A 29-year-old Nepalese student in Tokyo has found herself stuck in limbo with her dreams derailed, and the state of Japan's language schools is to blame. A survivor of human trafficking in the past, the woman, who wished to be identified only by her last name, Puri, came to Japan in 2014 as an exchange student. Brimming with high expectations at the time, she said she was determined to acquire a master's degree in sociology, with an emphasis on a subject dear to her, women's rights. Imagine her disappointment, then, when her dream was cut short by the Japanese-language school in Tokyo where she was studying. The school taught her only the very basics of the language, lumped her in with unmotivated students who frequently fell asleep in class and -- to her shock -- informed her that a vocational school was the only educational path it could prepare her for.

India's patent laws allow for reverse-engineering of certain technologies. A prime example of this reverse-engineering is in the pharmaceutical space, where Indian pharma companies are allowed to reverse-engineer drugs, especially life-saving ones. These drugs may have been developed by pharma majors in other parts of the world--and then introduced into western markets--after India-based outsourcing firms had helped them out with clinical trials, data gathering and reporting to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or its equivalent to get these drugs passed. Indian courts have continued to allow such reverse-engineering of drugs--famously prompting Bayer AG's then CEO Martin Dekkers to say at a conference a few years ago, "We did not develop this medicine for Indians. We developed it for western patients who can afford it."

SINGAPORE – A boom in consumer drone sales has spawned a counter-industry of startups aiming to stop drones flying where they shouldn't, by disabling them or knocking them out of the sky. Dozens of startup firms are developing techniques -- from deploying birds of prey to firing gas through a bazooka -- to take on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that are being used to smuggle drugs, drop bombs, spy on enemy lines or buzz public spaces. The arms race is fed in part by the slow pace of government regulation for drones. In Australia, for example, different agencies regulate drones and counter-drone technologies. "There are potential privacy issues in operating remotely piloted aircraft, but the Civil Aviation Safety Authority's role is restricted to safety. Privacy is not in our remit," a CASA official said.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is touching every technology sector around the world, and it's having a significant impact on how enterprises and consumers interact with machines and devices. TechRepublic talked to IoT experts in a range of disciplines to find out what they think the biggest trends will be in 2017. Participants were Kevin Curran, IEEE senior member and senior lecturer in computer science at Ulster University; Francesco Cetraro, head of registrations, .cloud; Artificial intelligence, augmented reality, virtual reality, healthcare IoT, industrial IoT, and wearables are some of the topics of conversation about where the Internet of Things is headed in 2017. Diabetics have been waiting for years for better technology to manage their condition. Some got tired of waiting and hacked together an open source hardware and software solution.

More cities are adding smart city features so that Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and other connected technologies can improve the lives of citizens and visitors. As everyone knows, technology moves fast and finding out what's in store next is crucial to stay in the game. Diabetics have been waiting for years for better technology to manage their condition. Some got tired of waiting and hacked together an open source hardware and software solution. The concept of a smart city has been around for more than a decade, but it was only recently that the phrase "smart city" became part of the modern lexicon.

It can read lips and create new food recipes. It can win at chess, Jeopardy and the game Go. Every major technology company appears to be integrating it into how they organize and operate their business. And it seems like just about every new app in existence claims its software uses some sort of machine learning to make life even better. Artificial intelligence is splashed across headlines like never before.

BEIRUT – An air raid has struck several cars in northwestern Syria, killing at least eight people, including al-Qaida-linked fighters and a senior commander with a Chinese Islamic militant faction, an activist group and a local jihadi commander said Monday. The attack occurred late Sunday on a road leading from the town of Sarmada to the Bab al-Hawa area on the border with Turkey, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and a local commander with the Fatah al-Sham Front, an al-Qaida-linked group. The militant spoke via text messages on condition of anonymity because of security concerns. It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack, but the Observatory's chief Rami Abdurrahman said it is widely believed to have been carried out by the U.S.-led coalition. The U.S. has killed some of al-Qaida's most senior commanders in Syria over the past two years in airstrikes.

Automation of jobs due to technology advancements is a well-known issue. In his 2016 State of the Union Address, U.S. President Barack Obama warned that technology "doesn't just replace jobs on the assembly line, but any job where work can be automated." Obama was not the first U.S. President to be concerned about automation, however. John F. Kennedy in 1962 said that the major domestic challenge of the decade was "to maintain full employment at a time when automation … is replacing men." Despite these concerns, automation did not lead to quick and total job losses -- neither in the 1960s, nor in the last century, nor even now.

As cars become smarter, states believe they need to make their roads just as intelligent. Transit planners say'smart roads' will prevent accidents from happening, cut down on travel time and help drivers save fuel. Although a few miles of highway in the US have new technology, states need to learn how roads can communicate with self-driving cars from different makers, as there is no standard on how cars receive data. Transit planners say'smart roads' are key for drivers to get the most from their self-driving cars, like Google's (pictured), as this technology would prevent accidents from happening, cut down on travel and save fuel Driverless cars have been taught to drive more like human motorists in an attempt to help them recognize and respond to risks on the road. And many car makers say their self-driving cars will be safer than those with people behind the wheel and will reduce the 35,000 lives lost to traffic accidents each year, reports The Wall Street Journal. However, for autonomous vehicle owners to fully experience the capabilities of their machines, the roads have to learn a few tricks themselves.

Editor's Note: Staff from the Council of Economic Advisers, the Domestic Policy Council, the National Economic Council, the Office of Management and Budget, the Office of Science and Technology Policy contributed to this post. Today, in order to ready the United States for a future in which artificial intelligence (AI) plays a growing role, the White House released a report on Artificial Intelligence, Automation, and the Economy. This report follows up on the Administration's previous report, Preparing for the Future of Artificial Intelligence, which was released in October 2016, and which recommended that the White House publish a report on the economic impacts of artificial intelligence by the end of 2016. Accelerating AI capabilities will enable automation of some tasks that have long required human labor. These transformations will open up new opportunities for individuals, the economy, and society, but they will also disrupt the current livelihoods of millions of Americans.