Author: Clarence Terry

On August 9-10, the United States and Israel held meetings of the four working groups of the U.S.-Israel Strategic High-Level Dialogue on Technology in Jerusalem. An interagency delegation – led by Acting Special Envoy for Critical and Emerging Technology Dr. Seth Center – met with counterparts in the Israeli government, as well as representatives from the private sector, academia, and civil society, to advance tech cooperation under the four working groups:  Pandemic Preparedness, Climate Change, Artificial Intelligence, and Trusted Technology Ecosystems. Source : U.S Development of States

Nearly every state in the United States is neglecting access to maternal mental health care, according to a recent report, and experts fear the situation could get worse as more states severely restrict or ban abortion. All but 10 US states received either a D or F grade on a number of key measures of maternal mental health risk policies and access to care — including access to therapists, psychiatrists or mental health treatment programs, according to a May report released by the nonprofit Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health, in partnership with researchers from George Washington University. This is the group’s…

GPS, or the Global Positioning System, is the oldest and most widely used satellite navigation system in the world with 6 billion users. GPS is owned by the U.S. government and run by the Space Force, an independent military branch that’s organized under the U.S. Air Force. GPS was initially designed as a military tool and is used for things like missile guidance and drone operation. But the technology has also become indispensable to the lives of civilians. “If we had an attack on the system, you know, it could really bring so many areas of our logistics and our supply…

How do Republicans vs. Democrats justify clean-energy investment? Governors from Washington, New Mexico and Indiana explain their logic on Zero. Republicans in the US have to walk a tightrope when they talk about acting on climate change. Their job has been made harder since the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, the biggest US climate bill that provides huge investment opportunities for states led by Republicans. So how do they justify accepting those investments? Indiana’s Governor Eric Holcomb explained on the Zero podcast: “We can cultivate the sun here. Like we do soybeans,” said Holcomb. “But it’s got to make dollars and cents.”…

2.2 billion people in the world are affected by lack of access to clean water. Without water, villagers have more health problems, economic insecurity and lack of educational opportunities. The Rotary Club of Kootenai Valley has tackled the job of getting water to people who do not have any. So far seven villages in Guatemala have water because of the work they have undertaken. On a recent trip to Guatemala the representatives of the Rotary club met with several groups who are working to bring water to their own people. George and Linda Gerard and Eileen Carne from Libby and…

Just before Christmas, federal health officials confirmed life expectancy in America had dropped for a nearly unprecedented second year in a row — down to 76 years. While countries all over the world saw life expectancy rebound during the second year of the pandemic after the arrival of vaccines, the U.S. did not. Then, last week, more bad news: Maternal mortality in the U.S. reached a high in 2021. Also, a paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association found rising mortality rates among U.S. children and adolescents. “This is the first time in my career that I’ve ever seen [an increase in pediatric mortality]…

Honduras has announced a plan to “intervene” in the country’s prisons and implement measures to disarm prisoners and block phone signals in order to combat the high levels of crime and violence that have plagued the system for years. The plan was developed by Vice Minister of Security, Julissa Villanueva, who was appointed by President Xiomara Castro to address the corruption and criminal structures that have been allowed to thrive within the prison system. One of the key measures announced by Villanueva is the “real disarmament” of prisoners through permanent manual and electronic searches in 100% of the facilities. This move aims…

Identity verification and protection in a growing digital world is a complex issue with a variety of solutions to consider. Biometric data collection as a streamlined solution has surged in recent years, especially across the U.S. But what happens when data privacy protection and individual consent get left out in such biometric rollouts? That’s where the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act has thrived since its passage in 2008. And the law that produced the largest cash settlement ever resolving a privacy-related lawsuit — a USD650 million settlement with Facebook in March 2021 via claims under the law’s private right of action —…

AUKUS is a trilateral security pact between Australia, UK and the US, aimed at the US and the UK enabling Australia’s acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines. The pact also includes cooperation on “cyber capabilities, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies and additional undersea capabilities”. AUKUS does not focus on Australia’s procurement of nuclear subs, only but also supports Australian purchase of new long-range strike capabilities for its air force, navy and army. Under the pact, the US will share nuclear propulsion technology with the Royal Australian Navy, which will acquire at least eight nuclear-powered submarines armed with conventional weapons to be built in…

LAHORE: At the Game Developers Conference (GDC) hosted in San Francisco, California, U.S. Consul General in Lahore William K. Makaneole formally inaugurated the first-ever ‘Pakistan Pavilion,’ a trade booth at which more than 35 Pakistani game developers are showcasing their products to U.S. and international vendors and investors. The Pavilion, jointly established by a USAID Investment Promotion Activity (IPA) and the Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA), along with corresponding networking meetings will develop partnerships that grow Pakistan’s gaming sector, increase U.S investment in Pakistan, and further cement the California-Punjab Sister Province/State initiative signed in January. Consul General Makaneole also formally…