March 9, 2018, 7:09 AM
What Kim Jong Un stands to gain by meeting President Trump
In a jaw-dropping announcement Thursday night, South Korea's national security adviser said President Trump has agreed to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and that the North is "committed" to denuclearization. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed the planned meeting though a time and place have yet to be decided.
South Korea's foreign minister says his president, Moon Jae-in, is confident the talks could lead to the denuclearization of North Korea. Moon, who has previously called for diplomacy between the North and the U.S., declared the planned summit a "historical milestone."
As CBS News' Holly Williams reports, the current administration in South Korea wants engagement with North Korea, but many others in the country say the North shouldn't be trusted, will never give up its nuclear weapons, and only understands threats.
On the face of it, it seems North Korea has made some concessions, agreeing to talk about denuclearization and saying it'll freeze missile and nuclear tests. But that's reversible, and if the talks do happen, the reward for North Korea is huge. Meeting with the American president would give dictator Kim Jong Un legitimacy in the eyes of the world, and that's something the North Korean regime craves.
North Korea has reneged on previous deals, all while continuing to develop its nuclear weapons. The big question in Asia now, is how serious China really is about forcing North Korea to denuclearize. It's long been the North's biggest trading partner and an economic lifeline for the regime.
Saturday, March 10, 2018
China eyes 'black tech' to boost security as parliament meets- Reuters
MARCH 10, 2018 / 8:02 PM / UPDATED 14 MINUTES AGO
China eyes 'black tech' to boost security as parliament meets
Pei Li, Cate Cadell
BEIJING (Reuters) - At a highway check point on the outskirts of Beijing, local police are this week testing out a new security tool: smart glasses that can pick up facial features and car registration plates, and match them in real-time with a database of suspects.
A security camera overlooks Tiananmen Square in front of a portrait of the late Chinese Chairman Mao Zedong in Beijing, China March 6, 2018. Picture taken March 6, 2018. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
The AI-powered glasses, made by LLVision, scan the faces of vehicle occupants and the plates, flagging with a red box and warning sign to the wearer when any match up with a centralized “blacklist”.
The test - which coincides with the annual meeting of China’s parliament in central Beijing - underscores a major push by China’s leaders to leverage technology to boost security in the country.
That drive has led to growing concerns that China is developing a sophisticated surveillance state that will lead to intensifying crackdowns on dissent.
“(China’s) leadership once felt a degree of trepidation over the advancement of the internet and communication technologies,” said David Bandurski, co-director of the China Media Project, a media studies research project at the University of Hong Kong.
“It now sees them as absolutely indispensable tools of social and political control.”
Wu Fei, chief executive of LLVision, said people should not be worried about privacy concerns because China’s authorities were using the equipment for “noble causes”, catching suspects and fugitives from the law.
“We trust the government,” he told Reuters at the company’s headquarters in Beijing.
Reuters was able to verify that the glasses were being used in tests by the police to help identify suspect individuals and vehicles in the Beijing area in recent days.
China, under President Xi Jinping, is making a major push to use artificial intelligence, facial recognition and big data technology to track and control behavior that goes against the interests of the ruling Communist Party online and in the wider world.
Xi is expected to cement his power base this weekend as a reform to remove term limits is pushed through. That would in effect allow him to stay in his post indefinitely.
A promotion video shows an actor wearing LLVision facial recognition smart glasses during a demonstration at the company's office in Beijing, China February 28, 2018. Picture taken February 28, 2018. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Delegates and visitors entering the Great Hall of the People, the venue for the parliament, the National People’s Congress, have to go through facial scanners. The same happened to those attending the related advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
“This year, security at the two sessions has some freshly-baked ‘black tech’ coming online,” wrote the state-run Science and Technology Daily newspaper, using a comic-book term in China for futuristic surveillance gadgets.
The paper said cameras at the event had been upgraded to capture, analyze and compare suspicious faces in around two seconds, powered by a system called “Skynet” - which has a national database of blacklisted individuals.
“The plot of sci-fi film ‘Minority Report’ is now basically becoming a part of daily life,” the newspaper added, referring to the Tom Cruise movie set in a futuristic society where crimes are solved and punished before they even happen.
ROBOTS AND DRONES
China has been deploying a growing arsenal of security technology, fuelling the growth of a domestic industry and worrying civil rights defenders about the growing intrusion on individual privacy.
A key concern is that blacklists could include a wide range of people stretching from lawyers and artists to political dissidents, charity workers, journalists and rights activists.
The new technologies range from police robots for crowd control, to drones to monitor border areas, and artificially intelligent systems to track and censor behavior online. There are also scanners to forcibly read mobile phone data and even police dogs with virtual reality cameras.
A recent Human Rights Watch report said China was also expanding a biometric voice database to boost voice recognition capabilities.
Surveillance measures long-used in restive areas such as Xinjiang in the northwest are also being rolled out more widely around the country, with a planned drive to centralize and standardize powerful but fragmented systems over the next year.
At the meeting of the NPC, most delegates said the increasing use of technology to improve state security was a positive, and that the benefits far outweighed privacy concerns.
“This is a good thing, it means our technology is really leading the world,” said Lu Yaping, a delegate from Jiangsu province in eastern China. “I don’t have any concerns about safety.”
Reporting by Pei Li and Cate Cadell in BEIJING; Additional reporting by Thomas Sun; Writing by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Martin Howell
Walmart is the Latest Example of a Company Doing What Politicians Won’t on Gun Control - TIME Business
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Posted: 28 Feb 2018 04:33 PM PST
Dick’s Sporting Goods announced Wednesday that it would no longer sell assault-style rifles or high-capacity magazines in any of its stores, nor will it sell firearms to anyone younger than 21. Hours later, Walmart followed suit, announcing it would also stop selling firearms or ammunition to customers under 21. The announcements from both retailers, which are among the largest gun sellers in the U.S., represent some of the strongest responses to the recent school shooting in Parkland, Fla., which has inspired a strong activist movement but little legislative progress so far. Dick’s Sporting Goods CEO Edward Stack tied his company’s decision directly to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting and the student activists who have taken up the issue of gun control, urging lawmakers to raise the age requirement for buying weapons and to consider banning assault rifles altogether. “When we saw what happened in Parkland, we were so disturbed and upset,” Stack told the New York Times in an interview. “We’re going to take a stand and step up and tell people our view and, hopefully, bring people along into the conversation.” While lawmakers have struggled to advance any legislation that would prevent future school shootings, companies have responded relatively quickly to pressure from consumers — something they’re able to do, in part, because the decision does not require an increasingly elusive bipartisan agreement. “Dick’s Sporting Goods has acted more quickly than Congress in the wake of a mass school shooting that killed 17 Americans,” Shannon Watts, founder of the gun control advocacy group Moms Demand Action, said in a tweetWednesday morning. This not the first time companies have gotten ahead of policy by weighing in on a controversial issue. Walmart stopped selling AR-15 rifles and other semi-automatic weapons in 2015. And Kmart stopped selling handgun ammunition in 2001, following protests over the Columbine High School shooting. “Corporations are very risk averse in general, and they don’t normally jump on a political band wagon unless it’s in their interest,” said Paul Argenti, a professor at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business who has consulted companies on corporate reputation and corporate social responsibility. He pointed to polling data that shows a majority of Americans approve of stricter gun control laws. While the NRA continues to hold political influence over Republican lawmakers, its five million members are less likely to sway the decisions of a large national retailer serving millions of other customers. “It’s kind of a no-brainer for you to do it,” Argenti said. “This is a first-mover advantage to get ahead of an issue that everybody agrees with — and that eventually is likely to happen anyway — and not wait for some law to change.” He compared Wednesday’s announcements to decisions by CVS, which stopped selling tobacco products in 2014 because it conflicted with its health mission, and by McDonald’s, which banned smoking at the restaurants it owned in 1994 due to complaints from non-smokers. “Some of them are doing it just to minimize the risk and exposure and try to get the best press they can,” said John Forrer, director of the Institute for Corporate Responsibility at George Washington University. “And there’s a whole set of other companies that are just trying to be authentic.” That’s how Stack explained his company’s decision on Wednesday in a CNN interview, describing his emotional response to the images of grief in Parkland and the pit in his stomach upon learning that the 19-year-old gunmanwho killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas had purchased a shotgun from one of his stores last year. |
The Duchess of Cornwall’s future title is again the subject of speculation after Prince Charles made changes to his website - Independent
March 10 2018, 12:01am,
The Times
The Duchess of Cornwall’s future title is again the subject of speculation after Prince Charles made changes to his website
The Duchess of Cornwall’s future title is again the subject of speculation after Prince Charles made changes to his website
ARTHUR EDWARDS
The Prince of Wales has fuelled speculation that he plans to go back on his word and make the Duchess of Cornwall queen when he accedes to the throne.
Clarence House has always been adamant that the duchess would be called the Princess Consort, a title that has never before been used for the wife of a sovereign. Modifications to Prince Charles’s official website, however, have given the impression that he is laying the ground for a change of heart.
Three separate statements that explicitly set out plans for the titles that would be used after the death of the Queen have been removed in recent months.
The question of the duchess’s future title has been a source of controversy since her marriage to Prince Charles in 2005. The decision is sensitive because of her reputation as the woman who had an affair with the future king while he was married to Diana, Princess of Wales.
The duchess’s public image has improved in recent years, helped by charity work and a skilful PR campaign, but a poll last August suggested that two thirds of Britons did not think she should be queen, and only 19 per cent thought she was fit for the role.
Marco Rubio says there are preconditions for Trump summit with Kim Jong Un - CBS News
March 9, 2018, 9:26 AM
Marco Rubio says there are preconditions for Trump summit with Kim Jong Un
Sen. Marco Rubio believes Thursday's big announcement of an agreed-upon face-to-face meeting by May between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will have preconditions despite the claims of South Korean officials that there are none.
"I think there are preconditions," the Florida Republican said on "CBS This Morning." "We are not going to get rid of sanctions, and we are going to continue to move forward on the military exercises with North Korea. And if you're still willing to meet despite that, then there's going to be a meeting."
Rubio, who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, posited that one of two things could be responsible for the North's willingness to meet with the president and wind down nuclear tests. He said either the regime is confident in developments in its nuclear and missile programs -- allowing it to negotiate from a newfound position of strength -- or the country is feeling pressured by rounds of hard-hitting international sanctions, compounded by calls from internal elitist factions looking for small, temporary concessions in exchange for the promise of possible future gains.
The senator said that indications that North Korea is taking deescalation will be evident in how it complies with already-established conditions set by the U.S. and other allies, and how it follows through on promises the North made in discussions with South Korean diplomats. In those talks, North Korea agreed to halt all missile and nuclear testing, with a goal of denuclearization. But the North, Rubio suggested, could be secretly misleading the U.S. in an attempt to pit the U.S. against the rest of the international community.
Rubio told "CBS This Morning, "If he's not willing to give up nuclear weapons and the ability to strike the United States, then my sense is that this is basically an effort to undermine international sanctions by saying, 'Look, I'm willing to meet.' But in those meetings, he makes requests we know you can never accept.
"Like, for example, the U.S. leaving South Korea and all of troops leaving our alliance there. He knows those conditions will never be met. And then he can turn to the international community and say, 'Look, I tried. I'm a reasonable person, but Donald Trump and the Americans are unreasonable,' in order to undermine international sanctions."
Still, Rubio said he has no real disagreement with the current strategic approach of the Trump administration in regard to North Korea.
"I don't think we would be at this point today if it would have not been for sticking with sanctions. And I think they are right to argue that nothing is going to change just because there is going to be a meeting," Rubio said. "I think pressure has certainly brought us to this point."
Cutting NASA science missions 'Can set a dangerous precedent,' Congressman warns - Fox News
NASA - 9/3/2018
Cutting NASA science missions 'Can set a dangerous precedent,' Congressman warns
By Hanneke Weitering Space.com Staff Writer | Space.com
Acting NASA administrator Robert Lightfoot testified during a House Space Subcommittee hearing about the NASA budget for fiscal year 2019 on March 7, 2018, at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C.
Acting NASA administrator Robert Lightfoot testified during a House Space Subcommittee hearing about the NASA budget for fiscal year 2019 on March 7, 2018, at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C. (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
While the Trump administration's budget proposal for fiscal year 2019 supports the long-term goal of sending humans to the moon and Mars, some members of Congress fear that the proposed shift for NASA's priorities could leave the agency's science missions in the dust.
During a hearing on Capitol Hill today (March 7), several members of the House Space Subcommittee expressed concern over the budget proposal's request to cancel six upcoming missions from NASA's Astrophysics and Earth Science programs.
The biggest concern was the proposed cancellation of the next "flagship" astrophysics mission, the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), which was selected as a top priority in the last decadal survey. This report, issued by the National Research Council, is based on input from the science community and provides a road map for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, which includes the Astrophysics Division and Earth Science Division. [In Photos: President Trump Aims for the Moon with Space Policy]
"Not looking at this scientific-based prioritization and moving away from that can set a dangerous precedent," said Rep. Ami Bera, D-Calif. "We don't want to get into a situation where every four years, priorities are changing. That makes it very difficult for [NASA] to focus on some of these longer-term projects."
Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo., who proclaimed his love for science fiction during his opening remarks, compared NASA to the film "Back to the Future" and even quoted Yoda from the "Star Wars" films while making a similar argument. "Some of what we're doing here reminds me of 'Back to the Future' — a real effort on exploration [and] a real desire to do that," he said. "I want to get our astronauts to Mars by 2033," he added, holding up a bumper sticker in support of his cause. "Do or do not. There is no try."
Despite his excitement about human exploration, Perlmutter agreed that a human mission to Mars should not hamper NASA's science activities. "There is an emphasis on exploration," he said, "but it seems to be at the expense of a lot of the other missions of NASA."
NASA Acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot, the only witness at the hearing, disagreed. "We've aligned that technology budget with the exploration initiatives, and that particular part of the budget will now focus on what we call our 'long poles' to getting to Mars — things like in-space propulsion, radiation safety, advanced life support that we need to actually take crews to Mars … so I think we still have a very balanced portfolio going forward."
As for WFIRST, Lightfoot noted that other future missions could make up for the missing data. For now, NASA will have to count on the James Webb Space Telescope and the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite to fulfill the agency's astrophysics needs.
"None of us is going to argue that exploration is not important," Bera said, "but we also want to make sure we don't lose sight of the space science side, the space technology, the aeronautics and education."
Original article on Space.com.
North Korean state media quiet on Kim Jong Un's overtures to Trump - Reuters
MARCH 10, 2018 / 2:10 PM / UPDATED 6 HOURS AGO
North Korean state media quiet on Kim Jong Un's overtures to Trump
Haejin Choi, Heekyong Yang
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s sudden overtures to Washington are making headlines around the world. Almost everywhere, it seems, except North Korea.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meets members of the special delegation of South Korea's President in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on March 6, 2018. KCNA/via Reuters
North Korean media noted a visit by a senior delegation from South Korea earlier this week but it appeared to have had no major coverage of Kim’s invitation to meet U.S. President Donald Trump or South Korean President Moon Jae-in to discuss the future of Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program.
South Korea’s National Security Office head Chung Eui-yong told reporters at the White House on Thursday after briefing Trump that Kim had “committed to denuclearization” and to suspending nuclear and missile tests.
However, North Koreans appear to still be in the dark despite such a potentially historic achievement.
Kim’s meeting with South Korean officials made it onto the front page of the Rodong Sinmun, a leading state-run newspaper, but neither his policy concessions, as described by the South Korean government, nor his planned summit with Moon in April appeared to have been reported publicly in the secretive North.
“North Korea has not made an announcement on the two Koreas holding the summit in April yet,” said Kang Mi-jin, a North Korean defector who works at the Seoul-based Daily NK website and regularly speaks to sources in the North.
“I believe such a decision is only handled by high-ranking officials close to Kim Jong Un. I do not think regular government/military officials are aware of the summit meeting yet,” Kang said.
While trumpeting the thaw in relations between North and South Korea, North Korean media outlets have continued to criticize the United States, especially over joint military drills it plans to conduct with South Korean troops at the end of the month.
“In North Korea, the leadership won’t decide to release it to the media until they know for sure the summits are happening,” said Shin Beom-chul, a professor at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy in Seoul.
“There has to be an agreement within the North’s inner circle about this. There’s no reason why it should promise denuclearization of North Korea to its people right now when there is a possibility of things falling apart,” Shin said.
Additional reporting by Joyce Lee and Christine Kim; Editing by Paul Tait
Interior Dept. spent $139K on secretary's office doors in sole-source contract - CBS News
AP March 8, 2018, 6:30 PM
Interior Dept. spent $139K on secretary's office doors in sole-source contract
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke seen Sept. 29, 2017, in Washington,
Last Updated Mar 8, 2018 6:37 PM EST
The Interior Department is spending nearly $139,000 to upgrade three sets of double doors in the office of Secretary Ryan Zinke, the Associated Press reported. The contract for the doors was sole-source, according to documents CBS News reviewed, meaning there was no competition for it.
Zinke was not aware of the contract for the work prior to a request about it from The AP, spokeswoman Heather Swift said. The project was planned by career facilities and security officials as part of the decade-long modernization of the historic building erected in 1938 a few blocks from the White House, she said.
"The secretary was not aware of this contract but agrees that this is a lot of money for demo, install, materials and labor," Swift said Thursday in an emailed statement. "Between regulations that require historic preservation and outdated government procurement rules, the costs for everything from pencils to printing to doors is astronomical. This is a perfect example of why the secretary believes we need to reform procurement processes."
The current door from a hallway to the secretary's sixth-floor office does not lock, so a security upgrade is needed, Swift said.
An order for the job at the Interior Department was listed on an online government procurement database as being completed in November, amended with the note "Secretary's Door" to explain what the payment was for.
Swift said the dates on the online invoice are incorrect and that the doors have not yet been fixed. Design work on the project was approved last month and installation is expected this summer.
Records show the Maryland contractor hired to do the work, Conquest Solutions LLC, has done several renovation projects at federal buildings. A man who answered the phone at the company Thursday hung up when a reporter asked about Zinke's office.
An Interior Department official familiar with the project said the work involves three sets of double doors in the secretary's office, including two doors that open onto a corner balcony with a spectacular view of the Washington Monument and the National Mall. A third opens to a hallway that features painted portraits of previous Interior secretaries.
The official asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the project, which has been planned for nearly two years. Zinke took office in March 2017. The current balcony doors leak "like a sieve" whenever it rains, forcing workers to mop the 80-year-old wooden floor in Zinke's office, the Interior official said.
The new balcony doors will be made of fiberglass specially made by Conquest Solutions and include glass transoms above the doors and fiberglass door frames, the official said.
Zinke is among several Trump Cabinet officials recently under scrutiny for their spending. He spent $53,000 on three helicopter trips last year, including one that allowed him to go on a horseback ride with Vice President Mike Pence.
"This opens the door to more troubling questions about how Zinke is wasting taxpayer money," said Shripal Shah, a spokesperson for the Democratic group American Bridge, which first noted the contract. "The secretary must believe he was handed a blank check the day he was confirmed, but the American public won't tolerate his reckless spending habits."
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson came under fire last month after reports his agency was spending $31,000 for a new dining set.
Carson later asked for the order to be canceled. Reports of the purchase, which HUD officials said was made without Carson's knowledge, came on the heels of allegations by a HUD employee that she was demoted after she refused to bankroll a costly remodeling of Carson's office, which she said came at Carson's wife's request.
After media reports highlighted the spending, HUD canceled the order for the new furniture.
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