Obama Orders Intelligence Report on Russian Election Hacking

President Obama giving a speech at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla., on Tuesday. Credit

Doug Mills/The New York Times

Washington — President Obama has ordered American intelligence agencies to produce a full report on Russian efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election, his homeland security adviser said on Friday. He also directed them to develop a list of “lessons learned” from the broad campaign the United States has accused Russia of carrying out to steal emails, publish their contents and probe the vote-counting system.

“We may have crossed a new threshold here,” Lisa Monaco, one of Mr. Obama’s closest aides and the former head of the national security division of the Justice Department, told reporters Friday. “He expects to receive this report before he leaves office.”

The report, according to senior administration officials, will trace the attacks on the Democratic National Committee and on prominent individuals like John D. Podesta, the chairman of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

Scorpio Won’t Compete with High-End Rigs, Selling At ‘Console Price-Point’

Microsoft’s Project Scorpio is the last of the three systems to be inevitably unveiled in what is this strange eighth-generation of new, new-ish and upgraded consoles alike. And the head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, has shared a tad bit of insight into Xbox’s decision-making with what Scorpio will be. Speaking to AusGamers, Spencer claims that with Project Scorpio, the focus has been less on the highly-spoken six teraflops claimed and more a balance of other components.

Millennials don't think Trump will affect their wallets. But they should

Why Trump's tax plan could raise taxes for 8.7 million households

Millennials don't think a Trump presidency will matter for their wallets.

At least, that's the conclusion reached by a recent survey. Young Americans are among those most likely to think the outcome of the election won't make a difference for their financial security, according to Bankrate.com's December Financial Security Index.

About 45% of respondents aged 18-35 said they think the results of the election won't affect their personal finances either way.

The Bridge Headset Powers Up iPhone VR With Positional Tracking

BRIDGE

IF YOU’VE BEEN holding onto your trusty iPhone 6, 6S, or 7 and wondering when a cool VR headset will be available for it, this is your lucky day. The Occipital Bridge headset looks like it’s well worth the wait, as it’s more powerful than any other phone-driven headset on the market.

That’s because it’ll have positional-tracking capabilities other mobile-driven headsets lack. The Bridge comes from the same company that created the Occipital Structure Sensor, an iPad and iPhone add-on that uses infrared to scan objects and gauge distances automatically.

Yemen: US-Made Bombs Used in Unlawful Airstrikes

Dozens of Civilian Deaths Underscore Need for Saudi Arms Embargo

(Beirut) – The Saudi Arabia-led coalition killed several dozen civilians in three apparently unlawful airstrikes in September and October 2016, Human Rights Watch said today. The coalition’s use of United States-supplied weapons in two of the strikes, including a bomb delivered to Saudi Arabia well into the conflict, puts the US at risk of complicity in unlawful attacks.

The attacks underscore the urgent need for foreign governments to suspend all arms sales to Saudi Arabia and for the United Nations human rights office to send additional investigators to Yemen to carry out credible investigations of alleged abuses by the coalition, the Houthis and their allies, and all other parties to the conflict, Human Rights Watch said.

“Saudi-led forces are bombing civilians in Yemen with newly supplied US weapons,” said Priyanka Motaparthy, senior emergencies researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The Obama administration is running out of time to completely suspend US arms sales to Saudi Arabia or be forever linked to Yemen wartime atrocities.”