MOSCOW – Russia said Tuesday that a recent series of drone attacks on its military bases in Syria would have required assistance from a country possessing satellite navigation technology -- a statement that appeared to be aimed at the United States. Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces repelled a series of drone attacks Saturday on the Hemeimeem air base and a naval facility in Tartus, adding that out of the 13 drones involved, seven were shot down and six were forced to land without inflicting any damage. Without blaming any specific country, the ministry said data for the attacks could only have been obtained "from one of the countries that possesses know-how in satellite navigation." In Tuesday's statement, it noted a "strange coincidence" of a U.S. military intelligence plane flying over the Mediterranean near the two Russian bases at the moment of the attack. The Pentagon denied any involvement.

IBM gained 1,400 patents in artificial intelligence during 2017. A cyber attack is every CTO's worst phobia, and no company could be more acutely aware of security breaches this week than IBM. Amid the chaos of worse-than-expected Intel vulnerabilities – for which IBM will release firmware updates on Tuesday – the US conglomerate has surpassed its record for the number of patents granted in a year. Despite Spectre and Meltdown woes from Intel, IBM inventors obtained 9,043 patents in 2017, more than any other company in the US for the 25th year in a row. Cybersecurity experts at the firm were granted 1,200 patents last year, including one programme which uses AI bots to bait hackers into email exchanges and websites which expend criminal resources and ultimately frustrate scams.

Concerns have been raised about a set of late stage government amendments inserted into the UK's draft data protection bill. The clauses deal with the processing of public sector data. Health data privacy advocacy group MedConfidential believes ministers are trying to sneak in a data protection law carveout, in order to hand politicians the power to judge the ethics of -- for example -- applying AI to taxpayer-funded medical data-sets. Thus far, the Data Protection Bill 2017, which is intended to align domestic rules with the incoming EU General Data Protection Regulation -- and generally gives consumers more control over how their data is used -- has attracted limited controversy. Although some privacy groups argue the government is not going far enough on data redress powers. But if complex and impactful ethical judgments about how to process sensitive public sector data are to be nakedly conjoined to political interests that would indeed be a major cause for alarm.

Mevlut Cavusoglu's comments came a day after Syrian government forces captured 14 villages as they advanced on Idlib, the largest rebel-held enclave in the country's north, amid a wave of airstrikes. The troops aim to reach a rebel-held air base and secure the road linking the capital, Damascus, with the northern city of Aleppo, Syria's largest.

Maybe you've read the statistics on how many drones are filling our skies: The FAA anticipates 7 million by 2020. Perhaps you've heard about how drones are revolutionizing commercial operations. It's possible you know someone who has a drone of their own, or seen a quadcopter hovering over your local park. The reality is there's no shortage of drones filling our homes, stores, skies, and seas. It should come as no surprise that the technology is steadily making its way into our media.

Ta-da! TD Bank is making its intentions clear with the acquisition of Toronto-based artificial intelligence (AI) company Layer 6. Layer 6 provides an AI-powered prediction engine for enterprise data. Its founders Tomi Poutanen and Jordan Jacobs are also co-founders of the Vector Institute, an AI research and education firm that TD also supports. Vector launched last year with $230 million of backing from over 30 companies including the governments of Canada and Ontario. Michael Rhodes, group head, innovation, technology and shared services, TD Bank, says AI has the "potential to power a new generation of data-driven applications from personalised and real-time advice to predictive analytics that will shape the future of banking for millions of individuals". Financial details were not disclosed, but TD says the acquisition is "not expected to have a meaningful impact" on its common equity tier 1 capital ratio.

We puny humans can be depressingly fragile and flawed, a realization that's all the more discouraging when we consider the incredible potential for robots. Here are 12 reasons why machines will always have the edge over us meatbags. Before we get started, it's important to point out that I took a normative approach to this analysis. For the sake of simplicity, I assumed a sort of status quo among humans, one in which our future selves and descendants have opted out of enhancement technologies. Clearly, should we take the transhuman path to the future, our technologically enhanced minds and bodies would better match those of robots.

Now that the big press conferences are over, the CES show floor will open today. Before we dive into the mess of gadgets and people, however, you should check out these highlights. Dude, where's my spy satellite?Top-secret Zuma payload believed lost On Sunday, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket with a top-secret US Government payload aboard. While we still don't know exactly what the Zuma mission was supposed to do, the Wall Street Journal reports that its payload didn't separate from the rocket's second stage and tumbled back to Earth. Look at those cute OLED eyes.Sony Aibo 2018: old robot dog, new tricks Dogs may be man's best friend, but Aibo won't be yours unless you give it some love -- no matter how much you paid for it.

FDA requires that all computer systems used to produce, manage and report on GxP (GMP, GLC, GCP) related products be validated and maintained in accordance with specific rules. This webinar will leave you with the information needed to plan, execute and document a computer system validation effort that meets FDA compliance standards. You'll learn about the various computer system validation deliverables and how to document them through the entire process. You will learn about what must be done to ensure the system remains in a validated state. In addition, you'll learn all about how to create and maintain good FDA-compliant documentation using a strategic approach based on the System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) Methodology.

LAS VEGAS – The smartphones and other small machines that used to dominate the annual Consumer Electronics Show have been overshadowed in recent years by bigger mobile devices: namely, automobiles. Major automakers like Toyota, Kia, Hyundai and Ford have a noticeable presence at this week's tech showcase in Las Vegas, though most save more practical announcements about new cars, trucks and SUVs for the upcoming Detroit auto show. CES has been a chance for carmakers and suppliers of automotive parts and software to display their wilder and far-out ideas. A Chinese company, Byton, has unveiled an attention-grabbing concept electric SUV with futuristic features. Nvidia announced it's teaming up to help Uber develop self-driving taxis.