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In a virtual test staged by the US military, an air force drone controlled by AI decided to “kill” its operator to prevent it from interfering with its efforts to achieve its mission, an official said last month.

AI used “highly unexpected strategies to achieve its goal” in the simulated test, said Col Tucker ‘Cinco’ Hamilton, the chief of AI test and operations with the US air force, during the Future Combat Air and Space Capabilities Summit in London in May, the Guardian reported.

Hamilton described a simulated test in which a drone powered by artificial intelligence was advised to destroy an enemy’s air defense systems, and ultimately attacked anyone who interfered with that order.

“The system started realising that while they did identify the threat, at times the human operator would tell it not to kill that threat, but it got its points by killing that threat. So what did it do? It killed the operator. It killed the operator because that person was keeping it from accomplishing its objective,” he said, according to a blogpost.

“We trained the system – ‘Hey don’t kill the operator – that’s bad. You’re gonna lose points if you do that’. So what does it start doing? It starts destroying the communication tower that the operator uses to communicate with the drone to stop it from killing the target.”

No real person was harmed.

Hamilton, who is an experimental fighter test pilot, has warned against relying too much on AI and said the test shows “you can’t have a conversation about artificial intelligence, intelligence, machine learning, autonomy if you’re not going to talk about ethics and AI”.

The US military has embraced AI and recently used artificial intelligence to control an F-16 fighter jet.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday said he would visit Ankara "in the near future" to push the ratification of Sweden's membership, after the re-election of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, AFP reported.

"I'm confident of course that Sweden will be a member, and then we're working for that to happen as early as possible," Stoltenberg said at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Oslo.

Stoltenberg said he had already spoken to Erdogan by phone earlier this week to "highlight the importance of making progress" on Sweden's membership.

Turkey and Hungary are the only NATO countries that have yet to ratify Sweden's membership bid.

Finland formally joined the alliance in April.

Erdogan, who was re-elected Sunday for another five-year term as Turkey's president, has accused Sweden of being a haven for "terrorists", especially members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said Stockholm had fulfilled "all the commitments" to join NATO and urged Turkey and Hungary to allow his country into the alliance.

"It is time for Turkey and Hungary to start the ratification of the Swedish membership to NATO," he said.

"This was never a sprint, it's a marathon, and we now see the end of it."

Billstrom pointed to the entry into force on Thursday of new terror legislation in Sweden as the last step under an accord signed with Turkey last year.

Billstrom said he hoped to see a big step made towards membership at a meeting with representatives of Turkey in the coming weeks.

"Following that meeting, the ratification will happen," Billstrom insisted.

The Ukrainian parliament on Monday endorsed a decision of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) to impose sanctions on Iran for 50 years, lawmaker Oleksii Honcharenko said on Telegram.

The sanction bill, which was submitted to parliament by President Volodymyr Zelensky, was supported by 328 votes in favor, with the required minimum of 226, Xinhua reported.

On May 27, the NSDC approved a decision, envisaging the introduction of restrictive measures against Iran, which include a complete ban on trade with military equipment and dual-use goods and services.

The sanctions also include the suspension of transit of resources, flights and transportation in Ukraine by Iranian residents.

The prohibition of performing some economic and financial obligations in favor of Iranian residents and a ban on the transfer of technologies to Iranian residents are also on the sanction list.

Earlier this month, Zelensky said Iran was supplying combat drones to Russia, which are used in attacks against Ukraine.

Showers and thunderstorms will persist in Armenia over the next few days.

Hail is possible in some parts of the country, the weather service says.

Strong winds of 15-20 m/s are forecast during thunderstorms.

No shifts in temperatures are likely.

Showers and thunderstorms are expected in the capital Yerevan on Monday, overnight Tuesday and Wednesday.

Celine Dion has cancelled all her remaining live shows, telling fans she is not strong enough to tour after being diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder, BBC News reports.

The singer revealed last year she was suffering from Stiff-Person Syndrome (SPS), which was affecting her singing.

Dion has now cancelled all the shows she had scheduled for 2023 and 2024.

In a statement posted on Twitter, the 55-year-old told fans: "I'm so sorry to disappoint all of you once again.

"Even though it breaks my heart, it's best that we cancel everything until I'm really ready to be back on stage."

She added: "I'm not giving up... and I can't wait to see you again!"

In December 2022, the French Canadian singer posted an emotional video on Instagram to say she had been diagnosed with SPS and would not be ready to start a European tour in February as planned.

She said the disorder was causing muscle spasms and was "not allowing me to use my vocal cords to sing the way I'm used to".

The Courage World Tour began in 2019, and Dion completed 52 shows before the Covid-19 pandemic put the remainder on hold.

She later cancelled the North American dates due to health problems, and delayed the European leg of the tour.

On Friday, those delayed European performances were cancelled altogether, including dates in London, Dublin, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Stockholm and Zurich.

A statement released by her tour said the shows were being cancelled with "a sense of tremendous disappointment".

"I'm working really hard to build back my strength, but touring can be very difficult even when you're 100%," the statement quoted Dion as saying.

The tour was to have been Dion's first global concert tour in a decade and the first without her husband-manager Rene Angelil, who died from cancer in 2016.

Dion is best known for hits including My Heart Will Go On, Because You Loved Me, All By Myself and It's All Coming Back To Me Now.