Bomb blast kills 5 in wedding party

Afghan officials say at least five civilians were killed when in a bomb exploded during a wedding ceremony in eastern Logar province.

Shah Poor Ahmadzai, the provincial police chief’s spokesman, says seven others were wounded in the attack late Friday, which took place in Mohammad Agha district.

Mohammad Naser Ghairat, a provincial council member in Logar, confirmed the death toll. He said the bomb was planted near the house where the wedding was taken place and targeted the participants of the wedding.

Ahmadzai said initial report show both the groom and bride were not hurt. An investigation was begun to find out more and the death toll could rise, he added.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. - PM News

2019: Nigerians should look beyond slogans, emotional speeches by politicians – Bishop Onaiyekan

The Catholic Archbishop of Abuja Diocese, John Onaiyekan, has urged Nigerians not to be carried away by the emotional speeches of some politicians.

According to him, the original sin holding Nigeria down was selfishness.

Onaiyekan pointed out that selfishness has become the primary objective and moving principle in the lives of many Nigerians.

According to him, the country needed a concept of politics that is based on the readiness of politicians to serve Nigerians.

The cleric was one of the guests at the Interfaith Conference on Religious Harmony in Nigeria, organized by the Interfaith Initiative for Peace in Abuja on Saturday..

He said, “Selfishness at all levels – personal, family, tribal, regional, and even religious. This is at the root of corruption, violence, disloyalty and the win-at-all-cost and by-all-means syndrome at elections.

“If we continue this way, good governance, genuine democracy, national unity, peace and prosperity for all Nigerians will continue to elude us.”

“We need a concept of politics that is based on the readiness to serve the common good of all Nigerians. The emphasis should be on service.

“Not self-service. We the people, on our part, should stop looking for local heroes and tribal champions, who most of the time, do not care, really, about our local needs nor those of the nation,” he added.

Onaiyekan noted that politics should no longer be an avenue for money-making at the expense of the people, who are supposed to be served.

He, therefore, urged all those interested in making money to go into competitive business, where hard work and competence determined success.

He further urged Nigerians not to allow people to continue to take advantage of their political positions to steal the country’s wealth.

“This is the change that Nigerians should be looking for, beyond slogans and emotional speeches and promises.

“In my view, this is what the forthcoming 2019 elections should be about.

“There is need for revolution, a change of mindset, attitude and behaviour patterns.

“This means addressing the heart and soul of Nigerians and leading them into spiritual combat.

“This is what religion – any genuine religion – is supposed to be all about.

“As religious leaders, we need to move from emphasis on competition for dominance to cooperation towards the common good of the entire society.

“We must join hands and our voices to preach a common and clear message of peace and justice, ready to condemn evil, wherever it is found,” Onaiyekan stated. - Daily Post

Refugee Commission trains staff on strategic roadmap

National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI)

The National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) has organised a two-day workshop for its staff on how to effectively drive its mandates to become a world class humanitarian agency.

The workshop, which began on Saturday in Abuja, is organised for the middle-cadre staff to re-orientate them on the strategic roadmap (2017-2020) of the commission.

Hajiya Sadiya Farouq, Federal Commissioner, NCFRMI, said that the workshop aims at keeping staff abreast of the challenges as a humanitarian agency and how to effectively overcome them and function best.

She said that the workshop was apt especially at a time when the Commission is saddled with the responsibility of the growing needs of Persons of Concerns within and outside the country.

“This orientation workshop provides a platform for staff to understand the strategic roadmap of the commission and key into it for implementation.

“As you are aware, the vision of the Commission is to be a world class humanitarian organization with effective solutions for Persons of Concern.

“This I strongly believe can be actualized and it requires having a pool of staff with sufficient prestige, can-do attitude and a practical delivery-focused mindset.

“The roadmap focuses on six strategies that will assist in reorientating and repositioning the commission and has been articulated to guide the staff of the commission towards actualizing its new vision.

“Its implementation during the four-year period will enable staff to have the capacity, competence and effectiveness to catalyse the needed change in the Commission,” Farouq said.

Farouq urged the participants to take full ownership of the initiative in the roadmap and contribute to ensuring that the 51 strategic actions are implemented on target.

She said that earlier in the year, a similar retreat was also organised for Senior Management Staff members of the commission with the same focus.

Sixty middle cadre staff members of the commission were participating in the workshop. - PM News

60 million Nigerians ‘at risk of depression’

A new survey says 60 million Nigerians are at risk of suffering from depression. 

The Nigeria national depression report produced by Joy Inc. in partnership with NOI polls was released in commemoration of the 2018 World Mental Health Day.

According to the report, three in every 10 Nigerians experience depressive symptoms.

The report, which is the first nationwide study of happiness and depression, contains results of surveys conducted across the 36 states in the country including the federal capital territory (FCT).

The survey focused on gauging public perception of Nigerians regarding their happiness and experiences with some factors that may affect their state of happiness and depression.

The national poll also assessed the perception of Nigerians on how they feel about their lives five years ago, currently, and five years from now.

Glory Apantaku, one of the authors of the report, said: “This report is a product of our surveys as we seek to better understand the needs of the population we serve.

“Our results serve as an important reminder of the urgency of this work. Mental health issues are real and it is high time we paid attention.”

The report also recommended that new metrics for measuring human progress should move from the use of financial values like GDP and focus on happiness and flourishing of citizens.

 Commenting on the report, Damola Morenikeji, a research associate at Joy Inc., said: “Human misery is real, the goal of every intervention should be to reduce misery while increasing the happiness of people.

“Investing in citizens’ happiness and well-being should not be a luxury, but a necessity. Only when people are sustainably happy can they truly flourish, innovate, and make the world a better place.

“The collective roles of governments, businesses, and other stakeholders have to transcend from creating an environment purely for wealth creation to creating environments that facilitate the genuine well-being and flourishing of people.” - TheCable

Transfer News : Chelsea must pay over €60 million to sign Piatek

Chelsea have learned that they will have to cough up over €60 million to sign Genoa’s  Krysztof Piatek, according to Football London.

Piatek has been in incredible form for Genoa so far this season, with the Polish striker really kicking on after being relatively unknown at the end of last season.
The striker has seven goals in seven games for Genoa, and has attracted interest from all across Europe.
Chelsea, Tottenham and Liverpool all have an interest in the striker, whilst Napoli have also shown that they are looking at the Genoa man.

However, Genoa have turned down an attempt to bring Piatek to Napoli by rejecting a €23 million offer from Carlo Ancelotti’s side.

The Italian side want over €60 million for Piatek, mainly due to his emergence on the world stage.

Piatek was at Polish side KS Cracovia last season, and only joined Genoa this Summer in a €4 million deal.

However, now rated at over €60 million, Genoa could be looking to cash in on their star man. - Read Sport

PSG want Wenger to replace sporting director Henrique

Paris Saint-Germain are reportedly looking to make a big change upstairs. The French giants are hoping to entice former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger to become their new general manager after the January transfer window, suggests ESPN's Jonathan Johnson.

Les Parisiens are thought to be looking to ditch current chief Antero Henrique, with the Portuguese sporting director coming under fire for his transfer policy - notably failing to secure primary targets such as Chelsea engine N'Golo Kante - and his working methods.

Henrique's relationship with head coach Thomas Tuchel is thought to be frayed at best, while PSG captain Thiago Silva reportedly replied "ask Antero" when questioned about his side's unorthodox midfield lineup in the Champions League defeat to Liverpool last month.

The final straw may have been being beaten to the punch by AC Milan director Leonardo in the race for Flamengo prodigy Lucas Paqueta. Henrique was intending to activate a €50-million release clause in January, reports Johnson, before Leonardo negotiated down the price significantly.

According to Johnson, Wenger has told PSG he'd like to keep his options open and is unlikely to make a decision until around Christmas. The 68-year-old - who left his post as Gunners manager after 22 years at the end of last season - would reportedly prefer a coaching job, but is open to other significant roles that become available.

PSG would reportedly be willing to offer Wenger the opportunity to revamp the club's academy and other areas both on and off the field should he agree to join the staff. - thescore

Weaponised AI is coming. Are algorithmic forever wars our future?

Last month marked the 17th anniversary of 9/11. With it came a new milestone: we’ve been in Afghanistan for so long that someone born after the attacks is now old enough to go fight there. They can also serve in the six other places where we’re officially at war, not to mention the 133 countries where special operations forces have conducted missions in just the first half of 2018.

The wars of 9/11 continue, with no end in sight. Now, the Pentagon is investing heavily in technologies that will intensify them. By embracing the latest tools that the tech industry has to offer, the US military is creating a more automated form of warfare – one that will greatly increase its capacity to wage war everywhere forever.

On Friday, the defense department closes the bidding period for one of the biggest technology contracts in its history: the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (Jedi). Jedi is an ambitious project to build a cloud computing system that serves US forces all over the world, from analysts behind a desk in Virginia to soldiers on patrol in Niger. The contract is worth as much as $10bn over 10 years, which is why big tech companies are fighting hard to win it. (Not Google, however, where a pressure campaign by workers forced management to drop out of the running.)

At first glance, Jedi might look like just another IT modernization project. Government IT tends to run a fair distance behind Silicon Valley, even in a place as lavishly funded as the Pentagon. With some 3.4 million users and 4 million devices, the defense department’s digital footprint is immense. Moving even a portion of its workloads to a cloud provider such as Amazon will no doubt improve efficiency.

But the real force driving Jedi is the desire to weaponize AI – what the defense department has begun calling “algorithmic warfare”. By pooling the military’s data into a modern cloud platform, and using the machine-learning services that such platforms provide to analyze that data, Jedi will help the Pentagon realize its AI ambitions.

Related: Why teach drone pilots about ethics when it’s robots that will kill us? | Andrew Brown

The scale of those ambitions has grown increasingly clear in recent months. In June, the Pentagon established the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC), which will oversee the roughly 600 AI projects currently under way across the department at a planned cost of $1.7bn. And in September, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa), the Pentagon’s storied R&D wing, announced it would be investing up to $2bn over the next five years into AI weapons research.

So far, the reporting on the Pentagon’s AI spending spree has largely focused on the prospect of autonomous weapons – Terminator-style killer robots that mow people down without any input from a human operator. This is indeed a frightening near-future scenario, and a global ban on autonomous weaponry of the kind sought by the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots is absolutely essential.

But AI has already begun rewiring warfare, even if it hasn’t (yet) taken the form of literal Terminators. There are less cinematic but equally scary ways to weaponize AI. You don’t need algorithms pulling the trigger for algorithms to play an extremely dangerous role.

To understand that role, it helps to understand the particular difficulties posed by the forever war. The killing itself isn’t particularly difficult. With a military budget larger than that of China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, India, France, Britain and Japan combined, and some 800 bases around the world, the US has an abundance of firepower and an unparalleled ability to deploy that firepower anywhere on the planet.

The US military knows how to kill. The harder part is figuring out whom to kill. In a more traditional war, you simply kill the enemy. But who is the enemy in a conflict with no national boundaries, no fixed battlefields, and no conventional adversaries?

This is the perennial question of the forever war. It is also a key feature of its design. The vagueness of the enemy is what has enabled the conflict to continue for nearly two decades and to expand to more than 70 countries – a boon to the contractors, bureaucrats and politicians who make their living from US militarism. If war is a racket, in the words of marine legend Smedley Butler, the forever war is one the longest cons yet.

But the vagueness of the enemy also creates certain challenges. It’s one thing to look at a map of North Vietnam and pick places to bomb. It’s quite another to sift through vast quantities of information from all over the world in order to identify a good candidate for a drone strike. When the enemy is everywhere, target identification becomes far more labor-intensive. This is where AI – or, more precisely, machine learning – comes in. Machine learning can help automate one of the more tedious and time-consuming aspects of the forever war: finding people to kill.

The Pentagon’s Project Maven is already putting this idea into practice. Maven, also known as the Algorithmic Warfare Cross-Functional Team, made headlines recently for sparking an employee revolt at Google over the company’s involvement. Maven is the military’s “pathfinder” AI project. Its initial phase involves using machine learning to scan drone video footage to help identify individuals, vehicles and buildings that might be worth bombing.

“We have analysts looking at full-motion video, staring at screens 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 hours at a time,” says the project director, Lt Gen Jack Shanahan. Maven’s software automates that work, then relays its discoveries to a human. So far, it’s been a big success: the software has been deployed to as many as six combat locations in the Middle East and Africa. The goal is to eventually load the software on to the drones themselves, so they can locate targets in real time.

Won’t this technology improve precision, thus reducing civilian casualties? This is a common argument made by higher-ups in both the Pentagon and Silicon Valley to defend their collaboration on projects like Maven. Code for America’s Jen Pahlka puts it in terms of “sharp knives” versus “dull knives”: sharper knives can help the military save lives.

In the case of weaponized AI, however, the knives in question aren’t particularly sharp. There is no shortage of horror stories of what happens when human oversight is outsourced to faulty or prejudiced algorithms – algorithms that can’t recognize black faces, or that reinforce racial bias in policing and criminal sentencing. Do we really want the Pentagon using the same technology to help determine who gets a bomb dropped on their head?

But the deeper problem with the humanitarian argument for algorithmic warfare is the assumption that the US military is an essentially benevolent force. Many millions of people around the world would disagree. In 2017 alone, the US and allied strikes in Iraq and Syria killed as many as 6,000 civilians. Numbers like these don’t suggest a few honest mistakes here and there, but a systemic indifference to “collateral damage”. Indeed, the US government has repeatedly bombed civilian gatherings such as weddings in the hopes of killing a high-value target.

Further, the line between civilian and combatant is highly porous in the era of the forever war. A report from the Intercept suggests that the US military labels anyone it kills in “targeted” strikes as “enemy killed in action”, even if they weren’t one of the targets. The so-called “signature strikes” conducted by the US military and the CIA play similar tricks with the concept of the combatant. These are drone attacks on individuals whose identities are unknown, but who are suspected of being militants based on displaying certain “signatures” – which can be as vague as being a military-aged male in a particular area.

The problem isn’t the quality of the tools, in other words, but the institution wielding them. And AI will only make that institution more brutal. The forever war demands that the US sees enemies everywhere. AI promises to find those enemies faster – even if all it takes to be considered an enemy is exhibiting a pattern of behavior that a (classified) machine-learning model associates with hostile activity. Call it death by big data.

AI also has the potential to make the forever war more permanent, by giving some of the country’s largest companies a stake in perpetuating it. Silicon Valley has always had close links to the US military. But algorithmic warfare will bring big tech deeper into the military-industrial complex, and give billionaires like Jeff Bezos a powerful incentive to ensure the forever war lasts forever. Enemies will be found. Money will be made. - The Guardian, UK