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Interior Department grounds Chinese-made drones
The reports were true: the Interior Department is grounding much of its drone fleet. It's issuing an order that bans flights for drones either made in China or with Chinese parts out of fear they could be used for spying purposes. That effectively grounds the entire fleet in principle. There will be exceptions for training as well as emergency situations like wildfire tracking and search and rescue, but day-to-day operations won't be feasible without drones made elsewhere.
US may permanently ground civilian drone program over China fears
The US Interior Department's decision to halt a civilian drone program might not be so temporary. Financial Times sources claim the department plans to permanently end use of nearly 1,000 drones after determining there was too high a risk of the Chinese government using them for spying purposes. While there reportedly isn't a final policy, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt would once more limit uses to emergency situations like firefighting.
US government lays out strategy to speed up rural broadband deployment
The US government has unveiled a strategy called the American Broadband Initiative (ABI), which aims to speed up broadband deployment and bring faster, reliable internet access to tens of millions of Americans who don't yet have it. More than federal 20 agencies are involved with the project, which follows President Donald Trump signing an order last month to promote rural broadband.
