Shell Oil Company allegedly paid hundreds of millions of dollars to the oppressive Nigerian government for "security" at the height of conflicts in the region, according to a report from watchdog group Platform based on leaked internal data.

Payments included $127 million to armed militants and criminal gangs between 2007 and 2009, according to the report. Tens of millions of dollars more went to police known in Nigeria as "kill and go" suggesting they can kill civilians and walk away with impunity.

The infographic below gives a breakdown of Shell's spending on "security":

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The Pentagon warned a former Navy SEAL that he faces legal action and loss of the profit for writing a book about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, according to a letter released Thursday night.

The letter, addressed to Mark Owen, the pseudonym for Matt Bissonnette, alleges that he broke two non-disclosure agreements. He signed the agreements after leaving the Navy in April 2012 and in 2007, and they prevent him from releasing classified information.

It was sent to Bissonnette by Jeh Johnson, the Pentagon's top lawyer.

"I write to formally advise you of your material breach and violation of your agreements, and to inform you that the (Pentagon) is considering pursuing against you, and all those acting in concert with you, all remedies legally available to us in light of this situation," Johnson wrote in the letter, which was sent in care of the publisher, Penguin Putnam.

The book, No Easy Day, gives a first-hand account of the May 2011 raid that killed bin Laden, the terror mastermind. Bissonnette did not submit the book to the Pentagon for pre-publication review as required by the military, according to the Pentagon.

Dutton, the publisher, has maintained that the book does not disclose secret information. It goes on sale Tuesday.

It's unclear how far the military is willing to go in punishing a member of the team that killed bin Laden after a decade on the run. Two officials have told USA TODAY that prosecution is unlikely.

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Late on that terrible April day in 2004, hours after she learned that her husband had died in the mountains of Afghanistan, Marie Tillman finally reached for the sealed envelope hidden beneath the clutter on their bedroom dresser.

Tears welled up as she read the handwritten words from Pat Tillman that begged her to do something seemingly beyond her strength.

Through the years I've asked a great deal of you, therefore it should surprise you little that I have another favor to ask. I ask that you live.

Marie would come to see Pat's "just in case" request as his final gift. It helped her navigate the stages of grief and come to terms with being the country's most talked about war widow.

Friday, Pat will be honored at San Jose's Leland High School -- where he and Marie began dating as seniors -- with the first Pat Tillman Legacy Classic.

And Marie, now the driving force in the Pat Tillman Foundation, has found personal happiness. Remarried and living in Chicago, she has a seven-month-old son, Mac, and three stepsons.

She also has penned a deeply personal book entitled "The Letter: My Journey Through Love, Loss & Life" in hopes that others dealing with tragedy can find something useful in her story.

"I'm in a really good place," said Marie, 35. "I didn't think this was something that was ever going to happen because I had no intention of ever getting remarried. It's been a real difficult journey getting to

this point, but I feel really good about where I am."

Shortly after their wedding in 2002, Pat famously traded an NFL uniform for one of a U.S. Army Ranger in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Following his death, from what investigations would determine was a tragic incident of friendly fire, he was elevated to icon status. There is a statue of Pat Tillman outside the Arizona Cardinals stadium, and players at his college alma mater Arizona State wear "PT 42" patches on their uniforms.

For years, though, Marie kept her pain private. In rare interviews she was guarded and revealed little about herself.

But last week she was open and vibrant as she talked about the foundation, being a new mom and Pat's enduring memory.

"Obviously he was a huge part of my life, but to see the impact he had on other people is amazing," she said by phone. "It still surprises me that when I go to a Cardinals game, his jersey is still the most common one that you see. It speaks to who he was, the way he lived his life and how people remain inspired by the decisions that he made."

He also inspired her to make the toughest decision of all: finding a new life without him.

She begins the recently published book

by saying that the 27-year-old Marie who read the letter that day would be stunned to know that she later would want to chronicle the experience. But she did it for people like that devastated young woman whose life was forever changed when a chaplain and three soldiers in full Army dress appeared at her workplace.

She describes the feelings of loss and depression as well as the kindness of friends and complete strangers. It was a long, uneven process of emotional recovery.

"I started writing very shortly after Pat was killed, but I never had the intention of publishing it," Marie said. "But when I started the book, I went back through all these old journals, and it was interesting to see how much work I had put into getting where I am today."

Friends and family created the foundation as a way to do something good in his name. In 2008, Marie felt she was ready to become more hands-on and focus their efforts on the Tillman Military Scholars program.

So far, $3.2 million has been awarded to 230 students -- veterans, active-duty military or spouses of services members -- studying at colleges around the country.

"The foundation wouldn't have worked as well as it has without her, and I truly believe it also has helped her move on," said Doug Tammaro, the Arizona State media relations director who was part of launching the annual Pat's Run fundraiser in Tempe, which drew 28,000 participants in April. "People see her at the race and it means so much, especially with the way she has kept the Tillman name. She has really embraced this."

Marie also came to realize that she shared a bond with others who had endured tragedy.

"People always told me that my experience was something that they related to," she said. "I got to a point where I thought that telling my story might be helpful to someone else. I also thought I could be honest about what it's like when your life falls apart and you're trying to put it all back together."

That rebuilding included marrying investment banker Joe Shenton, a divorced father of three.

"Now I have this house full of four kids and it's crazy, but I love it," she said. "The older boys are awesome and have been so accepting of me in their lives. And my husband is so supportive of the foundation and the book. He accepts all of it as part of who I am."

Alex Garwood, Marie's brother-in-law, said the change in her is hard to describe in words. But you can see it on her face and hear it in her voice.

"She is an incredibly strong person, and I know that's something that Pat always saw in her," Garwood said. "Those of us who have been around her know how this hasn't been an easy journey. But it's incredible to see her now."

Marie can't be at the game Friday, but she is pleased that Leland continues to honor Pat. Her parents, she added, live just down the street and you can see the football stadium from their house.

The one named after Pat Tillman.

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There has been a lot of talk about a ‘New Great Game’ in Central Asia, in which the major powers compete for control of resource rich and logistically important region of Central Asia. This area might have made the most headlines last year when Herman Cain found himself unable to pronounce ‘Uzbekistan’. The layperson may not be aware of where Central Asia is, or why exactly it is important.

This region has long been seen as crucial to hegemony in Asia and Russia, China and the United States are all vying for control. Recent violence in the Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan is a case study of how complex the region is, and a preview of the conflicting loyalties in play: local governments that oppose authoritarian central governments, complex border politics between states, numerous restive autonomous regions and of course, international concerns about implications of conflict. The violence in Tajikistan can provide an illustration of the competing entities in the region, and give insight into what the ‘New Great Game’ might mean for the US.

The eastern Badakhshan region of Tajikistan has a long history of opposition to the central government, and on July 24, tensions flared as a 'special operation' took place, killing anywhere from 42-200 people, depending on the source of the information. Locally known as Pamir, this semi-autonomous region of Tajikistan is populated by about 200,000 who campaigned for independence during the Tajik civil war of the 1990s. It is a remote, poor part of the country and a continual base for opposition politics and rebel groups. The shared border with Afghanistan has opened it up to smuggling and drug trafficking. The military operation followed the recent killing of a government official, General Abdullo Nazarov, who was chairman for the Committee for National Security. Nazarov, unlike many security officials, was known for being a prominent opposition figure and was only in the government due to a Peace Agreement, which dictated 30% of government ministers must be named by the opposition.

This is a complicated series of events. To spell it out simplistically, an opposition figure in the government was stabbed to death in a province known to be rebellious. The government then attacked this province in order to reassert control, presumably to show that murders of government officials would not go unanswered. Last night, another opposition leader was killed, leading to public protests today.

Eurasianet reports that a wheelchair-bound commander was murdered on the night of 21 August, setting off protests that government troops are attempting to quell. Two protestors are reported injured thus far. Earlier this month, all males in the restless Gorno-Badakhshan region were called to report to the military for questioning, but the government states it is not related to the recent conflicts and is standard procedure.

The return to violence and protest so soon after the July skirmishes stoke fears that Tajikistan will return to full-scale conflict.  The killing of civilians in July, though denied by the government, is a likely factor in the protests today, exacerbating problems between the autonomous region and the government. The region in question is isolated, so it does seem fairly unlikely that violence will spill over to other parts of the country.

From a US perspective, it is worth noting that instability on the Afghan border, especially during the drawdown of the US troops, will undoubtedly make US policy makers nervous. This may or may not have any effect on the conflict or Tajikistan, but as pointed out recently by Casey Michel, people are becoming more aware of Tajikistan and its growing regional importance. Additionally, the border in question is a known drug smuggling route, and some analysts state that recent offensives by the government are a power play to gain control over the lucrative drug trade in the region.

The conflict in Tajikistan is one of many in Central Asia – the borders are often volatile, such as the Kazakh-Kyrgyz border, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan are often tense, claims of rising Islamist insurgencies from all the Central Asian states and of course, there’s the NATO drawdown from Afghanistan. As the New Great Game takes shape, all of these conflicts will have to be counterbalanced with regional power plays. Central Asia is likely to be a Gordian knot for US foreign policy.

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Science Applications International Corporation — more commonly SAIC — is breaking up, dividing its businesses into two different publicly traded companies. 

The news comes after cuts to the Defense Budget stoked speculation that we'll see another round of mergers, buyouts, and industry realignment, just as happened in the early '90s and late Clinton administration. 

During that time, the Defense business consolidated due to the end of the Cold War. Now a shrinking Defense budget after the wars in the Middle East are kicking off a new series of industry change. 

SAIC had $5.5 billion worth of government contracts in 2010 alone, and was the sixth largest contractor for the government. 

The company focuses on IT and other tech services for the Pentagon and other governmental agencies.

It's too early to tell if this is because of plausible future cuts to SAIC's bottom line, or what will happen to the two new companies. It's not too difficult to imagine SAIC spinning off its defense wing, only to see that bought up by a rival. 

Either way: It's starting. 

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One problem facing supersonic aircraft is that the properties that make them fly efficiently at speeds greater than Mach 1 (the speed of sound, 761 mph) hurt their performance in subsonic flight.

To overcome the issue, Ge-Cheng Zha, an aerospace engineer at the University of Miami, has developed a concept plane that would rotate in mid-air to take advantage of the best aerodynamics.

It will also eliminate the sonic boom that plagued the Concorde and led to widespread bans of supersonic flight over land.

Zha calls it the "SBiDir-FW," for supersonic bi-directional flying wing, and received a $100,000 grant from NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts program earlier this month. The plane is symmetrical on both axes, with two cockpits.

When flying at subsonic speed, the plane is wider than it is long, with its wingtips folded up. To transition for supersonic flight, the tips unfold, and the engines lock into place while the plane rotates 90 degrees. No power system is needed: Aerodynamic forces drive the movement, "like a flying Frisbee," according to Zha.

Optimized for high-speed flight, the SBiDir-FW will create "virtually no sonic boom," and minimize fuel consumption, according to Aviation Week. It will fly from New York to Tokyo in four hours.

Like most supersonic aircraft in the works, Zha's concept is not expected to become a reality for 20 to 30 years. But it's no fantasy: NASA awards the advanced technology concept grants based on "potential to transform future aerospace missions."

For the next year, Zha and his team will study the basic feasibility of the SBiDir-FW, and will be eligible for a second, $500,000 grant based on their results.

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Tiffany York's stepfather rushed across the courtroom and had to be tackled by security.

"You killed (expletive) my kid!" He yelled, while another family member shouted, "An eye for an eye!"

The drama came after Georgia prosecutors announced they were seeking the death penalty for the three Army soldiers who allegedly shot and killed a colleague and his 17 year-old girlfriend. Michael Roark and Tiffany York, the grief-stricken and irate step-daughter of Wesley Thomas, were slayed execution style in the woods and found days later on the side of a road.

The Seattle Times reports that prosecutor Ted Durden put forward the death penalty in light the recent discovery that Isaac Aguigui, one of the soldiers charged with murder, had recruited fellow soldiers Christopher Salmon, Anthony Peden, Michael Burnette and eventual victim Roark into an anarchist militia hell-bent on bringing down the government.

The group also allegedly conspired to assassinate president Obama. Durden said the charges have nothing to do with the militia, but that the soldiers' plot to commit treasonous acts factored into his decision to pursue the death penalty.

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Apple has rejected an app that would alert users to drone strikes. The app would also keep an active log of strikes, allowing users to plot areas of interest.

CNET reported that Apple rejected Drone+ because it contained objectionable content that violate Apple's guidelines for applications. Though the New York Times noted that a similar app by The Guardian has been approved.

The app's creator, a New York University student named Josh Bedley, told the Times that Apple has rejected the app three times over the summer.

"I totally understand it from Apple's perspective," Begley told Times reporters. "They don't want to have anything that could be considered controversial by anyone. I get that, and I understand that."

CNET notes that Apple has previously overturned judgements on apps, based primarily on public outcry.

The Obama administration has executed approximately 330 drone strikes in Pakistan this year, considered by many to be illegal and often at the loss of innocent life.

Drones+ iPhone App from Josh Begley on Vimeo.

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U.S. military units have resorted to building hardened safe rooms, or what they call "Alamos," to protect themselves from potential attacks from the soldiers and police officers they are training, according to a report from Stars & Stripes.

Troops have built the safe rooms as U.S. and NATO commanders receive almost daily reports of supposed Afghan security forces turning their guns on their trainers. U.S. military leaders have urged troops to maintain partnerships, but also use caution.

"Well, you have to take precautions" although close partnership is still the strategy, said Alexander Vershbow, the deputy Secretary-General of NATO and a veteran U.S. diplomat. "But you have to take precautions that won't undermine success."

The group would have "hardened areas that we could literally Alamo until reinforcements arrive," said Johnson, who was touring training areas in the states before returning to Afghanistan.

"It's something that we've always thought about, but with the increase in insider threats...I think what it's caused us to do is rehearse it," Johnson said, according to Stars and Stripes.

But Johnson, as well as Vershbow, stressed that improving the "cultural sensitivity" of U.S. troops to behavior that might be offensive to the Afghans was a key to the success of the transition of security responsibilities from the U.S.-led coalition to the Afghan forces.

"The bottom line is that maintaining a collaborative relationship is the formula that has worked," Vershbow said.

At least 45 coalition troops have been killed this year by individuals in Afghan police or army uniforms and the insider attacks "are of tremendous concern to everybody at NATO," Vershbow said.

"We have to "train our own troops to be more sensitive," he said. "In the broader scheme of things, our strategy is working."

Nearly a third of the U.S. troops killed this month in Afghanistan—12 of 38—have been victims of insider attacks. August has also been the worst month of the year for the coalition with a total of 48 troops killed thus far compared to 46 in July—the previous highest monthly total for 2012.

Despite the spike in insider attacks, both President Obama and Marine Gen. John Allen, the ISAF commander, last week stressed that closer cooperation with the Afghan security forces was vital to a successful transition that would allow the allies to withdraw all combat forces in 2014.

In a video briefing to the Pentagon Aug. 23, Allen said the current focus was on green-on-blue attacks.

 "But the real story here is green and green. Every day, hundreds of thousands of Afghan soldiers and police across this nation work and fight side by side with coalition troops to defeat our common enemies and protect the civilian population," Allen said.

Obama emphasized that U.S., NATO and Afghan forces must keep close contact, but those relationships must not put troops in vulnerable positions.

"And you know, part of what we've got to do is to make sure that this model works but it doesn't make our guys more vulnerable," Obama said. "We've got to make sure that we're on top of this."

The more frequent insider attacks have posed a challenging dilemma for troops on the ground and should focus the White House and the Pentagon on a faster withdrawal from a war that the polls show Americans no longer support, said Lawrence Korb, a military analyst at the Center for American Progress and a former assistant secretary of Defense.

"The troops are worried now about trying to protect themselves from the people they're trying to protect," Korb said. "That's an indication that we've reached the point of diminishing returns" in Afghanistan.

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Video gamers are lending their hands, in particular their thumbs, to battlefield medics.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is known for bizarre crowd sourcing techniques and odd approaches to technology development, and recently they challenged gamers to come up with a solution for 'sepsis,' a bacterial infection in the blood.

The infection is more common on the battlefield, where keeping a wound, particularly deep tissue wounds, hygienic is not always possible.

Defensetech reports that DARPA is using a website called FoldIt, it's own crowd sourcing site, to challenge gamers to come up with the best way to fold proteins in order to develop new ways to attack other proteins that cause sepsis.

From the FoldIt site:

Protein structure prediction: As described above, knowing the structure of a protein is key to understanding how it works and to targeting it with drugs. A small protein can consist of 100 amino acids, while some human proteins can be huge (1000 amino acids). The number of different ways even a small protein can fold is astronomical because there are so many degrees of freedom. Figuring out which of the many, many possible structures is the best one is regarded as one of the hardest problems in biology today and current methods take a lot of money and time, even for computers. Foldit attempts to predict the structure of a protein by taking advantage of humans' puzzle-solving intuitions and having people play competitively to fold the best proteins.

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An American who worked as a guard at a new U.S. consulate in China has pleaded guilty to trying to sell classified information to the Chinese government. 

Bryan Underwood, 32, reported offered to sell photographs of "areas or information classified at the Secret level" and details of security arrangements to China's ministry of state security while he was a civilian guard at the construction site of a new U.S. Consulate compound in Guangzhou between 2009 and 2011.

Prosecutors said that Underwood lost money in the stock market and was hoping he could make as much as $5 million from the information. 

“Bryan Underwood was charged with protecting a new U.S. Consulate compound against foreign espionage, but facing financial hardship, he attempted to betray his country for personal gain,” U.S. Assistant Attorney General Monaco said in a statement.

From the Department of Justice:

As part of his plan, Underwood wrote a letter to the Chinese MSS, expressing his “interest in initiating a business arrangement with your offices” and stating, “I know I have information and skills that would be beneficial to your offices [sic] goals.  And I know your office can assist me in my financial endeavors.”

The U.S. government found no evidence that Underwood succeeded in passing classified information concerning the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou to anyone at the Chinese MSS.

Underwood, a former resident of Indiana, pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to communicate national defense information to a foreign government. 

He faces up to 20 years in prison and will be sentenced in November.

SEE ALSO: Hu Jintao Personally Intervened To Uncover The Alleged US Spy >

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The news out of Afghanistan is that the Taliban beheaded 17 men and women who had gathered for a mixed-gender social event with music and dancing.

This, of course, is not the first time the excesses of Muslim jihadists have included beheadings.

Dozens of headless bodies were found in the Tigris River years ago in Iraq, while the Taliban have used the terror of the literal sword to good media effect to enforce their archaic moral code.

Al Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarkawi terrorized Iraq until he was killed by the allies in 2006. His specialty was beheading people, like American businessman Nicholas Berg in front of a video camera and then posting the film on the Internet. The computer server in Mali, from which the film could be downloaded, had to be shut down a few times because traffic was so high. 

"Beheading" is actually a euphemism – the word refers to what was considered a relatively humane method of execution, by which the head was swiftly removed with a sword or guillotine. Compared to other methods used, such as crucifixion, burning at the stake, hanging, the wheel, or burying alive, the method actually represented progress...

Please continue reading on Worldcrunch.com - Why Beheadings Are Back As Execution Method Of Choice For Islamic Terrorists >

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It's certainly planned, inadvertently ironic, that President Barack Obama chose the 2nd anniversary of the end of the Iraq War to visit Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, to announce an executive order expanding suicide prevention and substance abuse services for veterans.

Jay Carney, White House press secretary, said to reporters aboard Air Force One that the executive order focuses on the "unseen wounds of war."

The Washington Post's Amy Gardner reports that Carney said the focus on "unseen wounds" includes mental-health conditions, such as Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Post Traumatic Stress (PTS), and is the latest evidence Obama is fulfilling that promise.

“We can’t forget,” Carney told reporters, including Gardner. “This country has been engaged in military conflict now for more than 10 years abroad since our first forces went into Afghanistan after Sept. 11, 2001. A tremendous number of men and women have served in those two countries.”

Needless to say, this appears to be a Band-Aid on, and distraction from the failed war in Afghanistan. Obama's foreign policy has done nothing but make combat operations a bit more messy in the restive country — a move emphasized by the fact that American KIA's in Afghanistan essentially doubled, from 1000 to 2000, over the last 27 months of Obama's presidency.

If the war is what causes the wounds, ending it might be the best form of "prevention." Instead, Obama plans to expand personnel in the Veterans Association, an already convoluted, bureaucratic mess, that can't seem to get out of its own way.

The same VA that messed up GI-Bill payments in Ohio, prompting military leaders to "encourage" colleges to matriculate veteran students who have insufficient funds, and the same VA which spent millions on a conference, including $52,000 on a video, while veterans toil and navigate through complex phone corridors in an attempt to receive their benefits.

That's the VA which is essential to Obama's new "initiative" to stem the incredible rise of suicides in the military. Suicides due largely to combat stress, brought about by multiple deployments.

By the end of last year, there were 125,000 vets in the Army alone who had deployed three or more times, and to make matters worse, in wars increasingly viewed as illegitimate and pointless.

Under these conditions, even one deployment can be enough.

This executive order is largely just a band aid, Mr. President, the damage has already been done.

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Guess what? You can buy WW2 rifles from the government.

The "Civilian Marksmanship Program" is a private non-profit, but the government classifies it as a "government corporation hybrid." A Congressional document, leaked by Wikileaks, details how what was once a wholly, publicly owned and operated military wholesale program became this strange, incredibly rare "hybrid" company.

Here's how it works:

All the weapons, the M1 Carbines and M1 Garands (with that distinctive 'ping!' we've all heard in the movies), are owned by the Army, housed by the Army, guarded by the Army, and logistically transferred by the Army.

This "company," serves as the go between in order to distribute these rifles.

Now before you get your gun controlling underpants in a bunch: there is quite a rigorous screening process in order to obtain one of these bad boys. Also, the CMS only sells a certain amount per year, so they have a quota, and they stick to it, because all sales have to pay for operation fees.

If this isn't strange enough, these operation costs include marksmanship training of the American populace. They also have competitions and other forms of training.

And the kicker - the program was established way back in 1903 in order to "raise a nation of citizen soldiers."

The organization eventually developed 1,000 sister gun-clubs nationwide in order to qualify people to enter the program. Later on down the line, in the 80s and 90s, CMS came under fire for playing party to certain anti-government militias.

The accusations and less than desirable associations smacked of "military coup," regardless of the reality.

CMS leaders quickly dismissed these groups from all shooting ranges, but nonetheless, that bad taste remained. Which is why, in 1996, Congress enacted legislation to break CMS off from government control and make it this kind of private kind of public entity. This move ensured that CMS could simultaneously retain the ability to distribute warehoused government arms and train the populace, while distancing it enough to give government officials plausible deniability.

Stranger yet, if this company were to fold, all of its assets would remain in ownership of the Department of Defense.

They're still up and running though, so the fact remains: if you want an old WW2 weapon, the government is selling.

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The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is suing the Justice Department for details of last month's ruling by a secretive U.S. court that National Security Agency's domestic spying program violated the U.S. Constitution, Jon Brodkin of arstechnica reports.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) found that "on at least one occasion" the NSA had violated the Fourth Amendment’s restriction against unreasonable searches and seizures.

The decision is classified “because of the sensitive intelligence matters" it concerns, according to a letter from Seb. Ron Wyden (D-OR) to Congress that was acquired by Wired.

The EFF wants the information because of its current lawsuit against the NSA (i.e. Jewel vs. NSA) that alleges the U.S. government operates an illegal mass domestic surveillance program. Three NSA whistleblowers—including William Binney—agreed to provide evidence that the NSA has been running a domestic spying program since 2001.

The kicker is that there is ample evidence that the NSA has gone above and beyond the powers granted through the 2008 FISA Amendment Act by actively spying on the electronic communications of American citizens within the U.S. and by coercing service providers to feed it any and all information it wants.

That is what FISC found and what the government does not want to admit.

SEE ALSO: This Is How We Know The Shocking Facts About Spy Campaign 'TrapWire' Are True >

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The value of the arms trade has DOUBLED since 2006, according to the Small Arms Survey 's newest report:  Small Arms Survey 2012: Moving Targets.

The Swiss-based survey valued the global trade of small arms, light weapons, parts, accessories, and ammunition at $8.5 billion dollars — up significantly from the $4 billion estimate in 2006.

The report analyzed how the arms trade has influenced the Latin American drug trade and analyzed its effect on homicides in America, among other things.

We've pulled some striking charts on the growing small arms trade.

The sale of ammunition today is more valuable than the entire small arms trade in 2006.

Almost 3/5 of all arms sales are undocumented.

Despite its economic problems, Italy exported more firearms than any other country but the United States.

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Russian leaders have taken notice of the U.S. Air Force’s plans to build a next generation bomber, announcing they have set their sites on building a hypersonic bomber.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said his country won’t settle for a bomber like the B-2. Air Force leaders want to pursue the same hypersonic technology the U.S. military is trying to develop.

Rogozin’s comments come conspicuously close to a failed hypersonic test flight the U.S. Air Force held on Aug. 15. The test flight vehicle dropped into the Pacific Ocean 15 seconds after it was released from a specially outfitted B-52 and never reached the Mach 6 speeds U.S. Air Force officials had hoped.

To fly hypersonic means flying five times the speed of sound (Mach 5) or faster than 3,840 miles per hour.

The Russians hope to build their hypersonic bomber by 2020, Rogozin said. That timeline seems a bit ambitious if they are starting to develop the engines now.

The U.S. started its Waverider program in 2004 having spent $140 million. The Aug. 15 was the last test scheduled under the program. Pentagon officials will have to seek additional funding to continue the program.

Engineers built the X-51A Waverider’s scramjet engine to fly without liquid jet propellant. The engine instead uses the oxygen in the air to propel it. It also harnesses the energy created by its own shock wave to reach top speeds up to Mach 6.

The U.S. Air Force had hoped to outfit an operational aircraft with hypersonic engines by 2016. Following this month’s test failure and the questions over future funding, those goals are very much in doubt. For the Russians to design and deliver a hypersonic bomber by 2020, seems just as unlikely.

U.S. officials have not specified whether their own next generation bomber would fly hypersonic speeds. The U.S. Air Force said in 2007 the bomber would likely be subsonic to keep costs under control. Of course, the next generation bomber program has been scrapped and then brought back since then by the Pentagon.

However, it’s hard to envision the U.S. fielding a hypersonic bomber in the next decade with the budget shortfalls they will experience the next five years. Not to mention the struggle they’ve had building the fifth generation fighter fleet.

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Posit Science today announced the launch of BrainHQ, its next-generation computerized brain fitness training system.

Designed to improve the cognitive performance of virtually everyone who uses it, BrainHQ brings proven brain exercises into an online version with social features—all at a price anyone can afford.

“We spent the last eight years showing through rigorous scientific studies that we can build brain training exercises that improve cognitive performance,” said Henry Mahncke, PhD, CEO of Posit Science. “With BrainHQ, we’re making these exercises available to a much wider audience, with new, game-like and social features, as well as a number of exercises that are free to use. Our goal is to make brain training as common and useful as brushing your teeth—something everyone does every day for long-term health.”

BrainHQ deploys all of the Posit Science exercises that have been shown to drive substantial benefits in more than 60 scholarly articles published in science and medical journals, including the Journal of the American Medical Association. Those benefits include significant gains in brain processing speed, attention, memory and numerous standard measures of quality of life.

“We’ve seen these exercises help people across the population,” said Dr. Mahncke. “Whether it’s a young Wall Street trader looking for an edge or an older diner trying to follow a conversation in a noisy restaurant, a 75 year-old behind the wheel of a car, a soccer Mom juggling appointments, or a soldier or athlete wanting to be their best…the BrainHQ exercises are proven to increase processing speed and sharpen the brain.”

At launch, BrainHQ features exercises in four broad areas: memory, attention, brain speed and people skills. There are hundreds of exercise configurations available to users, with more being added all the time. BrainHQ also incorporates informational content on the brain, with advice on improving brain health through best practices around diet, physical exercise, sleep, stress reduction and everyday activities. Features also include useful articles on how the brain works as well as tips on how to keep your brain sharp and healthy at any age.

“As pioneers in this field, we’ve learned a lot from our users that has driven the design of BrainHQ,” said Dr. Mahncke. “We know that people who undertake activities as part of a group generally stick with it and do better, so BrainHQ encourages you to build a friend network. You can see when your friends reach milestones, share thoughts on your experience, and give advice or congratulations. We also know that people want authentic feedback on how they are doing, so BrainHQ incorporates many features that provide continuous feedback and allow you to compare performance with your baseline and with other people. And we know that a lot of people have full schedules already, so we split BrainHQ into 90-second segments. That way, you can fit in training in short bursts or long marathons—whatever works for you.”

Several tools are also completely free of charge to BrainHQ users including core exercises, the friend network, and all of the informational content. “We want to make these proven brain exercises easy to try, easy to share, and easy to keep using – so we made a core set available to absolutely everyone,” said Dr. Mahncke. For more complete training, members can access a full array of exercises for just $10 per month or $99 per year.

“The fact that BrainHQ exercises are designed to push your abilities, while encouraging your efforts makes them fun to do,” stated BrainHQ beta user, Beverly Schwartz, of Philadelphia. “They provide feedback on my progress and allow me to train with friends.” Beta tester Gary Cramer of Shingle Springs, CA also enjoys the stimulation. “What I like most about BrainHQ is that it challenges my brain. I know I’m doing something useful and it keeps me motivated.”

What makes the BrainHQ exercises uniquely effective is the patented bottom-up, customized approach developed by Posit Science. The exercises improve brain function at the root, resulting in improved attention, memory, and executive function. Reasoning, as well as visuospatial, auditory-language, and interpersonal skills, are also improved with BrainHQ’s calculated methods of brain training. The exercises use intelligent algorithms that constantly adjust to individual performance, so that each user has a tailored journey through the stimuli. In studies, this approach has been shown to generalize benefits from the elemental skills practiced in the exercises to significant improvements in everyday activities.

“BrainHQ is a truly ‘state-of-the art’ program that incorporates all we have learned. It’s a huge step forward for brain science,” said renowned neuroscientist, Michael Merzenich, PhD, Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Posit Science and professor emeritus of the University of California San Francisco. “Since these exercises can benefit virtually everyone, BrainHQ represents a big step forward in our mission of getting the science out of the lab and into the hands of those who need it most,” he continued. “Just a few minutes a day can improve your ability to think faster, focus better and remember more. And those skills, in turn, enhance the vibrancy of everyday life.”

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Earlier today, Human Rights Watch released a report in which it charges the CIA and UK security forces of serious human rights violations.

The 154-page report, Delivered Into Enemy Hands: U.S.-Led Abuse and Rendition of Opponents to Qaddafi’s Libya, was based on recently uncovered and declassified documents from the CIA and Qaddafi's security forces and interviews with 14 former detainees — most of whom had some relationship to the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), which worked to overthrow Gaddafi for about two decades.

And some of what HRW uncovered is shocking:

Mohammed Shoroeiya was one of the 14 subjects interviewed. He was arrested in Peshawar, Pakistan, in April 2003 by Pakistani and U.S. personnel, and eventually transferred to a U.S.-run detention facility in Afghanistan.  

The report states that Shoroeiya was periodically tortured by, "all of whom he believed to be American." in a manner similar to waterboarding: 

Shoroeiya said the board was made of wood and could turn around 360 degrees. Sometimes they would strap him onto the board and spin him around while wearing a hood that covered his nose and mouth. This would completely disorient him. While he was strapped to the board with his head lower than his feet, they would pour buckets of extremely cold water over his nose and mouth to the point that he felt he was going to suffocate. After the hood was put over his face, he said, “then there is the water pouring…. They start to pour water to the point where you feel like you are suffocating.” When asked how many times this was done to him, he said “a lot …a lot … it happened many times …. They pour buckets of water all over you.”

The report did not mention why Shoroeiya was arrested, nor did it highlight a particular reason that he was tortured in the specific detention facility referred to above. 

The CIA have refused to comment on the specific details of the case, though told Business Insider that it has been on the record about three cases where "detainees were subjected to the waterboarding technique".

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In the coded landscape of Israel's intentions regarding a military strike against Iran, the defence minister, Ehud Barak, made a public statement on Thursday which may signify a shift away from unilateral action.

Following a meeting with Admiral James Winnefield, the US vice-chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Barak issued the following statement to the media:

We face a common challenge but the clock is ticking at a different pace for each of us. We also have our differences; Israel keeps its sovereign right to act independently, and the US understands this. However, there is no doubt about the US readiness to face the challenge on every level. Only Israel will take decisions regarding its future and security. However, the US is our most important ally. The intelligence co-operation and the military support are deep and exceptional in scope. I am sure that it will stay this way in any scenario that might happen in the future.

One interpretation of this is that Barak is saying: Israel will not give up its right to act alone, but it won't exercise it in the next two or three months.

The key phrase is "the US is our most important ally" – a tacit acknowledgement that Israel cannot act in defiance of American disapprobation, which has been made so abundantly clear.

A news report in Haaretz offered further quotes from Barak, who was speaking at a gathering of his party members. "Israel retains its right to make sovereign decisions and the United States respects that. However, one should not ignore the impressive preparations by the Americans to counter Iran on all fronts," Barak said according to this report. The clear implication is that Israel has new faith in its superpower ally.

Some observers detect a significant shift in Barak's stance in recent days and weeks, including my colleague Julian Borger, who wrote a couple of days ago that the odds on a military strike were lengthening.

Haaretz carries a piece by Yossi Verter on Friday which starts: "Word is that defence minister Ehud Barak is no longer as gung-ho about an attack on Iran as his media interviews suggest … A top American source told an Israeli politician this week that the Americans now consider Barak to be a pouring-cold-water-over-things type of person, rather than someone who starts fires. People who have met with him in recent weeks got a similar impression. One said Barak cited his reasons for not attacking now with the same conviction and skill he used to support the opposite approach just two months ago."

The rightwing Jerusalem Post, however, has a different interpretation of Barak's comments. Its lead story in the print edition on Friday morning says that Barak "appeared to hint … that he believed the United States would join Israel in a strike on Iran to prevent the Islamic Republic from obtaining nuclear weapons".

The fact that the headlines in both papers begin with the words "Barak hints" reflects uncertainty over the defence minister's meaning. But a more temperate mood now seems to be prevailing in Israel.

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