Facebook on Monday said it had made a deal to buy a startup working on ways to command computers or other devices using thought instead of taps, swipes, or keystrokes.
CTRL-labs will become part of Facebook Reality Labs with an aim at perfecting the technology and getting it into consumer products, according to Andrew Bosworth, vice president of augmented and virtual reality at the California-based social network.
"We know there are more natural, intuitive ways to interact with devices and technology," Bosworth said in a post at Facebook announcing the acquisition.
"And we want to build them. The vision for this work is a wristband that lets people control their devices as a natural extension of movement."
Bosworth explained that the wristband will decode electrical impulses such as those sent to hand muscles telling them to move certain ways, such as clicking a computer mouse or pressing a button.
The wristband will translate impulses into signals a device can comprehend, having ...

Facebook buys startup working on mind-control of machines

PTI Automatic

Brazil's leftist icon Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Monday opted to stay behind bars rather than apply for home detention, as he maintained his innocence of corruption charges, his lawyers said.
The ex-president has been incarcerated at the federal police headquarters in the southern city of Curitiba since April 2018, after he was sentenced to eight years and 10 months in jail for accepting a bribe.
After completing one-sixth of his sentence on Monday, he was eligible under Brazilian law to apply for house or semi-open detention, which would allow him to leave prison during the day.
But Lula decided to forgo the option in order to "pursue the full restoration of his freedom, along with the recognition that he was a victim" of a contaminated judicial process, his defence team said in a statement to AFP.
The Supreme Court last month voted to suspend the transfer of Lula to a regular prison until after it rules on whether Justice Minister Sergio Moro, who was Lula's convicting judge in ...

Brazil's Lula rejects applying for home detention: Lawyers

Fresh details of some of Britain's biggest Cold War spy scandals, including the network of Soviet agents who stole naval intelligence secrets, emerged in newly released secret files Tuesday.
The Portland spy ring, believed to have helped the Soviet Union build a new class of submarines in the 1960s, marked a turning point in Cold War espionage in Britain, say historians.
The network was run by Konon Molody, a deep-cover KGB officer posing as a Canadian businessman named Gordon Lonsdale.
Since he lacked the diplomatic immunity given to intelligence personnel using genuine identities, he was arrested and sentenced to 25 years in prison for espionage in 1961.
This was the first time Britain's MI5 domestic intelligence service unearthed an "illegal" spy running other operatives.
MI5 files released by the National Archives reveal how, during a series of prison interviews, Molody offered to disclose information and even to become a double agent, in return for his release.
"He wished... to ..

UK intel files shed new light on famed Cold War spy cases

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson reiterated a call for "flexibility" from the EU in Brexit talks during a meeting with Council President Donald Tusk in New York on Monday that failed to yield a breakthrough.
Johnson and Tusk met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly as Britain races towards its October 31 departure without an exit agreement and the prospect of economic disruption.
The British prime minister underlined to Tusk that his preference is for an exit agreement, a Downing Street spokesperson said, adding that the pair discussed finding an alternative to the so-called "Irish backstop".
They also discussed three papers recently submitted by London with ideas on replacing the backstop provisions in the Brexit deal struck last year but rejected by British lawmakers.
"The Prime Minister emphasised that in order to secure a deal, we will now need to see movement and flexibility from the EU," said the spokesman.
"The leaders agreed to keep in touch over the coming weeks," .

No breakthrough as EU's Tusk, Britain's Johnson meet in New York

Former FARC leaders formally recognised at a special tribunal on Monday "ethical and political responsibility" for thousands of kidnappings carried out during Colombia's long conflict.
At a hearing in Bogota, Rodrigo "Timoshenko" Londono -- FARC ex-commander and now leader of the movement's political party -- handed written testimony to the Special Jurisdiction for Peace purportedly detailing thousands of kidnappings.
"We recognise the existence of civilian retentions and assume on behalf of the men and women who were part of the organisation, our collective ethical and political responsibility for the damage caused to the people and families who were victims of this unfortunate practice," Londono told the hearing.
"We don't want to justify any conduct that was in violation of international humanitarian law, but to make known in our own voice the objective reasons that led many Colombians to build what became FARC," said Londono.
"We have taken a first step in a long process," Londono 

FARC leaders take responsibility for kidnappings

French President Emmanuel Macron announced separate meetings with counterparts Donald Trump and Iran's Hassan Rouhani Monday as he tries to engineer a meeting between the two on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
"I had an informal meeting with Trump this morning. I will see Rouhani this evening and Trump again tomorrow (Tuesday)," Macron told reporters.

Macron announces separate meetings at UN with Trump, Rouhani

Russia's prime minister on Monday gave formal support to the Paris climate agreement, just hours ahead of a key summit trying to tackle ever increasing gas emissions.
The document signed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev says that Russia is formally accepting the 2015 Paris agreement and will now "allocate financial resources... to developing countries for prevention of and adaptation to climate change."
The Paris Agreement, which Russia signed in 2016, gives countries a choice in how to join the accords by ratification, acceptance, approval or accession to the agreement, depending on their national legislation.
The decision to "accept" the accord signifies "Russia's consent to the obligations under the Paris Agreement", the government said in a statement.  Presenting his decree at a government meeting, Medvedev said that it is important for Russia to participate in the process of reducing emissions.
"The threat of climate change is (the) destruction of the ecological balance, ...

Russia joins Paris climate accord

Apple said Monday it would keep making its Mac Pro in the United States, after obtaining tariff exemptions for some components in the high-end computers.
The California tech giant said it would keep production of the Mac Pro -- a computer costing some $6,000 -- in Austin, Texas, following reports it was considering moving the manufacturing the China.
Apple said the decision came after the company obtained "a federal product exclusion" from tariffs "for certain necessary components" for the computers.
The news comes despite comments from President Donald Trump in July that he would oppose waiving tariffs on components for Apple's devices, commenting in a tweet, "Make them in the USA, no Tariffs."
Apple chief executive Tim Cook said in a statement Monday the company is "proud to be building (the new Mac Pro) in Austin" and added, "We thank the administration for their support enabling this opportunity." The company said it would begin production soon at the same Austin facility where ...

Apple will produce new Mac Pro computers in US

Britain's opposition Labour Party descended into chaos on Monday as it narrowly rejected a grass-roots attempt to force leader Jeremy Corbyn to campaign to remain in the European Union and reverse the outcome of the 2016 Brexit vote.
The 119-year-old party's annual congress turned into a showdown between its irreconcilably splintered pro- and anti-Brexit wings.
Opinion polls show Corbyn's efforts to unite the two by either delaying a decision on departure or putting it in hands of voters in a likely early election have led to a dramatic drop in support.
But a motion to force the party to "campaign energetically for a public vote and to stay in the EU in that referendum" was lost in a show-of-hands vote that appeared too close to call, to many watching in the hall.
"In my view, it was carried," congress chair Wendy Nicholls announced after surveying the hands of 1,200 delegates packed into hall in the English south coast resort city of Brighton.
"No, sorry, it was lost," she corrected .

Amid chaos, UK Labour rejects campaign to remain in EU

US President Donald Trump aired one of his oldest grievances at the United Nations on Monday: that it's unfair he never got the Nobel peace prize.
"I would get a Nobel prize for a lot of things, if they give it out fairly, which they don't," he complained.
Trump went on to raise the surprise awarding of the one of the world's most prestigious accolades in 2009 to his predecessor in the White House Barack Obama.
Obama was given the peace prize for "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between people," even though he had only just become president.
"They gave one to Obama immediately upon his ascent to the presidency and he had no idea why he got it. You know what? That was the only thing I agreed with him on," Trump said.
The US president was speaking at a bilateral meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Trump complains he deserves Nobel prize

Thousands of environmental protesters blocked traffic in central Washington on Monday to demand action on climate change in the capital of one of the main emitters of greenhouse gases.
Small group of demonstrators gathered at key intersections in the city to "bring attention to everybody that this is not just Washington DC, this is the entire planet," said protester Maryan Pollock.
The street protests came as world leaders gathered at the United Nations headquarters in New York for a special summit on climate change.
Just a few blocks from the White House, members of the Extinction Rebellion group towed a pink sailboat to block K Street, famous for its lobbying firms.
"The boat reminds us that (Washington) DC will be under water because of rising sea levels," said Pollock.
Several activists chained themselves to the boat to prevent police from moving dispersing them, forcing officers to use buzz saws to cut them loose.
"We put pressure on politicians to wake up, that this is a real ...

Protesters block US capital to demand action on climate change

Romania, Hungary and Slovakia have been ordered to play their next home matches in Euro 2020 qualifying behind closed doors due to racist behaviour from their supporters, UEFA announced on Monday.
European football's governing body announced Romania's next two fixtures on their own turf will have to take place in a near-empty stadium, the second of which is suspended subject to a one-year probationary period.
They were also handed an 83,000 euro penalty for incidents which included racist chanting as well as field invasions during games against Spain and Malta earlier in the month.
Cosmin Contra's side play Norway in Bucharest on October 15 and welcome Sweden a month later in the Romanian capital in their two next homes games.
UEFA decided the one-match ban for the other two countries following incidents in the Slovaks' 2-1 Group E victory in Budapest on September 9.
Hungary, who were given a penalty of 67,125 euros, welcome Azerbaijan on October 13, the Slovakians, who were fined ...

Romania, Hungary, Slovakia to play behind closed doors for racism: UEFA

Denmark slapped a German bank with a fine of 110 million Danish kroner (almost USD 16.2 million or 14.7 million euro) on Monday in a case which is part of the biggest fraud scandal the country has seen.
The case relates to the European "cum-ex" tax scam.
North Channel Bank was found guilty of facilitating "1.1 billion kroner (that) was unjustifiably paid out from the Danish treasury," according to a statement by the Danish Prosecution Service.
The German bank admitted its role in the fraud case and accepted the fine at the district court in the Copenhagen suburb of Glostrup, the statement continued.
The case is part of a wider affair in which Denmark is estimated to have lost 1.7 billion euros to fraudulent tax return claims.
First revealed in Denmark in 2015, it is considered the largest case of tax fraud in the history of the country, which is now revising its tax code.
The scam centred around companies, funds or individuals using a system of exchanging stocks in companies to claim .

Denmark fines German bank 14.7mn euro over tax fraud

An Israeli woman wounded by Palestinian rocket fire from the Gaza Strip in November 2018 has died from her injuries, officials said Monday.
The southern coastal city of Ashkelon, where she lived, announced the death of Nina Genisdanova in a statement. Israeli media said she was 74 and died last week.
An exchange of fire in November 2018 saw seven Gazans killed in 24 hours, while a Palestinian labourer from the occupied West Bank was killed when a rocket hit a building in Ashkelon.
Around 460 rockets and mortar rounds were fired from Gaza during the flare-up, wounding 27 people in Israel, three of them severely.
Militants in Gaza, ruled by Islamist movement Hamas, regularly aim rockets at Ashkelon, whose centre is just 11 kilometres (seven miles) from the enclave's border.
Mass protests and clashes erupted along the border of the blockaded Gaza Strip in March 2018.
At least 308 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza since the protests and clashes began, the majority ...

Israeli woman dies months after wounds from Gaza rocket

Top Chinese telecom executive Meng Wanzhou and her lawyers headed to court on Monday to try to have her extradition case thrown out, arguing that her rights were violated.
The 47-year-old Huawei chief financial officer was detained during a stopover at the Vancouver airport last December on a US warrant.
The arrest of Meng -- a rising star whose father Ren Zhengfei founded Huawei and over three decades grew it into a global telecom giant -- caused an unprecedented diplomatic rift between Canada and China.
The United States wants to put Meng on trial for fraud for allegedly violating Iran sanctions and lying about it to US banks -- accusations her lawyers dispute.
In a preliminary disclosure hearing at the British Columbia Supreme Court, her lawyers will ask for details from prosecutors about her arrest after her flight landed from Hong Kong.
They are expected to also seek the release of documents in a separate civil proceeding this week against
federal police and border officials, in .

Huawei exec in Canada court, bids to quash extradition

A visibly angry Greta Thunberg berated world leaders as she addressed a UN climate summit on Monday, accusing them of betraying her generation by failing to tackle greenhouse gas emissions and asking "How dare you?"
The Swedish teen, who has become the global face of the growing youth movement against climate inaction, began by telling her audience: "My message is that we'll be watching you," eliciting laughter.
But it was soon clear that the tone of the message would be very serious.
"This is all wrong. I shouldn't be up here. I should be back at school on the other side of the ocean," the 16-year-old, who is taking a year off from her studies, said.
"You come to us young people for hope. How dare you?" she thundered.
"You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words, yet I'm one of the lucky ones. People are suffering, people are dying, entire ecosystems are collapsing.
"We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is the money and fairy ..

'How dare you?' Greta Thunberg asks world leaders at UN

President Donald Trump made a brief unscheduled appearance Monday at the UN climate summit, which he had been expected to skip entirely.
The US president, who has repeatedly expressed doubt about the overwhelming scientific consensus on manmade causes of global warming, was due to attend a separate conference on religious freedom.
However, he first dropped in on the climate summit, where he spent just a few minutes.
Dozens of world leaders were discussing measures to try and slow down ever-more dangerous trends in climate change. Trump, who withdrew the United States from a major international pact on reducing greenhouse gas outputs, did not speak.

Trump makes unscheduled appearance at UN climate summit

President Donald Trump on Monday dismissed the threat of impeachment over allegations that he tried to pressure Ukraine's leader into investigating his 2020 election rival Joe Biden.
Asked if he was taking the threat from some Democrats seriously, Trump answered: "Not at all seriously." US media reports revealed that an intelligence community whistleblower had filed a report after becoming alarmed at Trump's alleged attempt to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a phone call.
Trump has confirmed that he discussed what he says was corruption by Biden's family during the call but denies applying pressure on Zelensky.  "We had a perfect phone call," he told reporters on arrival at the United Nations in New York. "Everybody knows it's just a Democrat witch hunt.

Trump says 'not at all' worried about impeachment

A visibly angry Greta Thunberg addressed a UN climate summit on Monday, accusing world leaders of betraying her generation through their inaction.
"You  come to us young people for hope. How dare you?" she thundered.
"You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words, yet I'm one of the lucky ones. People are suffering, people are dying, entire ecosystems are collapsing.

'You have stolen my dreams and childhood,' Greta Thunberg tells UN

The body in charge of the laws of football is considering allowing temporary substitutions in cases of possible concussion, the International Football Association Board (IFAB) told AFP on Monday.
The IFAB confirmed that they will start with "deliberations on the assessment and management of concussions" in the game.
Such temporary changes are already permitted in certain rugby matches when a player receives a head knock and needs to be assessed for signs of more serious injury.
Allowing the player to be temporarily taken off for a period of up to 10 minutes would allow medical staff to determine if the player can return to the pitch.
An IFAB spokesperson said: "It may take some time until visible progress is made, due to the high complexity of the matter. We want to dedicate enough time and expertise to find the best solution for football.

Football lawmakers consider temporary substitutions for head injuries

Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan said he is unsure he will play in the tri-nation Twenty20 international final against Bangladesh on Tuesday as he is nursing a hamstring injury.
Rashid left the field injured against the same opponents in their last match of the league phase in Chittagong on Saturday, before returning to bowl two overs and picking 2-27 in their four-wicket loss.
"I can't say anything right now," Rashid said Monday about his chances of playing in the final.
"I had some work on my hamstring yesterday and today. We will decide tomorrow."
Rashid said he would rather not have bowled in the previous game, but the team needed his services.
"The main reason to come back to bowl was that I wanted to know the severity of the injury," he said.
"The physio and coaches didn't want me to bowl. I was OK with the first two overs, but after going for a run it got worse.
"I think I shouldn't have bowled, but when the team needs you, you have to be there. We give our all for the ...

AFP

AFP

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