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Ten sailors missing, five injured after US destroyer USS John S McCain collides with oil tanker near Singapore
Ten US sailors were missing after a US destroyer collided with an oil tanker in southeast Asia, the second serious accident involving American Navy ships in the region in little more than two months. Search and rescue efforts were launched after the USS John S McCain was involved in a collision with the Alnic MC east of Singapore and the Strait of Malacca, the US 7th Fleet said in a statement. The collision with the tanker happened at 5.24am local time as the guided-missile destroyer was heading to Singapore for a routine visit. "There are currently 10 sailors missing and five injured," the Japan-based 7th Fleet said. President Donald Trump returns to the White House, where he said the collision was "too bad" Credit: AP Returning to the White House on Sunday night, President Donald Trump responded to reporters’ questions about the accident by saying: “That’s too bad.” He later tweeted: "Thoughts & prayers are w/ our @USNavy sailors aboard the #USSJohnSMcCain where search & rescue efforts are underway." In addition to US Navy aircraft, Singaporean ships, helicopters and tug boats were in the area to help conduct search and rescue efforts after the warship suffered damage the port side aft, it said. "The extent of damage and personnel injuries is being determined," it said, adding that the incident was being investigated. Malaysia's navy chief Ahmad Kamarulzaman Ahmad Badaruddin tweeted that two ships as well as aircraft from its navy and air force had also been deployed to help look for the missing US sailors. The destroyer was currently sailing under its own power and heading to port. Location of the ship, the Alnic MC, just over an hour after it the collission Credit: MarineTraffic Senator John McCain, a war hero who is now being treated for brain cancer, tweeted: "Cindy & I are keeping America's sailors aboard the USS John S McCain in our prayers tonight - appreciate the work of search & rescue crews." The vessel was named in honour of the senator's grandfather and father, who were US admirals. Based at the fleet's homeport of Yokosuka, Japan, the USS John S McCain has a crew of 23 officers, 24 chief petty officers and 291 enlisted sailors, according the Navy's website. The ship it hit, the Liberian-flagged Alnic MC, is a 183 metre long oil tanker with a deadweight of more than 50,000 tonnes, according to the Marine Traffic website. The vessel was carrying nearly 12,000 tonnes of fuel oil, but there was no oil spill, a crew member said. "We are carrying 11,987 tonnes of fuel oil. There is no oil spill. We were carrying fuel oil from Taiwan to discharge to Singapore ... We are proceeding to Raffles Reserved Anchorage where the owners will investigate the matter. There was some damage to the valve," the crew member who did not want to be identified, told Reuters via telephone. The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) lists the Raffles Reserved Anchorage to the South of Bukom Island to be reserved for "vessels requiring emergency repairs and damaged vessels or as directed by the Port Master." The USS John S. McCain is a guided missile destroyer Credit: AP A family assistance centre has been established to help family members of sailors on board the USS McCain. The waterways around Singapore are some of the busiest and most important in the world, carrying around a quarter of the world's trade in goods and oil. #USSJohnSMcCain: Family Assistance Center established for family members. Phone numbers are On base: 243-1728 INT'L: 011-81-46-816-1728— 7th Fleet (@US7thFleet) August 21, 2017 The accident comes two months after seven US sailors died when a US destroyer collided with a merchant ship off the Japanese coast. The sailors, aged 19 to 37, were found by divers in flooded sleeping berths a day after the collision tore a huge gash in the side of the Fitzgerald. The Fitzgerald's captain was relieved of command and other sailors would be punished after the Navy found poor seamanship and flaws in keeping watch contributed to the collision, the Navy announced last week. An investigation into how and why the Fitzgerald collided with the other ship was not finished, but enough details were known to take those actions, the Navy said. Seven missing sailors found dead onboard USS Fitzgerald 01:05 The USS Fitzgerald and USS John S. McCain are both ballistic missile defence (BMD) capable ships and part of the same Japan-based destroyer squadron. The Seventh Fleet has six ships assigned to BMD patrols, with half of those out on patrol at any one time. Asked whether the US Navy would need to bring forward other ships to maintain its strength, a spokesman for the Seventh Fleet told Reuters it was "way too early to know".
Elon Musk and 115 other experts ask the UN to ban killer robots in open letter
Elon Musk, Google DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman, and 114 other leading AI and robotics experts have joined together to ask the UN to ban the use of so-called killer robots in an open letter published today. The group is concerned about the potential use of lethal autonomous weapons and how they might be applied in the future, and they penned a short note released by the Future of Life Institute. The text was made public to kick off the opening of the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI 2017) in Melbourne, Australia, according to a press release. "Lethal autonomous weapons" refers to the drones, autonomous machine guns, tanks, and other forms of weaponry controlled by AI on next-generation battlefields. Musk, for one, is famously wary of AI's potential to go bad, recently calling it "the greatest threat we face as a civilization," above even nuclear weapons — but the open letter is the first time a group of AI and robotics companies have joined forces to petition the UN specifically about autonomous weapons, according to the release. SEE ALSO: The world's most automated country moves toward setting a 'robot tax' The UN’s Review Conference of the Convention on Conventional Weapons had unanimously agreed to start formal discussions on the prohibition of autonomous weapons, and 19 of the member countries have already supported banning the killer robots outright. The group was slated to meet on Aug. 21, but has been delayed until November, according to
Fortune. The open letter, which was signed by representatives from companies worth collectively billions of dollars across 26 countries, could put even more pressure to make a prohibition happen. One of the autonomous lethal weapons already out in the world.Image: future of life instituteThe actual text of the letter is short and stark. You can read it here, but we've included the most essential passage below: Co-signer Yoshua Bengio, a deep learning expert who founded Element AI, is concerned about more than just the immediate damage lethal autonomous weapons might cause. He cited the potential to "hurt the further development of AI’s good applications" by focusing on warfare and the inevitable backlash against the technology as a major reason for his participation in the effort. The Future of Life Institute published a similar letter in 2015, which was signed by Musk, Stephen Hawking, and others with a message warning against the broader dangers of AI, not just those created for warfare. The danger posed by non-military AI is much less pressing, which makes some of Musk's statements feel overblown and ridiculous and his self-important spat with Mark Zuckerberg more of a media spectacle than a debate with real stakes. But the potential for autonomous weapons to do damage, as the open letter states, is here now. Hopefully, the UN listens to the experts. WATCH: Elon Musk's self-taught AI bot destroyed an esports pro in 'Dota 2'
Moroccan suspect in Barcelona attack turned more conservative in past year: family
![Moroccan suspect in Barcelona attack turned more conservative in past year: family]( "Moroccan suspect in Barcelona attack turned more conservative in past year: family")
By Samia Errazzouki MRIRT, Morocco (Reuters) - A suspect still at large after the Barcelona van attack began showing more religiously conservative behavior within the past year and refused to shake hands with women during a visit to his birthplace in Morocco in March, family members say. The relatives expressed shock and anger on Sunday after discovering the alleged involvement in the Barcelona attack of Younes Abouyaaqoub, 22, as well as his brother and two cousins, all originally from the small Moroccan town of Mrirt. Abouyaaqoub is one of 12 suspects in Thursday's attack on Las Ramblas, Barcelona's most famous boulevard, in which a van plowed into holidaymakers, killing 13 people.
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