It has emerged that a US hedge-fund billionaire who helped finance Donald Trump's presidential campaign reportedly played a key role in the campaign for Britain to leave the European union. Robert Mercer, co-owner of news organisation Breitbart allegedly directed his data-analytics firm Cambridge Analytica to provide expert advice to Britain's Leave campaign. Cambridge Analytica, an offshoot of British company SCL Group, uses'cutting-edge technology' to build what it calls intimate psychometric profiles of voters to find and target their emotional triggers. The company has 25 years' experience in military and election management campaigns. This Sunday (26/02), it was revealed that the Mercer introduced the firm to Leave campaigner and former UKIP leader Nigel Farage.

Matthew Wojciechowski, a fit and healthy retired U.S. Navy SEAL, was working as a contractor for the CIA's Global Response Staff in a Middle East outpost. Suddenly on Dec. 21, 2011, he was struck with crippling chest pain and was soon shaking violently. "I felt like I was going to die, and as an American citizen, I was trying to get some help," he told Fox News. "But was told because I was a contractor I was under a different set of rules for care." So instead of being examined by a U.S. medical professional at the consulate, Wojciechowski said he was shocked that he was sent to a local hospital – and seen by a doctor who did not speak English – who misdiagnosed him simply as having heartburn.

The United States Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, said in a statement that it wanted to keep the focus on fighting the Islamic State and was not looking for a confrontation with the Assad government -- or with the Russian and Iranian-backed forces that are supporting it. "The coalition does not seek to fight Syrian regime, Russian or pro-regime forces partnered with them. To protect the garrison at al-Tanf, the United States has warned Iranian-backed militias and Syrian forces to stay out of the "deconfliction" zone it has declared around the base. On June 6, the American-led coalition again bombed Iranian-backed fighters that ventured inside of the restricted area.

As every scrap of James Comey's testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee is pored over and picked apart, one word gleams brighter than any other. It is a common word, employable as both a noun and a verb, and it boasts an extraordinary breadth. We may say, "I hope to catch the 6:42 A.M.," or "I hope the kids don't catch a cold," and, at the other end of the spectrum, Christians are exhorted to pray "for all who have died in the hope of the Resurrection." So where do the hopes that Comey cited yesterday, in his own utterances and in his reports of others' speech, belong? First, we have his homely dictum, which is already destined to wind up on a thousand T-shirts, or in the chorus of a country ballad: "Lordy, I hope there are tapes."

This story was originally published on flyingmag.com The Wild West of drone regulation as we know it may soon cease to exist. If lawmakers have their way, state and local governments--including Native American tribal authorities--could soon have the power to regulate the use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems as they see fit. At least, that's what a group of Democratic and Republican members of Congress are pitching as the Drone Federalism Act. The biggest takeaway from the bill is a provision that allows state, local and Native American tribal authorities to regulate how hobbyists and businesses can operate their drones below 200 feet and within 200 feet of a structure, with the option to seek assistance from the FAA. "State, local, and tribal governments have a legitimate interest in protecting public safety and privacy from the misuse of drones," Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein said in a statement.

In his keynote address at the first-ever United Nations "AI for Good Global Summit" in Geneva, Audi CEO Prof. Rupert Stadler warned his audience that despite its revolutionary potential, particularly in areas such as automated driving, artificial intelligence needs to be treated with care and without unreal expectations. "How artificial intelligence changes our lives is something that depends on all of us and on the way in which we use the potential of the new technologies," said Prof. Stadler at the start of the three-day event that will hear from leading AI experts and practitioners across numerous industries. Alongside Audi's chairman and CEO, UN delegates will hear from Peter Norvig, Google's director of research, Microsoft's head of AI, Peter Lee, representatives from Facebook, IBM and many of the world's leading universities, plus António Guterres, UN Secretary-General of the United Nations, who is attending via video link. "The time has arrived for all of us -- governments, industry and civil society -- to consider how AI will affect our future. The AI for Good Global Summit represents the beginnings of our efforts to ensure that AI charts a course that will benefit all humanity," said Guterres. One of the first tangible examples of AI in action for the global population will be the brains behind fully autonomous vehicles, the first of which are destined to arrive within the next five years.

Editor's Note: This story was originally published on May 9, 2017. It has been updated to reflect developments including Uber's firing of 20 employees following an internal investigation into its corporate culture, as well as self-driving engineer Anthony Levandowski. If you haven't heard (maybe you've been toiling in Elon's tunnels?), Uber has had a rough start to 2017. The Department of Justice has launched a criminal probe into the company's use of "Greyball," a system it used to identify regulatory officials and block them from booking rides. In January, it lost riders who objected to CEO Travis Kalanick's (soon abandoned) seat on President Trump's economic council.

Yasmin Green leads a team at Google's parent company with an audacious goal: solving the thorniest geopolitical problems that emerge online. Jigsaw, where she is the head of research and development, is a think tank within Alphabet tasked with fighting the unintended unsavory consequences of technological progress. That means listening to fake news creators, jihadis, and cyber bullies so that she and her team can understand their motivations, processes, and goals. "We look at censorship, cybersecurity, cyberattacks, ISIS--everything the creators of the internet did not imagine the internet would be used for," Green said today at WIRED's 2017 Business Conference in New York. Last week, Green traveled to Macedonia to meet with peddlers of fake news, those click-hungry opportunists who had such a sway over the 2016 presidential election in the US.

I recently spent a week in Toronto and Montreal working with new startups and can't believe the passion and energy I felt there. The DNA of Canadian entrepreneurs is charged with technical competency, commitment to creating value and a drive to make a difference. Unfortunately the Canadian startup scene has been plagued with a lack of investment dollars and experience, resulting in few mergers and acquisitions and major IPOs. The conditions to create the next unicorn have never been met. Canada, a place where education in subjects like math has always been strong, hasn't seen the startup success of other countries.

Artificial intelligence poses more of a threat to Millennial careers than to the older generations'. Research released by Gallup on Thursday indicates a collision between technology and "business as usual" is coming soon, and the fallout will be ugly, especially for Millennials. Automation and artificial intelligence (AI) are among the most disruptive forces descending upon the workplace, says the Gallup report, and 37% of Millennials "are at high risk of having their job replaced by automation, compared with 32% of those in the two older generations." The discrepancy is because it's more likely that older, more experienced workers are generally the ones holding leadership and management positions, or jobs that require discretion and more complex problem solving, says Glassdoor.com's It's easier to replace workers early in their careers because they haven't accumulated as many job skills and the work is simple enough for AI or automation to take over.