Ukraine joins NATO drill to test anti-drone systems

Ukraine joins NATO drill to test anti-drone systems
In this photo taken from video released by Russian Defense Ministry press service on Sept. 19, 2024, a Russian serviceman launches a drone at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. (AP)
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Updated 20 September 2024
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Ukraine joins NATO drill to test anti-drone systems

Ukraine joins NATO drill to test anti-drone systems
  • The drills at a Dutch military base tested cutting-edge systems to detect and counter drones and assessed how they work together
  • The 11-day exercise ended with a demonstration of jamming and hacking drones in a week when their critical role in the Ukraine war was demonstrated once again

VREDEPEEL, Netherlands: NATO concluded a major anti-drone exercise this week, with Ukraine taking part for the first time as the Western alliance seeks to learn urgently from the rapid development and widespread use of unmanned systems in the war there.
The drills at a Dutch military base, involving more than 20 countries and some 50 companies, tested cutting-edge systems to detect and counter drones and assessed how they work together.
The 11-day exercise ended with a demonstration of jamming and hacking drones in a week when their critical role in the Ukraine war was demonstrated once again.
On Wednesday, a large Ukrainian drone attack triggered an earthquake-sized blast at a major Russian arsenal. The following day, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow was ramping up drone production tenfold to nearly 1.4 million this year.
The proliferation of drones in the war – to destroy targets and survey the battlefield – has prompted NATO to increase its focus on the threat they could pose to the alliance.
“NATO takes this threat very, very seriously,” said Matt Roper, chief of the Joint Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Center at the alliance’s technology agency.
“This is not a domain we can afford to sit back and be passive on,” he said at the exercise site, Lt. Gen. Best Barracks in the east of The Netherlands.
Experts have warned NATO that it needs to catch up quickly on drone warfare.
“NATO has too few drones for a high-intensity fight against a peer adversary,” a report from the Center for European Policy Analysis think tank declared last September.
“It would be severely challenged to effectively integrate those it has in a contested environment.”

THREAT EVOLUTION
The drills that wrapped up on Thursday — complete with ice cream for onlookers provided by a radar company — were the fourth annual iteration of the exercise.
Claudio Palestini, the co-chair of a NATO working group on unmanned systems, said the exercise had adapted to trends such as the transformation of FPV (first-person view) drones — originally designed for civilian racers – into deadly weapons.
“Every year, we see an evolution of the threat with the introduction of new technology,” he said. “But also we see a lot of capabilities (to counter drones) that are becoming more mature.”
In a demonstration on Thursday, two small FPV drones whizzed and whined at high speed through the blue sky to dart around a military all-terrain vehicle before their signal was jammed.
Such electronic warfare is widespread in Ukraine. But it is less effective against long-range reconnaissance drones, a technology developer at Ukraine’s defense ministry said.
The official, giving only his first name of Yaroslav for security reasons, said his team had developed kamikaze drones to destroy such craft – a much cheaper option than firing missiles, which Ukraine had previously done.
“You need to run fast,” he said of the race to counter the impact of drones. “Technology which you develop is there for three months, maybe six months. After, it’s obsolete.”


Florida counts cost of Hurricane Milton amid political storm

Florida counts cost of Hurricane Milton amid political storm
Updated 2 sec ago
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Florida counts cost of Hurricane Milton amid political storm

Florida counts cost of Hurricane Milton amid political storm
  • While Milton did not trigger the catastrophic surge of seawater that was feared in Florida, the clean-up operation could take many weeks or months for some people
FORT PIERCE/ST. PETERSBURG, Florida: F lorida on Friday was clearing downed trees and power lines and mopping up flooded neighborhoods after Hurricane Milton roared through leaving at least 16 people dead.
While Milton did not trigger the catastrophic surge of seawater that was feared in Florida, one of many states hit by Hurricane Helene about two weeks ago, the clean-up operation could take many weeks or months for some people.
“It opens your eyes to what Mother Nature can do,” said Chase Pierce, 25 of west St. Petersburg, who, with his girlfriend, saw transformers blow up, sparks fly and a power line fall in the back yard.
The fifth-most-intense Atlantic hurricane on record, Milton could cost insurers alone up to $100 billion, analysts say.
The White House pledged government support as the full extent of the damage was still being surveyed.
But Republican Donald Trump, who trails Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris according to recent Reuters/Ipsos polling ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election, attacked his opponents for their handling of storm recovery efforts.
“The federal government ... has not done what you are supposed to be doing, in particular, with respect to North Carolina,” he said on Thursday. North Carolina was hard-hit by Helene, and Trump faces a tight battle against Harris there.
Harris, who has said Trump is spreading lies about the government’s response, hit back at the politicization of the issue during a town hall event on Univision on Thursday.
“Sadly, we have seen over the last two weeks, since Hurricane Helene, and now in the immediate aftermath of Milton, where people are playing political games,” she said, without naming Trump.
Politicians of both stripes are deeply aware of how Republican President George W. Bush’s approval ratings fell after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005 and never recovered from a response deemed inadequate by many at the time.
The Biden administration said the Federal Emergency Management Agency will need additional funding from Congress, where the Republicans control the House and Democrats control the Senate, and urged lawmakers, who are on recess, to act.
DEADLY TORNADOES
Floridians say they came through a double disaster.
While Milton came ashore on the state’s western coast on Wednesday evening, some of its worst havoc was wrought more than 100 miles (160 km) away along the state’s eastern shore.
There were at least 16 hurricane-related deaths, CBS News cited the Florida Department of Law Enforcement as saying.
In St. Lucie County, an advance flurry of tornadoes killed several people, including at least two in the senior-living Spanish Lakes communities, according to local officials.
Between Siesta Key and Fort Myers Beach, peak water levels reached 5 to 10 feet (1.5 to 3 m) above ground level, according a preliminary analysis posted by the National Hurricane Center.
Some 2.75 million homes and businesses in Florida overall were without power late on Thursday, according to PowerOutage.us.
Some have been waiting days for power to be restored after Hurricane Helene hit the area.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis cautioned on Thursday that although the state had avoided the “worst-case scenario,” the damage was still significant.

At least 20 killed in attack on miners in southwestern Pakistan, police say

At least 20 killed in attack on miners in southwestern Pakistan, police say
Updated 15 min 13 sec ago
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At least 20 killed in attack on miners in southwestern Pakistan, police say

At least 20 killed in attack on miners in southwestern Pakistan, police say
  • The attackers gathered the miners at one place and opened fire on them, local media reported
  • There are ten coal mines located in the area, a company official told local media

QUETTA, Pakistan: At least 20 miners were killed and seven injured in an attack by armed men on a small private coal mine in the southwestern Pakistani province of Balochistan on Friday, police said.
The mineral-rich region borders Afghanistan and Iran and has been troubled for decades as Baloch insurgent groups fight against the state, saying it denies them their share of regional resources.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
“A group of armed men attacked the Junaid Coal company mines in the Duki area in the wee hours using heavy weapons,” said Humayun Khan, the police station house officer for the town, located east of the city of Quetta.
They fired rockets and grenades at the mines as well, he added.
The attackers gathered the miners at one place and opened fire on them, local media reported, adding that they also set mining machinery on fire.
There are ten coal mines located in the area, a company official told local media.
“We have received 20 bodies and six injured so far at the district hospital,” said Johar Khan Shadizai, a doctor in Duki.
Pakistan has seen a resurgence of Islamist militancy since 2022 when a ceasefire between the Pakistani Taliban and the government broke down.
Two Chinese nationals working for a power plant were killed and a third injured in an explosion near the international airport in the southern city of Karachi earlier this week.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), one of several insurgent groups battling the government, claimed responsibility for the attack.
BLA was also behind Balochistan’s most widespread violence in years in August, when separatist militants attacked police stations, railway lines, and highways, killing more than 70 people.
The region saw violence last month too when armed men stormed a residence housing laborers from eastern Punjab province, killing seven of them.
The attacks come as the country is preparing to host the summit of the eight-member Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in capital Islamabad next week.
The event is expected to see high-level Chinese representation and will also be attended by India’s foreign minister.


Tesla CEO Musk unveils ‘Cybercab’, ‘Robovan’ as focus shifts to automation

Tesla CEO Musk unveils ‘Cybercab’, ‘Robovan’ as focus shifts to automation
Updated 11 October 2024
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Tesla CEO Musk unveils ‘Cybercab’, ‘Robovan’ as focus shifts to automation

Tesla CEO Musk unveils ‘Cybercab’, ‘Robovan’ as focus shifts to automation
  • Cybercab production to start in 2026, to cost less than $30,000
  • Also showcased were the Robovan, capable of carrying up to 20 people, and Tesla's Optimus humanoid robot

Tesla CEO Elon Musk showcased a two-door robotaxi with gull-wing doors and no steering wheel or pedals at a much-hyped event on Thursday, sticking to long-held promises of autonomous cars driving long-term growth at the electric vehicle maker.
Musk traveled to the stage in a "Cybercab" and said production will start in 2026 with the vehicles being available to buy for less than $30,000.
"The autonomous future is here," Musk said. "We have 50 fully autonomous cars here tonight. You'll see model Ys and the Cybercab. All driverless."
The Cybercab will cost 20 cents a mile to operate over time, use inductive chargers and not require any plugs. They will also rely only on cameras and artificial intelligence, without the need for other hardware that robotaxi players use.
Musk also showcased a larger, self-driving vehicle — called Robovan — capable of carrying up to 20 people, and showed off Tesla's Optimus humanoid robot.

Tesla's robovan is unveiled at an event in Los Angeles, California, on October 10, 2024. (Tesla/Handout via REUTERS)

Enthusiasm around the event has been on display across social media for weeks, with screenshots of invites and speculation on what might be disclosed. But investors and analysts have flagged challenges with the technology and reined in expectations.
Musk's plan is to operate a fleet of self-driving Tesla taxis that passengers can hail through an app. Individual Tesla owners will also be able to make money on the app by listing their vehicles as robotaxis.
Thursday's event at the Warner Bros studio near Los Angeles, California, is titled "We, Robot" - an apparent nod to the "I, Robot" science-fiction short stories by American writer Isaac Asimov, but also echoes Musk's insistence that Tesla "should be thought of as an AI robotics company" rather than an automaker.
Those attending included investors, stock analysts and Tesla fans.
"Everything looks cool, but not much in terms of time lines, I'm a shareholder and pretty disappointed. I think the market wanted more definitive time lines," said Dennis Dick, equity trader at Triple D Trading. "I don't think he said much about anything... He didn't give much info."

Tesla's Optimus robots walk on the day of an unveiling event in Los Angeles, California,on October 10, 2024. (Tesla/Handout via REUTERS)

Missed promises
Musk said in 2019 he was "very confident" the company would have operational robotaxis by the next year. After missed promises, Musk this year diverted his focus to developing the vehicles after scrapping plans to build a smaller, cheaper car widely seen as essential to countering slowing EV demand.
Tesla is at risk of posting its first-ever decline in deliveries this year as buying incentives have failed to attract enough customers to its aging EV lineup. Steep price cuts meant to offset high interest rates have also squeezed profit margins.
Complicated technology and tight regulation have led to billion of dollars in loss for other companies attempting to crack the robotaxi market, forcing some to shut shop.
Some are still pushing, including General Motors' Cruise, Amazon's Zoox and Chinese firms such as WeRide.
Unlike expensive hardware such as lidar that others use, Musk is relying only on cameras and AI to run FSD to keep costs down. But FSD, which requires constant driver attention, has faced regulatory and legal scrutiny with at least two fatal accidents involving the technology.

 


Blinken at ASEAN meet condemns China’s ‘increasingly dangerous’ sea moves

Blinken at ASEAN meet condemns China’s ‘increasingly dangerous’ sea moves
Updated 11 October 2024
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Blinken at ASEAN meet condemns China’s ‘increasingly dangerous’ sea moves

Blinken at ASEAN meet condemns China’s ‘increasingly dangerous’ sea moves
  • Blinken is representing the US at the annual Southeast Asian meeting, where China has heard directly from leaders of concern about the dispute-rife South China Sea
  • The Philippines has been alarmed by violent incidents as Beijing exerts its claims in the strategic waterway.

VIENTIANE, Laos: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned Beijing’s “increasingly dangerous” actions in the South China Sea and voiced support for freedom of navigation as he met leaders of the ASEAN bloc on Friday.
“We remain concerned about China’s increasingly dangerous and unlawful actions on the South and East China Seas, which have injured people, harmed vessels from ASEAN nations and contradict commitments to peaceful resolution of disputes,” Blinken told Southeast Asian leaders gathered in Laos.
“The United States will continue to support freedom of navigation and freedom of overflight in the Indo-Pacific,” he said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, back right, takes part in the 12th ASEAN-US Summit in Vientiane on  Oct. 11, 2024. (Pool Photo via AP)

Blinken said that the United States also hoped to work with ASEAN leaders to “protect stability across the Taiwan Strait,” where tension has risen again as China this week denounced remarks by the self-governing democracy’s president.

Blinken is representing the United States at the annual Southeast Asian meeting, where China has heard directly from leaders of concern about the dispute-rife South China Sea.
The Philippines has been alarmed by violent incidents as Beijing exerts its claims in the strategic waterway.
 

Another prominent theme at the summit is Myanmar, whose military junta sent a representative to the ASEAN meeting for the first time in more than three years. Myanmar’s delegation joined the meeting with Blinken but it was unclear if there was any direct interaction.
Blinken said he wanted to discuss the “deepening crisis in Myanmar” — a rare US usage of the country’s official name and not the former Burma.
Blinken also urged firmness against Russia’s “war of aggression” in Ukraine, ahead of a full East Asia Summit in which Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will participate.
 


Gunmen kill 20 miners and wound others in an attack in southwest Pakistan

Gunmen kill 20 miners and wound others in an attack in southwest Pakistan
Updated 11 October 2024
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Gunmen kill 20 miners and wound others in an attack in southwest Pakistan

Gunmen kill 20 miners and wound others in an attack in southwest Pakistan

QUETTA, Pakistan: Gunmen killed 20 miners and wounded another seven in Pakistan’s southwest, a police official said Friday.
It’s the latest attack in restive Balochistan province and comes days ahead of a major security summit being hosted in the capital.
Police official Hamayun Khan Nasir said the gunmen stormed the accommodations at the coal mine in Duki district late Thursday night, rounded up the men and opened fire.
Most of the men were from Pashtun-speaking areas of Balochistan. Three of the dead and four of the wounded were Afghan.
Nobody claimed immediate responsibility for the attack.
The province is home to separatist groups who want independence. They accuse the federal government in Islamabad of unfairly exploiting oil- and mineral-rich Balochistan at the expense of locals.
On Monday, a group called the Baloch Liberation Army said it carried out an attack on Chinese nationals outside Pakistan’s biggest airport. There are thousands of Chinese working in the country, most of them involved in Beijing’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative.
The explosion, which the BLA said was the work of a suicide bomber, also raised questions about the ability of Pakistani forces to protect high-profile events or foreigners in the country.
Islamabad is hosting a summit next week of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a grouping founded by China and Russia to counter Western alliances.