many grey areas about the offer for me to perform that I'm unable to share right now," she said. "But I will not be singing."
DJ Moby also revealed he had been asked to perform.
Posting on his Instagram page, he said he was "laughing" at the invite and would DJ at the inaugural ball "if as payment Trump released his tax returns".
Church claimed she had been approached by members of the President-elect's team on Twitter.
In a post directed to the billionaire, the singer wrote: "Your staff have asked me to sing at your inauguration, a simple internet search would show I think you're a tyrant."
Earlier this month, former X Factor runner-up Ferguson announced she had been approached by the President-elect, and said she would "graciously accept" the invitation as long as she could use the platform as "a reminder of how love is the only thing that will conquer all the hatred in this world".
She said she would perform at the ceremony in Washington DC on 20 January if she could sing protest song Strange Fruit.
But on Tuesday, she issued a statement saying she "wasn't comfortable with the song choice made on my behalf".
She added: "As a mother and an artist, I had to defend my stance. That is why I made the decision to sing Strange Fruit when I was invited."
Strange Fruit is a controversial 1930s Billie Holliday protest song associated with the civil rights movement.
"I felt it was the only song that would not compromise my artistic integrity," Ferguson said.
It is unclear from the statement if the singer was in fact denied the right to choose the song.
"There are many grey areas about the offer for me to perform that I'm unable to share right now," she said. "But I will not be singing."
DJ Moby also revealed he had been asked to perform.
Posting on his Instagram page, he said he was "laughing" at the invite and would DJ at the inaugural ball "if as payment Trump released his tax returns".
Jammeh's Gambia election challenge postponed until May
The Gambia's Supreme Court is unable to hear the petition seeking to annul last month's election until May, chief justice Emmanuel Fagbenle says.
The Nigerian judge due to oversee the seven-member panel was not available till then, he said.
Longstanding ruler President Yahya Jammeh, 51, initially accepted defeat but later rejected the result.
It is not yet clear what will happen after Mr Jammeh's term ends on 18 January.
The Nigerian judge due to oversee the seven-member panel was not available till then, he said.
Longstanding ruler President Yahya Jammeh, 51, initially accepted defeat but later rejected the result.
It is not yet clear what will happen after Mr Jammeh's term ends on 18 January.
President-elect Adama Barrow is due to be inaugurated the following day. But Mr Jammeh has said he will not step down and he has the support of the head of the army.
West African leaders, led by Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari, are due in the capital, Banjul, on Wednesday in a last-ditch diplomatic effort to resolve the crisis.
But Mr Jammeh has rebuffed their attempts, saying they have no right to interfere.
Mr Jammeh lodged a case before the Supreme Court after the electoral commission changed some results.
The commission insists the outcome was not affected by an initial error and property developer Mr Barrow defeated Mr Jammeh.
The Supreme Court hearing had already been delayed once because of a shortage of sitting judges, and other judges from neighbouring countries have since been appointed.
But the Nigerian who was to act as the president of the court - Onogeme Uduma - is fully booked until May.
Meanwhile, one of Mr Jammeh's top ministers, Sheriff Bojang, who has just resigned in protest over the president's refusal to accept defeat, urged him to drop the petition.
"The current attempts while appearing to have a veneer of constitutionalism are in fact an attempt to subvert the express will of the Gambian electorate," the former information minister said in a statement.
He urged Mr Jammeh and his cabinet colleagues "to look into their conscience and take the right decision within the most reasonable time for the present and future of our vulnerable little Gambia".
Of his own defection after two years of acting as a mouthpiece for Mr Jammeh's government, Mr Bojang said: "It is never too late to do the right thing."
Gambian state TV said Mr Bojang had been sacked.
The Gambia, a popular tourist destination, has not had a smooth transfer of power since independence from Britain in 1965.
Mr Jammeh seized power in the tiny country in 1994 and has been accused of human rights abuses, although he has held regular elections.
According to the electoral commission's final count:
Mr Barrow won 222,708 votes (43.3%)
President Jammeh took 208,487 (39.6%)
A third-party candidate, Mama Kandeh, won 89,768 (17.1%)
Results were revised by the electoral commission on 5 December, when it emerged that the ballots for one area had been added incorrectly.
West African leaders, led by Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari, are due in the capital, Banjul, on Wednesday in a last-ditch diplomatic effort to resolve the crisis.
But Mr Jammeh has rebuffed their attempts, saying they have no right to interfere.
Mr Jammeh lodged a case before the Supreme Court after the electoral commission changed some results.
The commission insists the outcome was not affected by an initial error and property developer Mr Barrow defeated Mr Jammeh.
The Supreme Court hearing had already been delayed once because of a shortage of sitting judges, and other judges from neighbouring countries have since been appointed.
But the Nigerian who was to act as the president of the court - Onogeme Uduma - is fully booked until May.
Meanwhile, one of Mr Jammeh's top ministers, Sheriff Bojang, who has just resigned in protest over the president's refusal to accept defeat, urged him to drop the petition.
"The current attempts while appearing to have a veneer of constitutionalism are in fact an attempt to subvert the express will of the Gambian electorate," the former information minister said in a statement.
He urged Mr Jammeh and his cabinet colleagues "to look into their conscience and take the right decision within the most reasonable time for the present and future of our vulnerable little Gambia".
Of his own defection after two years of acting as a mouthpiece for Mr Jammeh's government, Mr Bojang said: "It is never too late to do the right thing."
Gambian state TV said Mr Bojang had been sacked.
The Gambia, a popular tourist destination, has not had a smooth transfer of power since independence from Britain in 1965.
Mr Jammeh seized power in the tiny country in 1994 and has been accused of human rights abuses, although he has held regular elections.
According to the electoral commission's final count:
Mr Barrow won 222,708 votes (43.3%)
President Jammeh took 208,487 (39.6%)
A third-party candidate, Mama Kandeh, won 89,768 (17.1%)
Results were revised by the electoral commission on 5 December, when it emerged that the ballots for one area had been added incorrectly.
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