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Intel Labs has unveiled what it believes to be a first-of-its-kind cryogenic control chip code-named Horse Ridge that is aimed at speeding up the development of full-stack quantum computing systems.

According to Intel, Horse Ridge will enable control of multiple quantum bits (qubits) and set a clear path toward scaling larger systems a major milestone on the path to quantum practicality.

Developed together with Intels research collaborators at QuTech, a partnership between TU Delft and TNO (Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research), Horse Ridge is fabricated using Intels 22nm FinFET Low Power (22FFL) technology. In-house fabrication of these control chips at Intel will dramatically accelerate the companys ability to design, test and optimize a commercially viable quantum computer.

Quantum computers promise the potential to tackle problems that conventional computers cant handle by leveraging a phenomena of quantum physics that allows qubits to exist in multiple states simultaneously. As a result, qubits can conduct a large number of calculations at the same time dramatically speeding up complex problem-solving.

While there has been a lot of emphasis on the qubits themselves, the ability to control many qubits at the same time had been a challenge for the industry," said Jim Clarke, Intels director of Quantum Hardware. "Intel recognized that quantum controls were an essential piece of the puzzle we needed to solve in order to develop a large-scale commercial quantum system. Thats why we are investing in quantum error correction and controls. With Horse Ridge, Intel has developed a scalable control system that will allow us to significantly speed up testing and realize the potential of quantum computing.

Intel says that in the race to realize the potential of quantum computers, researchers have largely focused extensively on qubit fabrication, building test chips that demonstrate the exponential power of a small number of qubits operating in superposition.

However, it says, in early quantum hardware developments including design, testing and characterization of Intels silicon spin qubit and superconducting qubit systems it has identified a major bottleneck toward realizing commercial-scale quantum computing: interconnects and control electronics.

With Horse Ridge, Intel says it is introducing an elegant solution that will enable the company to control multiple qubits and set a clear path toward scaling future systems to larger qubit counts a major milestone on the path to quantum practicality.

For more information, go to http://www.intel.com.

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Intel Achieves Milestone in Quantum Practicality with 'Horse Ridge' - Database Trends and Applications

CAIRO - The Libyan national unity government based in Tripoli is asking Turkey, the U.S. and several European countries to defend the government, as forces loyal to eastern military commander General Khalifa Haftar called on militias fighting in Tripoli and Misratat to lay down their arms.

Forces loyal to Haftar exchanged gunfire Friday with militias fighting under the banner of the Tripoli-based national unity government south and east of the capital. Libyan fighter jets, also loyal to Haftar, bombed targets and weapons depots inside Misrata and south of the capital.

The spokesman for Haftar's Libyan National Army told journalists Friday that his forces were making "pre-emptive airstrikes against three separate locations near Tripoli that were expected landing points for Turkish military forces." VOA could not independently confirm the claim that Turkish forces were planning to enter the battle.

Turkish media, nevertheless, reported that Libya's unity Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj officially activated a Nov. 27 military pact between Ankara and Tripoli calling for Turkish logistic and military support to prevent the fall of his government.

Sarraj also reportedly called on the U.S., Germany, Italy and Turkey, to intervene to protect his government, which is officially recognized by the international community. Despite that recognition, many countries, including France, Russia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia reportedly are supporting Haftar.

Mohammed al-Zubeidi, a Libyan law professor, told Arab media, however, that "Sarraj is just calling on the U.S., Germany and Italy as a fig-leaf to cover up his call for Turkish intervention in the Libyan conflict."

Haftar's military spokesman, Colonel Ahmed Almasmari, claimed that his forces were "advancing inside and outside the capital, Tripoli," and called on militias fighting his forces, some of which are based in Misrata, to "lay down their arms by midnight Sunday," and withdraw peacefully.

He says the (Libyan National Army) is sending a message to the representatives of Misrata to pull out their forces from Tripoli and lay down their arms by midnight Sunday, if they do not want to face reprisals or further airstrikes on their city.

The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement, according to Russian media, saying the "possible deployment of Turkish troops in Libya is a source of worry" because it "could trigger a reaction from neighboring states."

Russian President Vladimir Putin said during his annual press conference with journalists Thursday he was "in contact with all regional parties to try and end the conflict in Libya." Russia reportedly has mercenaries fighting in Libya on the side of Haftar.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi told Egyptian media several days ago that "Egypt has the capability of intervening in Libya if needed, but has respected diplomatic norms until now, by not doing so."

Egypt does reportedly help train Haftar's forces and maintains some of his aging Russian air force jets.

Read more:
Tripoli-Based Unity Government Calls for Turkish Intervention in Libya, as Haftar's Forces Bomb Opposition - VOA News

1. Violence escalates in Libya following Turkey pledge  Financial Times
2. Egypt Rejects Turkey-Libya Deal on Sea Rights, Security  The New York Times
3. How the Kremlin's fingerprints escalated Libya's conflict, threatening a wider war in the Middle East  The Washington Post
4. Libyan government activates cooperation accord with Turkey  The Guardian
5. Libya's GNA accepts Turkish offer of military support  Al Jazeera English
6. View full coverage on Google News

The rest is here:
Violence escalates in Libya following Turkey pledge - Financial Times

With Daniel Lippman

LOBBYING CONTINUES ON LIBYA CONFLICT: Brad Gerstman, a New York lobbyist who once represented Donald Trump and helped orchestrate his presidential campaign announcement in 2015, has a message for his former client: Please ask a Libyan militia leader to stop attacking the countrys United Nations-backed government. Gerstman, who signed a deal in September to lobby for Libyas government worth $1.5 million through his firm, Gotham Government Relations & Communications, sent a letter to Trump on Monday, which was obtained by PI.

The militia leader, Khalifa Haftar, has besieged Libyas capital, Tripoli, with the backing of Russian fighters. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoan threatened last week to intervene on behalf of the Libyan government. In the letter, Gerstman urged Trump to save Libya without firing a single shot. Publicly call on Haftar and his Russian allies to halt all hostilities against Tripoli and to finally sit down and negotiate with Libyas government, Gerstman wrote. Complicating Gerstmans request: Trump unexpectedly endorsed Haftar in April, throwing American policy toward Libya into question.

The letter is the latest manifestation of the Libyan conflict in Washington, where both sides have hired lobbyists. Haftars forces hired Linden Government Solutions on a contract worth $2 million in May, while the Libyan government brought on Mercury on a one-year contract worth $1.8 million, plus $200,000 for expenses. Former Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) and other Mercury lobbyists have met with congressional aides and spoken with reporters on the governments behalf, according to Justice Department filings. (Prime Policy Group has also lobbied for the government on a pro bono basis.)

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Good afternoon, and welcome to PI. This is it for 2019. This newsletter will be off until Jan. 6, 2020. Thanks for reading, and happy non-denominational holidays! Send me your best tips so I can run them down next year: tmeyer@politico.com. You can also follow me on Twitter: @theodoricmeyer.

FORMER WARNER AIDE WILL LOBBY FOR JUUL: Juul Labs has hired its first new lobbyist since the vaping companys chief executive, Kevin Burns, stepped down in September following Trumps announcement that his administration would ban the sale of flavored e-cigarettes. (Trump has since softened his criticism of vaping.) Milan Dalal, a former Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck lobbyist who recently started his own firm, Tiger Hill Partners, with James Maloney, will lobby for Juul on legislation related to e-cigarettes and congressional investigations, according to a disclosure filing.

Dalal, who still lobbies for some Brownstein Hyatt clients as an outside consultant, is a former aide to Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.). He started working for Juul on Nov. 6. Juul has spent more than $3.1 million on Washington lobbying so far this year, according to disclosure filings, and also retains Empire Consulting Group, Fulcrum Public Affairs, Kountoupes Denham Carr & Reid, the Nickles Group, Oldaker & Willison, the S-3 Group, Sims Strategies, Squire Patton Boggs and W Strategies.

JANKOWSKY WILL RETIRE FROM AKIN GUMP: Joel Jankowsky will retire from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld at the end of the year, Roll Calls Kate Ackley reports. Mike House, a longtime lobbyist at Hogan Lovells whom Jankowsky lobbied while House was chief of staff to former Sen. Howell Heflin (D-Ala.), compared Jankowsky to the legendary lobbyists Tommy Boggs (whose firm is now known as Squire Patton Boggs) and J.D. Williams of Williams & Jensen. Those were the three lions, House said. Not only were they the upper-level strategists and good day-to-day lobbyists, but most of all they were all good mentors. Joels been a mentor to so many of us, including myself.

BROADCASTERS WIN A LONG-RUNNING LOBBYING BATTLE: Congress is handing traditional broadcasters such as CBS and ABC a surprise victory in a contentious, multimillion-dollar TV lobbying fight by letting key parts of a 31-year-old satellite TV law die, POLITICOs John Hendel reports. The battle, pitting legacy broadcasters against AT&T and some consumer groups, centered on the recurring satellite TV law known as STELAR, which first passed in 1988 and provides hundreds of thousands of rural satellite TV households with access to broadcast programming. AT&T, which owns the satellite provider DirecTV, and the National Association of Broadcasters both spent heavily on the fight.

The law is typically reauthorized every five years, but this time, Congress will let significant aspects of the statute expire as part of the fiscal 2020 spending bill, potentially leaving thousands of satellite subscribers cut off from local broadcasting smack in the middle of the 2020 election cycle.

MAYBE HE SHOULDVE CALLED IT NEED TO ACQUIT: Chris Christie is launching a big-money effort aimed at giving Senate Republicans air cover on impeachment and positioning the former New Jersey governor as a counterweight to liberal billionaire Tom Steyer, POLITICOs Alex Isenstadt reports. The newly formed issue advocacy organization, Right Direction America, is set to begin a seven-figure TV and digital advertising offensive Monday. The nonprofit group will be focused on a half-dozen states where key 2020 Senate races are taking place: Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Maine and North Carolina.

IF YOU MISSED IT ON WEDNESDAY: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) doesnt share K Streets enthusiasm for the hard-won provisions tucked into the spending bills the Senate passed on Thursday. Christmas came early in Washington for lobbyists, Cruz said in a video posted to his Twitter account on Wednesday evening as he lit a cigar. Lobbyists who are bankrupting this country. While you were with your family, while you were shopping for Christmas, the lobbyists were spending and spending.

Cruz goes on to decry the legislation as put together in the dark of the night with Republican leadership and Chuck Schumer while smoking his cigar. He criticizes the bills reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank, the raising of the tobacco purchasing age to 21, the funding of gun-violence research and tax breaks for renewable energy all of which were backed by interests on K Street. This is an example of government of the lobbyists, by the lobbyists and for the lobbyists, he says before extinguishing his cigar into the towering bill on his desk.

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30-year fixed-rate mortgages have helped millions of Americans own their homes. Thats why REALTORS are working with lawmakers to make sure they remain available to everyone. Click here to learn more.

Andrew Overton is moving to Milwaukee to work as associate director of media logistics for the Democratic National Convention. He was previously the Chesapeake Bay Foundations senior director of communications.

Transamerica has hired Sean Cassidy as vice president and senior director of government relations. He was previously vice president of federal government affairs at Voya Financial. He plans to register to lobby.

Trump has appointed Eli Miller, a managing director of government relations at Blackstone who was previously chief of staff to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, to be a member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, according to the White House.

"FTI Consulting hired Shannon Maher Baaga as managing director in strategic communications in the energy and natural resources sector," per Morning Energy. "Baaga previously was director of federal affairs at TECO Energy since 2014."

"Alexander Botting, the former director for global regulatory cooperation at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, has joined the law firm Venable to be senior director of international cybersecurity services," per Morning Cybersecurity.

2020 Utah Victory Fund (Rep. Ben McAdams, Utah State Democratic Committee)AL MI MN Victory 2020 (Sens. Doug Jones, Tina Smith and Gary Peters)American Leaders Fund (Reps. Anthony Brindisi, Abigail Spanberger, Max Rose, Josh Gottheimer and Susie Lee, No Labels Problem Solvers Political Action Committee (No Labels Problem Solvers PAC))American Patriots Fund (Reps. Don Bacon, Brian Fitzpatrick, Tom Reed, Pete Stauber and Fred Upton, No Labels Problem Solvers Political Action Committee (No Labels Problem Solvers PAC))New Congress Fund (Reps. Colin Allred, Anthony Brindisi, Sharice Davids, Lizzie Fletcher, Jared Golden, Andy Kim, Elaine Luria, Lucy McBath, Max Rose, Elissa Slotkin, Xochitl Torres Small, Abigail Spanberger, Haley Stevens and Lauren Underwood)

Embracing Utahs Future (Super PAC0Independent Political Network Super PAC (Super PAC)Richie Greenberg Media Action Committee (PAC)Texas Forward (Super PAC)

Avenue Strategies Global, LLC: PV Group LimitedBurson Cohn & Wolfe: SurescriptsCapitol Advocacy Partners: Boys and Girls Clubs of Puerto RicoHutton-Transcon Joint Venture: Magellan Investment HoldingsMayer Brown LLP: Rocket Pharmaceuticals Inc.S-3 Group: Global Holdings, LLCTiger Hill Partners LLC: JUUL Labs, Inc.

Interel US: American Ambulance AssociationInterel US: Emergency Department Practice Management AssociationInterel US: IEEE Standards Associaiton [sic]Interel US: ISACAInterel US: Worldwide ERCNational Association of Government Employees: National Association Of Government EmployeesPublic Interests Research And Communications Inc: U.S. Television CoalitionSubject Matter (fka Elmendorf Ryan): H&R Block

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Lobbying continues on the Libya conflict - Politico

Sometimes your fate calls you back to old times. The spokesman of the founding party of the Republic of Turkey, providing his opinions in the discussion on the maritime jurisdiction agreements made with Libya, said: ''What are we doing in Libya? Do we want to make our troops legionnaires?" We only need to go back 100 years in history to refresh our memories on the occupation of Libya by Italians and the reason that Mustafa Kemal Pasha and Enver Pasha were involved in Libya.

When the "note" sent by Italy, requesting ownership of Tripoli and Benghazi, reached Grand Vizier brahim Hakk Pasha on Sept. 23, he was playing bridge with Italian Robilant Pasha and his wife. Robilant Pasha supposedly was in Turkey for making reforms and improvements in the gendarmerie.

For a while, Grand Vizier Hakk Pasha did not open the envelope and delayed the reply. Still awaiting a response, Italy sent a second note on Sept. 28 to be answered within 24 hours and announced that it would declare war.

Hakk Pasha hurriedly gathered the Cabinet in his own mansion, and they together headed to the palace at midnight. In the reply written in the morning, it was declared that "Italy would be granted more commercial and political concessions if the occupation is stopped, and the territorial integrity of the Ottoman Empire is respected."

Despite this reply, Italy declared war on the Ottomans on Sept. 29 and after bombarding Tripoli for one day from the sea, occupied Tripoli, which was protected by three companies of soldiers. The division in Libya had been sent to Yemen after Mahmut evket Pasha asked for reinforcements to squash the rebellion there.

The situation in Tripoli created chaos. Grand Vizier Hakk Pasha resigned, saying, "The Grand Viziers in my position would be beheaded on steppingstones by the sultans in history." Said Pasha was appointed in his place on Sept. 30.

Staff Maj. Enver, who was serving as military attache in Berlin, immediately came to Istanbul and met the Turkish sultan amid this critical environment. He had to run to the Libyan Front secretly with Fuat Bey (Bulca), his uncle Halil Bey Pasha, Ekrem Bey and his brother Nuri Bey Pasha. On the other hand, Ali Fethi Bey, the military attache to Paris, reached Libya via Tunisia.

However, this was not easy. The Ottoman Empire did not have any land connection with Libya because Egypt was occupied by the British, and the Italian navy controlled the sea route, ruling out travel by sea.

Enver Pasha made a plan. He would go to Libya by land through Alexandria in disguise. First, he sent a message to Circassian Kuuba Eref Bey, one of the most trusted officers who was subsequently appointed to the management of Ottoman imperial government special forces (Tekilt- Mahsusa), and asked him to go to Alexandria with the officers he trusted.

When Kuuba Eref received the message, he was traveling between Bitlis, Mu and Van provinces with an officer from the Hamidiye Regiment and discussing and preparing a report on the situation of the region with the authorities. He quickly began to send messages by telegraph.

The news that the Italians attacked Libya began reaching everyone quickly by telegraph. Kuuba Eref sent his first message to Sleyman Asker in Baghdad, who had been his friend since his military education in Edirne, and then to the others.

Sleyman Asker reached Alexandria with his fellow officers Cemil Bey and Tevfik Beyand Fehmi Bey, disguised as madrasah students, and Kuuba Eref also came to Alexandria on Oct. 29 with Mustafa Kemal, Mmtaz from zmit, mer Naci, Yakup Cemil, Hakk from Sapanca, Nuri Conker, Circassian Reid (the brother of Circassian Ethem), Nazm from Thessaloniki, Niyazi from Beikta, Sheikh Salih Tunisi and Emir Ali Pasha, the son of Abdulkadir Cezayiri, the national hero of Algeria.

The group's journey to Tripoli began in mid-November. Kuuba Eref separated everyone into small groups in order not to be caught by British patrols, but when Mustafa Kemal became ill, they let him stay with a Greek doctor, aatis. Mustafa Kemal was unable to leave Alexandria until Dec. 1, 1911, and went to serve under the command of Enver Pasha in Derne province. When he managed to infiltrate Sireneykaya nine weeks after the start of the war, he began hearing the cannon sounds that the soldiers called Enver's ball (midfa'i Enver). Mustafa Kemal was seriously injured in the eye during the most intense period of the war. He was treated by Kuuba Eref in Vienna after returning from Libya.

Enver Pasha arrived in Libya on Oct. 19 and started to organize the resistance in Derne and other regions. In a short period of time, he managed to gather a local force of 20,000 people and issued money for his name.

The 1,320 kilometers of coastline between Egypt and Tunisia was occupied by the Italians at the end of October; however, they were unable to occupy even a few kilometers in the interior part of Libya because Staff Maj. Enver Bey had come with his team and showed strong resistance, especially with the voluntary units made up of the Senussi tribe. The Senussi tribe had been active for 80 years, after coming from Mecca in 1830, and were lead by Seyid Ahmed Sens.

This resistance begun by Enver Bey continued until 1939, but Benito Mussolini, who came to power in Italy, was able to break this resistance with the support of the air force. The Senussi family, the sheikh of the sect, dominated all of North Africa. Enver Bey and his team visited Sensi Sheikh often and received prayers from him. Mustafa Kemal, who met Seyid Ahmed Senussi here to be caliph after Seyid Ahmed Senussi, came to Anatolia to support the national struggle.

We have refreshed our memory with some brief information available in history books. We hope that the founding party of the Republic of Turkey reads the history from 100 years ago and never asks such strange questions again. They should not insult the spirit of the Ottoman officers and Ottoman imperial government special forces (Tekilt- Mahsusa) who have achieved great things in history.

See more here:
Why Mustafa Kemal Atatrk and Enver Pasha were in Libya - Daily Sabah