Global defense news, analysis and opinion

Libya national oil firm headquarters comes under attack

Armed men stormed the headquarters of Libya's National Oil Company, according to witnesses, who said a blast and gunfire were heard from the site

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ELN rebels say Colombia government peace talk conditions ‘unacceptable’

Colombia's National Liberation Army (ELN) said President Ivan Duque's conditions to restart talks aimed at ending their insurgency are 'unacceptable'

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Syria: 18 dead in Qamishli as Asayish clash with regime forces

Clashes between Kurdish forces and regime fighters in the divided northeastern city of Qamishli killed 18 combatants, the Kurdish forces said

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2+2 = Closer ties between US and India but Iranian oil looms

India and the US committed to strengthen defense ties during a historic “2+2” dialogue despite outstanding issues such as Iran

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US military invests $2 billion in ‘next generation’ artificial intelligence

The U.S. military is investing  $2 billion to develop a new generation of artificial intelligence with “human-like” communication skills, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Pentagon’s research wing, announced in a release on Friday, September 7. DARPA will use the money to fund around 20 existing and new projects that will push for a new level of machine learning.  Director Steven Walker said the agency was making multiple research investments “aimed at transforming computers from specialized tools to partners in problem-solving.” “Today, machines lack contextual reasoning capabilities, and their training must cover every eventuality, which is not only costly, but ultimately impossible,” he explained. “We want to explore how machines can acquire human-like communication and reasoning capabilities, with the ability to recognize new situations and environments and adapt to them.” Today at D60, Dr. Steve Walker announced a $2B campaign to develop the third wave of #AI technologies. The "AI Next" initiative will focus on contextual reasoning to create more trusting, collaborative partnerships between humans & machines. https://t.co/JJzCJQnxhv #DARPA60 pic.twitter.com/CSJd1Q25Zt — DARPA (@DARPA) September 7, 2018 The current generation of smart machines and robots cannot be easily updated when a new technology appears, and researchers want them to learn to update themselves, …

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US pilot killed in Saudi AH-6 helicopter crash

A US pilot working with Saudi Arabia's national guard was killed and his student injured when their AH-6i light attack helicopter crashed in Riyadh

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Yemen’s Houthi rebels refuse to join Geneva talks until conditions met

Yemen's Houthi rebels said they will not join peace talks in Geneva until their conditions are met, accusing the UN of failing to keep its promises

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French general predicts end of ISIS ‘physical caliphate’ by end of year

ISIS will have been driven from all its territory before the end of the year, French Chief of Defence Staff General Francois Lecointre said

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Nigeria: Boko Haram kill 2, abduct 25 in bus ambush

Two people were killed and 25 others kidnapped in a Boko Haram ambush on a civilian convoy in Gwoza in northeast Nigeria's Borno state, security sources said

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Court finds 10 South Sudan soldiers guilty of rape and murder

A South Sudan military court found 10 soldiers guilty of raping five foreign aid workers and murdering a local journalist during fighting at the Terrain hotel in Juba in July 2016.

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