A lack of progress with secondary prevention, in terms of skin cancer screening and early detection, is a concern and a source of some disappointment among the dermatologist community.1,2 Early detection and treatment of melanoma is critical to maximise survival.3,4 Nevertheless, recently and for a second time the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) found insufficient evidence to recommend visual screening of adults for skin cancer following a systematic review.1,5 Where does this leave us? It may feel like some kind of impasse, but it has been suggested that perhaps we simply need to shift our focus from secondary to primary prevention.1

Visitors to the Dubai World Trade Centre's five-day event were surprised to learn just how far cognitive reasoning, natural-language processing and bot AI have come, as they wandered through specially constructed Experience Zones at Microsoft's stand. Dubai Bot, a showcase demo developed by Microsoft Gulf, acts as a virtual tour guide for visitors to the emirate, giving them an AI source for all their travel needs. It can suggest restaurants and entertainment venues; museums and beaches; and ideal attractions for children, parents or the lone traveller. The bot also helps with the more formal aspects of travel, such as booking a taxi, advising on use of the Metro or giving up-to-the-second updates on currency exchange rates. All of this interaction is based on the bot's knowledge of the user's circumstances, such as their length of stay, age and whether they are travelling alone or in company.

Major technology firms are racing to infuse smartphones and other internet-linked devices with AI software that help them think like people. Other than Amazon and Google, here are some other digital assistants on the market for both home and away. The South Korean electronics giant may be under fire for its faulty Note 7s, but it's hard at work to push for new tech, including purchasing the US start-up Viv Labs, launched by the creators of Apple's Siri. Samsung says the acquisition announced this month is part of its effort to provide AI-based voice assistance services its customers can use across all Samsung devices and products, from smartphones to televisions to washing machines. Apple's next challenge is to make Siri smarter as it plays catch-up with rivals' artificial intelligence Samsung is the world's leading maker of smartphones powered by Google's Android software, but also has its own Tizen mobile operating system, so how it may field its own virtual assistant technology remains to be seen.

In his first trip to Japan as Apple CEO, Tim Cook painted a grand future for the artificial intelligence that will soon be developed in the company's Yokohama facility, telling Nikkei it will be "horizontal in nature, running across all products." Cook said new AI developments will transform the way people use their phones "in ways that most people don't even think about," helping with everything from increasing battery life in iPhones, to locating cars in a crowded parking lot. Cook sees an "incredible future ahead" as the smartphone industry matures, and other smart devices expand into new business and medical uses. In addition to Apple's opening its new Yokohama research and development center later this year, the company has partnered with IBM and Japan Post Holdings to develop iPad-based health care services for the elderly, with Cook pointing out that Japan's rapidly aging population put the country in the "best position to lead" in that area of innovation. The company has also strengthened its ties to Japan by including the country's Felica mobile payment standard in the iPhone 7, paving the way for expanding Apple Pay into Japan.

Amid Syria's five-year-old civil war and Iraq's push to expel the Islamic State group from its major cities, President Barack Obama has quietly reneged on promises of "no boots on the ground" in recent years. But another American ground battle lingers just outside of the spotlight, in Somalia. A campaign involving private contractors, drone strikes and up to 300 U.S. Special Operations troops against the al Qaeda offshoot group al-Shabab has been escalating there over the past year, the New York Times reported Sunday, citing "senior American military officials." Operations in the country, located in the eastern "Horn of Africa," are expected to expand, according to the Times, on top of efforts that have involved the Navy's SEAL Team 6, weekly raids with troops from nearby Kenya and Uganda and interrogation of prisoners. The American use of force there hasn't exactly been welcome. At the end of September, for instance, Somalia's Security Minister Osman Issa accused the U.S. of killing 22 Somali soldiers in an airstrike, the result of bad intelligence information.

Welcome to California Inc., the weekly newsletter of the L.A. Times Business Section. It's earnings season, so all eyes are on corporate balance sheets. Last week, big banks reported solid numbers, with JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Wells Fargo each posting profit and sales numbers that exceeded analyst expectations. However, Wells said its third-quarter profit slipped 3% from a year earlier as the company tries to recover from that bogus-accounts scandal. Checking out China: Wang Jianlin, chairman of China's Dalian Wanda Group, will speak Monday night at LACMA on "Navigating Business in China."

Toyota Motor and Suzuki, citing the major changes faced by the global auto industry and the need to bundle industry-wide R&D resources, said they are exploring a business partnership. The two automakers provided little detail on the nature of their talks, but said in a press release that, next to traditional areas of R&D focus, it is increasingly important to work together with other companies on areas such as infrastructure development, as well as the establishment of new industrial standards. Toyota is the worlds biggest automotive group, with a presence in virtually all car segments. Suzuki is much smaller but has a strong position in small cars, especially in Japan and India. It has a dominant share of the rapidly expanding Indian market through a partnership with local producer Maruti.

Donald Trump could be planning to launch a TV station soon after the election, according to new reports. Some have suggested that Mr Trump's plan for Trump TV might be his way of seizing on the fans he has cultivated as part of his election campaign. Mr Trump's campaign may even be partly motivated by a potential plan to establish a media empire, others have said. Mr Trump's son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner has approached the head of LionTree, an investment bank experienced in media deals, according to the Financial Times. The conversation was brief and hasn't moved on since they spoke in the last couple of months, the paper reported, but Mr Kushner may have consulted with other people in the time since.

Nestled in the heart of a historic city centre, this is Amazon's secret lab where it is building and testing drones that aim to deliver packages to customer's homes within just 30 minutes. The workshop, hidden in Cambridge city centre away from the public's eyes, is one of the main hubs where the online retail giant is developing its new Prime Air Service. Once launched, the service will allow drones to safely deliver packages to people's homes in under 30 minutes. The secret workshop is nestled in the heart of Cambridge city centre - unbeknownst to the general public - and it is the base where Amazon is creating special drones (above) that will safely deliver packages to customer's homes in under 30 minutes The lab is using 3D printing technology which allows it to make parts needed for the drone much quicker. It is the largest outdoor testing facility in the UK and is one of a number of testing sites in the UK along with those in Austria, Israel and U.S. The drones - created for Amazon's Prime Air Service - will use GPS coordinates to find their delivery destination and will fly to a maximum height of 400ft before identifying a marker to land and deliver the package using a'sense and avoid' system Packages that weigh just over 2kg - which make up 87 per cent of the items Amazon sells - will be delivered as far as 15 miles.

In 2013, a new dating app called Hinge was launched, which like Tinder, used the swiping feature. But while users were swiping a lot, the app found that only 15 per cent of matches were turning into conversations. To get millennials talking again, Hinge has re-launched a new version of the app, which replaces swiping with the ability to like and comment on other users' pictures, in the hope of sparking conversation. Hinge has re-launched a new version of the app, which replaces swiping with the ability to like and comment on other users' pictures, in the hopes of sparking conversation Rather than swiping through profiles, users can now interact by commenting on each others' photos, or responding to their'story card' – which contain information such as favourite music, and life goals. Unlike other swipe apps, where two users have to like each other to interact, users have the freedom to comment or like any other user's page.