WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump has given the Central Intelligence Agency secret new authority to conduct drone strikes against suspected terrorists, U.S. officials said, changing the Obama administration's policy of limiting the spy agency's paramilitary role and reopening a turf war between the agency and the Pentagon. The new authority, which hadn't been previously disclosed, represents a significant departure from a cooperative approach that had become standard practice by the end of former President Barack Obama's tenure: The CIA used drones and other intelligence resources to locate suspected terrorists and then the military conducted the actual strike. The U.S. drone strike that killed Taliban leader Mullah Mansour in May 2016 in Pakistan was the best example of that hybrid approach, U.S. officials said. The Obama administration put the military in charge of pulling the trigger to promote transparency and accountability. The CIA, which operates under covert authorities, wasn't required to disclose the number of suspected terrorists or civilian bystanders it killed in drone strikes.

Shifting from the drone policy of the Obama administration, President Donald Trump has given the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) new authority to conduct drone attacks against suspected militants, anonymous U.S. officials said. The new policy is in contrast to that of former President Barack Obama that limited the CIA's paramilitary role, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday. Under the Obama administration, the CIA used drones and other intelligence resources to locate suspected terrorists and then the military conducted the actual strike. Although Obama pushed for the use of drones, he kept the military in place to conduct the actual strike. During Obama's two terms, a total of 563 strikes, largely by drones, targeted Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen compared to 57 strikes under George W. Bush, according to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

Iran deployed a jamming tool that is capable of cutting electronic connection of a drone from its command pilot and use the unmanned aerial vehicle against its operator, reports said Sunday. This comes as the U.S. military often uses several drones to counter the Islamic State group militants in Iraq and Syria. "The device, which resembles a rifle, is capable of locking onto a drone and jamming its communications. Once the device locks onto a drone, its operator is no longer in control. It is also reported that it has hacking capabilities, potentially rerouting a targeted drone. Additionally, its hacking abilities may allow the device user to safely land a drone," according to an analysis provided by the Army's Foreign Military Studies Office at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, the Washington Times reported.

WASHINGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump has given the Central Intelligence Agency new authority to conduct drone attacks against suspected militants, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday, citing U.S. officials. The move would be a change from the policy of former President Barack Obama's administration of limiting the CIA's paramilitary role, the newspaper reported. The White House, the U.S. Department of Defense and the CIA did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Obama had sought to influence global guidelines for the use of drone strikes as other nations began pursuing their own drone programs. The United States was the first to use unmanned aircraft fitted with missiles to kill militant suspects in the years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.

Austin's South by Southwest is historically known as a music showcase, yet the Interactive portion of the conference is now the biggest draw for tens of thousands of attendees who come from across the globe. Alan Melson, KERA's VP of Digital, has been writing about the conference this weekend. I spoke with him about what's on tech folks' minds. Alan, it seems like every year there are several recurring themes that emerge from South By Southwest Interactive. What seems to be bubbling up this year?

Welcome to the Coupa Software Fourth Quarter and FY '17 Earnings Conference Call. Today's conference is being recorded. At this time, I'd like to turn the conference over to Miss Cynthia Hiponia. This is Cynthia Hiponia, Coupa Investor Relations and I'm pleased to welcome you to Coupa Software's fourth quarter earnings conference call. The primary purpose of today's call is to provide you with information regarding our FY '17 fourth quarter performance, in addition to our financial outlook for our FY '18 first quarter and full year. Just a reminder that our remarks today include forward-looking statements about our guidance and future results of operations, business strategies and plans, market size, products, competitive position and potential growth opportunities. Our actual results may be materially different. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are described in our earnings release and our Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on December 9, 2016. These forward-looking statements are based on our beliefs and assumptions today and we disclaim any obligation to update any forward-looking statement. If this call is replayed after today, the information presented during this call may not contain current or accurate information. During the call, we'll also present both GAAP and non GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of non-GAAP to GAAP measures is included in today's earnings release which you could find on our Investor Relations website. A link to the replay of this call will also be available there and if you prefer to access the replay via phone you can find that information in the earnings release as well. Unless otherwise stated, gross comparisons made on this call are against the same period of the prior year. On behalf of my colleagues at Coupa, I'd like to start by thanking our customers. We thank them for their enthusiasm and embracing our game-changing value as a service approach. Together, we're doing things never before done in our industry in terms of time to value, teamwork, agility and the attainment of measurable results. I'd also like to thank our fast growing list of global Partners, who work with us and our customers hand in hand with the relentless customer success orientation. And last but certainly not least, I'd like to thank all our investors for their continued support as we continue to develop our business.

Critics of the targeted killing program question whether the strikes create more militants than they kill. They cite the spread of jihadist organizations and militant attacks throughout the world as evidence that targeted killings may be exacerbating the problem.

Thousands have flooded into Austin, Texas to experience the 31st Annual South by Southwest Convention and Festivals. Check out some of the sights and sounds from the first day. Bill Ford meets with reporters and the recent North American International Auto Show. AUSTIN -- The frenetic race to develop autonomous vehicles features a lot of bold claims, management wooing and screaming headlines. Sleep while your car drives!

Whether you know it or not, your life is impacted everyday by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning. In fact, if you asked Alexa about the weather or traffic while enjoying your morning cup of coffee, you leveraged AI. This voice recognition is part of the growing field of technology that is changing the lives of consumers and our interaction with technology. The government is no exception. AI is also becoming involved in every aspect of how our country runs--national security, economics, healthcare, and other domains.

Wikileaks caught the CIA with its pants down this week when they released a massive collection of information about cyberattack techniques the agency uses to hack iPhones and major communication services. It's alleged that Wikileaks was given the the documents courtesy of Russia, who hacked into American systems to find them. If they prove to be real, it's a major blow to the US. You can bet that governments like Iran and China are loving the fact that they can use the documents to better defend themselves against future American attacks. In a recent interview, Alphabet's Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, claimed "that big data is so powerful that nation states will fight wars over data."