Life

Chinese solar boom sparks global renewables boon: study

PARIS, France (AFP) — A Chinese boom in solar panel installation last year helped drive global investment in renewable clean energy technology to record levels, a new study showed Tuesday. After a dip in 2016, overall global investment in the sector rose 3.0 percent to a total $333.5 billion, offsetting falls in Japan, Germany and Britain, according to the Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) study. That was the second best annual showing to date after […]

US state of New Jersey outlaws drunk droning

NEW YOR, United States (AFP) — Drunk driving has been a social taboo for decades, but New Jersey has now added drunk droning to the statute books: outlawing the flying of unmanned aircraft after one too many drinks. The law makes it an offense to operate a drone under the influence of intoxicating liquor, narcotic, hallucinogenic or habit-producing drug or with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent or more. Infractions can be punishable by […]

Breastfeeding for 6 months cuts diabetes risk in half: study

MIAMI, United States (AFP) — Women who breastfeed their babies for six months or more may be able to cut their risk of developing diabetes in the future by nearly half, according to a study Tuesday. The findings from a three-decade US study of more than 1,200 white and African-American women were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Internal Medicine. “We found a very strong association between breastfeeding duration and lower […]

EU sets 2030 target for recyclable plastic packaging

STRASBOURG, France (AFP) — The European Union unveiled plans Tuesday for all plastic packaging in Europe to be recyclable by 2030 and phase out single-use plastic like coffee cups to fight pollution. The strategy announced by the European Commission, the EU-executive, follows China’s decision to ban imports of foreign waste products for recycling, including huge quantities from Europe. “The commission aims to increase plastic recycling and for all plastic packaging to be reusable or recyclable […]

Video: Know more about volcanoes and how they erupt

  Thousands fled from their homes as lava oozed out of a Mayon, a rumbling Philippine volcano on Monday, January 15, 2018, in what volcanologists described as a “quiet eruption”, warning it could lead to a hazardous explosion within days. But what leads to volcanic eruptions? Most of the world’s volcanoes are found around the Pacific Ocean’s Ring of Fire, a meeting point of tectonic plates and an area of intense seismic activity. Tectonic plates […]

WATCH: Wild wallaby leads Aussie cops on hop-speed chase

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — A wallaby startled motorists Tuesday when it hopped across Sydney’s Harbor Bridge, closely tailed by police. Drivers spotted the marsupial, which resembles a smaller version of a kangaroo, bouncing along at the northern end of the eight-lane bridge just before 5:00 am (1600 GMT). “Never seen anything like it. That’s Australia for you,” a caller to Sydney radio station 2GB, Dean, said. Another caller, Michelle, said she was worried a car […]

Suppressing a sneeze can be dangerous, doctors warn

PARIS, France (AFP) — Stifling a sneeze can rupture your throat, burst an ear drum, or pop a blood vessel in your brain, researchers warned Tuesday. Many people — when they feel a sneeze coming on — block all the exits, essentially swallowing the sneeze’s explosive force. Just how dangerous this can be was illustrated when a 34-year-old man showed up at the emergency service of a hospital in Leicester, England recently, with a swollen […]

Daimler struggling with European emissions standards

DETROIT, United States (AFP) — The chief executive of Daimler said Monday at the Detroit auto show that his company cannot currently guarantee it can meet tougher European CO2 emissions standards taking effect in several years. Dieter Zetsche, CEO of the maker of Mercedes-Benz luxury vehicles, told reporters he “can’t guarantee” to meet tightening emission standards in 2021. “It’s a huge challenge for everyone,” he told AFP later in an interview. “We will make it. […]

How a Taipei school for the visually impaired is helping make Microsoft Windows even more accessible

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP-Services) — Shen Yan-lin can mix music by computer. His fingers whip across the panel of a smartphone from app to app, changing settings at the same high speed. The faithful Windows user who studied PCs mostly by himself just wants more precision when using Narrator, a built-in Microsoft tool that literally reads things aloud, voicing text and describing notifications or calendar appointments. Shen, 18, is in his third year at Taipei School […]

Volkswagen reports record global car sales in 2017

DETROIT, United States (AFP) — Volkswagen said Sunday that its namesake brand sold more vehicles worldwide in 2017 than ever before, a sign it is recovering from a bruising emissions-cheating scandal three years ago. “We finished 2017 with the best performance ever for Volkswagen,” Herbert Diess, chairman of the board of management of the Volkswagen passenger cars brand, said Sunday night at the Detroit Auto Show. Global sales rose 4.2 percent to 6.2 million, with […]

China demolishes a megachurch

BEIJING, China (AFP) — Authorities in northern China have demolished a megachurch in a move denounced by a religious rights group as “Taliban-style persecution”. China’s officially atheist Communist authorities are wary of any organised movements outside their control, including religious ones. The huge evangelical Jindengtai (“Golden Lampstand”) Church, painted grey and surmounted by turrets and a large red cross, was located in Linfen, Shanxi province. Its demolition began on Tuesday under “a city-wide campaign to […]

Top takeaways from Consumers Electronics Show

LAS VEGAS, United States (AFP) — The 2018 Consumer Electronics Show, which concluded Friday in Las Vegas, drew some 4,000 exhibitors from dozens of countries and more than 170,000 attendees, showcased some of the latest from the technology world. Here are highlights from the show: Artificial intelligence battle The duel between Amazon and Google for supremacy in artificial intelligence played out at the show. Amazon pushed its “Alexa Everywhere” strategy bringing its digital assistant to […]