Life

Snapchat aims to spread reach to other apps

  SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Snapchat messaging service on Thursday set out to spread its reach, and panache, to other smartphone apps with a software kit that promised to share little data about users. Parent company Snap said people will be able to use Snapchat credentials to sign into apps the way they might do using Facebook or Google credentials, while strictly limiting access to personal data or activity tracking. The software kit […]

‘Fortnite’ frenzy reigns at E3 gaming expo

  by Glenn Chapman Agence France-Presse   LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) wrapped up in Los Angeles on Thursday with the video game “Fortnite” knocking out other contenders to emerge as the star of a show which highlighted the surging interest in competitive eSports. “Fortnite” maker Epic Games has found a groove with its “battle royale” title in which scores of players fight against each other to be the […]

Let it grow: Tokyo DisneySea adds ‘Frozen’ in $2.3 bn expansion

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — The Tokyo DisneySea theme park is getting a $2.3 billion overhaul and adding a section based on the wildly popular movie “Frozen” to its offerings, its operator said Thursday. Oriental Land, which runs the ocean-themed park as well as the adjacent Tokyo Disneyland and hotels, said the 250-billion-yen ($2.3-billion) undertaking will be the most expensive expansion plan in the site’s 35-year history. The project will add attractions replicating the Kingdom of […]

Prevention key to dealing with spike in suicide rate

  by Veronique Dupont Agence France Presse LOS ANGELES, U.S – The recent deaths of fashion designer Kate Spade and celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain have cast a spotlight on a jarring spike in suicides worldwide and on the importance of confronting the issue. More than 800,000 commit suicide annually around the world and suicide is listed as the second highest cause of death among people between the ages of 15 and 29, according to the World […]

Better late than never: Mexico turtle declared new species

  PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico (AFP) — Slow and steady wins the race, the saying goes — and it seems to have worked for a small type of turtle native to western Mexico that has been declared a new species. For 20 years, residents of the area around Puerto Vallarta, a Pacific coast resort town, had been telling scientists about the little turtles native to their area. But it was only in May that zoologists were […]

Cloud play on the horizon in changing video game world

by Glenn CHAPMAN Agence France-Presse LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Console makers long at the center of the video game universe are adapting to an exploding constellation of ways to play, with the cloud looming on the horizon. Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony remained stars, with rival Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch gaming hardware respectively, at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) show floor that opened in Los Angeles on Tuesday. But the premier industry gathering was […]

WHO chief says Ebola outbreak in DR Congo ‘not over’

KINSHASA, DR Congo (AFP) — WHO chief Tedros Adhanom on Tuesday called for tighter monitoring as he wrapped up a visit to Ebola-hit DR Congo, saying the outbreak was far from over despite the number of cases stabilising in recent weeks. The outbreak — the ninth in the Democratic Republic of Congo since 1976 — was declared on May 8 and has claimed 27 lives. “On the basis of statistics, we can say that the situation […]

Ubisoft sees blockbusters shaped by fans and stars

by Glen Chapman Agence France-Presse LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — French video game giant Ubisoft is teaming up with a firm founded by actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt to crowd source material for a forthcoming title, the companies announced Monday on the eve of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). Ubisoft has long tapped into feedback from players while designing games, but the latest step will allow some to make content woven into scenes. An invitation to collaborate […]

‘Shocking’ die-off of Africa’s oldest baobabs: study

by Mariëtte Le Roux Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Some of Africa’s oldest and biggest baobab trees — a few dating all the way back to the ancient Greeks — have abruptly died, wholly or in part, in the past decade, researchers said Monday. The trees, aged between 1,100 and 2,500 years and some as wide as a bus is long, may have fallen victim to climate change, the team speculated. “We report that […]

Global warming will make veggies harder to find: study

TAMPA, United States (AFP) — Global warming is expected to make vegetables significantly scarcer around the world unless new growing practices and resilient crop varieties are adopted, researchers warned on Monday. By the end of this century, less water and hotter air will combine to cut average yields of vegetables — which are crucial to a healthy diet — by nearly one-third, said the report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. A […]

Thai turtle’s plastic-filled stomach highlights ocean crisis

BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Startling images of plastic shreds, rubber bands and other debris found jammed in the stomach of a green turtle in Thailand have highlighted the crisis of waste-strewn seas following the widely publicized death of a whale this month. Thailand is one of the world’s largest consumers of plastic, which kills hundreds of marine mammals and reptiles swimming off its coasts every year. The problem grabbed public attention in the first week […]

Microsoft looks past next-gen Xbox to cloud games

  LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — The head of Xbox on Sunday said Microsoft is hard at work on a next-generation console along with a cloud service that would let players stream games to any device. Microsoft is adding five new game studios, one it is creating in Southern California and another four it is buying, Xbox team chief Phil Spencer said. “We are making one of our greatest single year’s investments in teams by […]