U.S. to offer cyberwar capabilities to NATO allies
Acting to counter Russia’s aggressive use of cyberattacks across Europe and around the world, the U.S. is expected to announce that, if asked, it will use its formidable cyberwarfare capabilities on NATO’s behalf, according to a senior U.S. official. The announcement is expected in the coming days as U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis attends a meeting of NATO Defense Ministers on Wednesday and Thursday.
Katie Wheelbarger, the principal deputy assistant defense secretary for international security affairs, said the U.S. is committing to use offensive and defensive cyber operations for NATO allies, but America will maintain control over its own personnel and capabilities.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
The 2018 Nobel Prize laureates for Chemistry are shown on the screen from left, Frances H. Arnold of the U.S., George P. Smith of the U.S., and Gregory P. Winter of Britain, during the announcement at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm on October 3, 2018.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2018 with one half to Frances H. Arnold ”for the directed evolution of enzymes” and the other half jointly to George P. Smith and Sir Gregory P. Winter ”for the phage display of peptides and antibodies.”
A press release from the Academy reads: “The 2018 Nobel Laureates in Chemistry have taken control of evolution and used it for purposes that bring the greatest benefit to humankind. Enzymes produced through directed evolution are used to manufacture everything from biofuels to pharmaceuticals. Antibodies evolved using a method called phage display can combat autoimmune diseases and in some cases cure metastatic cancer.”
Iraq’s President to take office, independent tapped as PM
Newly elected Iraq President Barham Salih waves after the inauguration ceremony in Baghdad, Iraq on October 3, 2018.
Iraq’s new President is set to take office after tapping an independent Shia lawmaker for the post of Prime Minister.
Barham Salih, a longtime Kurdish politician, will assume power in a formal handover ceremony on Wednesday, a day after being elected and sworn in by parliament. Under an unofficial agreement dating back to the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, Iraq’s presidency — a largely ceremonial role — is held by a Kurd, while the prime minister is Shia and the Parliament speaker is Sunni. Mr. Salih has tasked Adel Abdul-Mahdi, a former vice-president, with forming a government.
‘Congress a dependable ally of Andhra Pradesh’
All India Congress Committee secretary and in-charge of Andhra Pradesh affairs Oommen Chandy during the door-to-door campaign of the party for the general elections, at Kondapalli near Vijayawada on Wednesday.
All India Congress Committee secretary and in-charge of Andhra Pradesh affairs Oommen Chandy on Tuesday said that the Special Category Status to the State was possible only with the Congress.
“Rahul Gandhi has already announced that the SCS will be given to the State as soon as the Congress comes to power. The party is also keen on addressing the agrarian crisis in the State by offering remunerative price to farmers for their produce,” he said while launching the ‘Intintiki Congress’ programme at Chintalapudi.
Ranjan Gogoi becomes Chief Justice
President Ramnath Kovind administers the oath to Justice Ranjan Gogoi as the Chief Justice of India.
Justice Ranjan Gogoi was Wednesday sworn in as the 46th Chief Justice of India. President Ram Nath Kovind administered the oath to the 63-year-old Justice Gogoi at a brief ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhavan’s Darbar Hall.
Justice Gogoi will have a tenure of a little over 13 months and would retire on November 17, 2019.
Fire at Kolkata’s Medical College Hospital
Firefighters to the rescue after a fire broke out at Kolkata Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata, October 3, 2018
A fire broke out in the dispensary of the State-run Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. No one has been injured in the the blaze that broke out at 8 am in the dispensary located on the ground floor. Ten fire tenders have been engaged for taming the fire.
Indonesia continues its search for survivors
A ship rests near houses after it was swept ashore during Friday's tsunami at a neighborhood in Donggala, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Time was running out on Wednesday for anyone trapped in the rubble of a devastating earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia, five days after disaster struck, while increasingly angry survivors waited for an aid operation to move into high gear.
The official death toll from the 7.5 magnitude quake that struck the west coast of the island of Sulawesi last Friday stood at 1,234, many killed by tsunami waves triggered by the quake.
But officials fear the toll could soar, as most of the confirmed dead have come from Palu, a small city 1,500 km northeast of Jakarta, and losses in remote areas largely cut off since Friday have yet to be determined.
Malaysia’s former PM, wife quizzed
Rosmah Mansor, wife of former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, arrives at the Anti-Corruption Agency for questioning in Putrajaya.
Malaysian authorities once again called in former Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, for questioning on Wednesday in an investigation into alleged graft linked to state fund 1MDB.
Najib, whose coalition suffered a stunning election defeat in May, faces 32 charges ranging from money laundering to abuse of power and criminal breach of trust in the effort to uncover how billions of dollars went missing from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
Mexico commemorates 1968 massacre
Books, shoes, backpacks and shirts accompany a photo in remembrance of the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre, strewn about in Mexico City's main Zocalo plaza.
Authorities raised a giant, iconic Mexican flag to half-mast in Mexico City’s main square Tuesday in commemoration of the 1968 massacre of student protesters by army troops 50 years ago.
Students and surviving leaders of the 1968 student democracy movement attended the ceremonies marking the anniversary of an event that caused such revulsion it helped spur long-term political reforms. Today, the movement is credited with sparking Mexico’s democratic transition and its participants and martyrs are treated as heroes.
