massacre
US children among five killed in Israeli drone strike on southern Lebanon
Why is Israel still in southern Lebanon? A war to shape Lebanon's future An Israeli drone strike has killed five people, including three children, in the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil, Lebanon's Health Ministry has said, as Israel continues to target its neighbour despite a US-brokered truce that took effect in November. The state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported on Sunday that the strike targeted a motorcycle and a vehicle, and wounded two other people. Why then did Israel attack Syria? The mother of the children was injured in the attack.
Houthis claim attack on central Israel in response to Gaza 'massacres'
Yemen's Houthi group says it has carried out a drone attack in central Israel's Tel Aviv area in "a specific military operation" in support of Palestinians in Gaza. The Houthis said in a statement on Monday that their forces struck "a sensitive target of the Israeli enemy". An Israeli military statement said a drone hit a building in the city of Yavne after air defence systems failed to detect it and an investigation into the failure is under way. The Houthis said the operation "achieved its objective" without providing details. No injuries were reported in the attack, which caused damage to several apartments in the building, according to Israeli media reports.
At least 22 killed in Maine mass shooting, Israel conducts Gaza ground incursion and more top headlines
The Lewiston Police Department identified Robert Card, 40, as a person of interest in connection with a mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, Wednesday night. MAINE MANHUNT – Tens of thousands on lockdown as cops expand hunt for person of interest after 22 killed in massacre. BOOTS ON THE GROUND – Hamas hostage count rises as Israel pulls off most daring raid yet for'next stages.' READY OR NOT– No honeymoon for newly-elected speaker as he faces dilemmas from day one. CONCERNING – Senator says FBI received'criminal information' from over 40 confidential sources on Joe Biden, Hunter, James.
Potential memorial designs for Las Vegas massacre unveiled, major step in planning process
Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. A series of white angel wings rise up from the earth bathed in a warm glow of light, their sweeping forms creating a long covered pathway surrounded by trees in a possible centerpiece for the memorial to modern America's deadliest mass shooting. It's one of five potential designs unveiled Monday for a permanent monument on the Las Vegas Strip where 58 people were shot and killed and hundreds more injured at a country music festival on Oct. 1, 2017. Two survivors later died from their gunshot wounds.
AI: Could It Be More Ethical Than Humans? – Analysis
Artificial intelligence in autonomous systems (i.e., drones) can address human error and fatigue issues, but also, in the future, concerns over ethical behaviour on the battlefield. Installing an algorithmic "moral compass" in AI, however, will be challenging. A common theme among many discussions concerning the military uses of artificial intelligence (AI) is the "Skynet" trope: the fear that AI will be self-aware and decide to turn on its masters. Inherent in this argument is the contention that AI does not share the same ethical constraints that humans do. While almost certainly an over-exaggeration, the Skynet scenario does highlight the problem of ensuring that the ethical behaviour we believe is incumbent on humans in combat is not lost as we increasingly devolve battlefield decision-making to autonomous systems.
New analytical tool locates shooters using smartphone video
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a system that can accurately locate a shooter based on video recordings from as few as three smartphones. When demonstrated using three video recordings from the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas that left 58 people dead and hundreds wounded, the system correctly estimated the shooter's actual location--the north wing of the Mandalay Bay hotel. The estimate was based on three gunshots fired within the first minute of what would be a prolonged massacre. Alexander Hauptmann, research professor in CMU's Language Technologies Institute, said the system, called Video Event Reconstruction and Analysis (VERA), won't necessarily replace the commercial microphone arrays for locating shooters that public safety officials already use, although it may be a useful supplement for public safety when commercial arrays aren't available. One key motivation for assembling VERA was to create a tool that could be used by human rights workers and journalists who investigate war crimes, terrorist acts and human rights violations, Hauptmann said.
The more ninjas you massacre, the smarter this AI gets
Watching an AI train, for those of us who aren't developers, is about as exciting as watching paint dry or grass grow. But, every once in a while someone throws some ninjas into the mix and makes it fun. An AI programmer who goes by the GitHub handle Ash47 recently published a series of projects designed to demonstrate how machines learn. He creates psuedo-gaming environments where AI has to accomplish a simple goal: stay alive. The most interesting thing about the AI in his projects isn't what they can do, it's how they learn to do it.
Afghanistan president says U.S. drone killed Taliban chief Maulana Fazlullah, wanted over 2012 Malala Yousafzai shooting attack
KABUL – President Ashraf Ghani confirmed Friday that Pakistani Taliban chief Maulana Fazlullah has been killed in a U.S. drone strike. Fazlullah is believed to have ordered the failed 2012 assassination of Malala Yousafzai, who became a global symbol of the fight for girls' rights to schooling, and who later won the Nobel Peace Prize. U.S. forces targeted Fazlullah in a counterterrorism strike Thursday in eastern Kunar province, close to the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, U.S. officials said, without confirming his death. "I spoke with Prime Minister of #Pakistan Nasir ul Mulk and Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa and confirmed the death of Mullah Fazlullah," Ghani tweeted, adding: "His death is the result of tireless human intel led by #Afghan security agencies." Ghani added the Pakistani leaders had assured him the strike was "a great step toward building trust between the two nations," while urging them to "bring (the) Afghan Taliban residing in Pakistan to the negotiation table."
Experts search for the site of the 1692 Glencoe Massacre
The lost settlements of one of Scotland's most visited landscapes, infamous for the worst murders of the clan era, are to be traced by archaeologists for the first time. Glencoe was the scene of a massacre of the MacDonald clan, which saw more than 30 members of the kinship group slain exactly 362 years ago today. Their murders were ordered by the state after the clan chief tried but failed to meet a deadline to pledge allegiance to King William II. Experts hope to uncover some of the six settlements that are believed to have existed in the area in 1692, when the brutal attack took place. The lost settlements of one of Scotland's most visited landscapes, infamous for the worst murders of the clan era, are to be traced by archaeologists for the first time.