Pope Francis has accepted the resignations of a Chilean bishop he robustly defended earlier this year despite claims of a cover-up of clerical sexual abuse, a move that later forced the pontiff into making a public apology.

In his continuing efforts to show he has grasped the extent of the Catholic church’s sexual abuse scandal, and intends to deal with those embroiled in it as perpetrators or colluders, Francis accepted the resignations on Monday of Juan Barros, as well as his fellow bishops Gonzalo Duarte and Cristián Caro. They were among 34 Chilean bishops who offered to resign last month after Francis said the country’s religious hierarchy was collectively responsible for “grave defects” in handling sexual abuse cases and the church’s resulting loss of credibility.

Juan Carlos Cruz, a survivor who has been a vocal critic of Barros and repeatedly called on the Vatican to take action, said: “A new day has begun in Chile’s Catholic church. “I’m thrilled for all those who have fought to see this day. The band of delinquent bishops … begins to disintegrate today.” On Monday, a Vatican statement said Francis had accepted the resignations of the bishops and appointed temporary replacements. In January, the pope caused an outcry when he denounced sexual abuse survivors on a visit to Chile, saying claims Barros was complicit in a cover-up were a “calumny”.(theguardian)…[+]

The idea of killer robots rising up and destroying humans is a Hollywood fantasy and a distraction from the more pressing dilemmas that intelligent machines present to society, according to one of Britain’s most influential computer scientists. Sir Nigel Shadbolt, professor of computer science at the University of Oxford, predicts that AI will bring overwhelming benefits to humanity, revolutionising cancer diagnosis and treatment, and transforming education and the workplace. If problems arise, he said, it will not be because sentient machines have unexpectedly gone rogue in a Terminator-like scenario. “The danger is clearly not that robots will decide to put us away and have a robot revolution,” he said. “If there [are] killer robots, it will be because we’ve been stupid enough to give it the instructions or software for it to do that without having a human in the loop deciding.”(theguardian)…[+]

A Kirtland air force base officer with top security clearance who disappeared 35 years ago has been found, alive and well and living under another name in California. The air force office of special investigations said in a news release this week that William Howard Hughes Jr was apprehended at his home after a fraud investigation involving a fake identity he had been using. Hughes was involved in classified planning and analysis of Nato control, command and communications surveillance systems during the cold war. He specialized in radar surveillance.(theguardian)…[+]