US Air Force declares F-35A jets combat-ready

Washington: The US Air Force has declared an initial squadron of F-35A Lightning II fifth-generation fighter jets ready for combat after years of delay and cost overruns. The Pentagon’s largest weapons project costing $379 billion was launched in 2001 and saw costs go up nearly 70 per cent. Lockheed Martin is building three models of the F-35 Lightning II for the US military and 10 countries have already ordered the jets. Reuters

Panama to punish countries that blacklist it   

Panama City: The government of Panama has announced a Bill that would impose tax, trade and migration measures against countries that put it on their blacklists of “tax havens” in the wake of the Panama Papers revelations. The move could be directed at France, which put Panama back on its blacklist of tax havens in April following the Panama Papers reports, which showed how some of the world’s wealthy stashed assets in offshore firms created by the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca. AFP

Soon, you may touch objects in videos          

Boston: Want to pet the cat in a video? That may soon be possible thanks to MIT scientists, who are developing a new imaging technique that will let you reach in and “touch” objects in videos. Using traditional cameras and algorithms, the technique called Interactive Dynamic Video (IDV) looks at the tiny, almost invisible vibrations of an object to create video simulations that users can virtually interact with. PTI