Life

Israel finds 2,700-year-old ‘governor of Jerusalem’ seal

JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israeli archaeologists unveiled on Monday a 2,700-year-old clay seal imprinted with images and Hebrew words that may have belonged to a biblical governor of Jerusalem. The round button-sized seal was found in a building in Jerusalem’s Old City near the Western Wall and dates back to the 7th century BC, from the time of the First Jewish Temple, said the Israel Antiquities Authority. The artefact bears an engraving showing two men wearing […]

Nepal bans solo climbers from Everest

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AFP) — Nepal has banned solo climbers from scaling its mountains, including Mount Everest, in a bid to reduce accidents, an official said Saturday. The cabinet late Thursday endorsed a revision to the Himalayan nation’s mountaineering regulations, banning solo climbers from its mountains — one of a string of measures being flagged ahead of the 2018 spring climbing season. “The changes have barred solo expeditions, which were allowed before,” Maheshwor Neupane, secretary at […]

Swimming with whale sharks in Mexico

LA PAZ, Mexico (AFP) — They may be called whale sharks but there’s nothing to fear encountering one of these giant fish in the ocean — so much so that tourists in northwestern Mexico can swim alongside them on organized tours. “These are tropical animals, very gentle, that you can swim with, and which go along at a maximum eight kilometers (five miles) an hour,” explained Fabricio Mujica, who handles these up-close sessions in La […]

Russia restores contact with Angolan satellite

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russian specialists on Friday said they have restored communication with Angosat-1, the first national satellite it launched for Angola, days after they lost contact with it. “Specialists of Energia rocket and space corporation have received telemetry information from Angosat,” Energia said in a statement. “All parameters of the spacecraft systems are normal.” Energia is the maker of the satellite which Russia launched from its Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Tuesday evening. […]

Cold Canada cancels some New Year’s events

OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — Canadians pride themselves on living with cold weather — but sub-zero temperatures proved too much even for them Friday, with concerts canceled and ski hills closed for safety reasons during an extreme year-end cold snap. Temperatures almost reached -58 F (-50 C) in two central Canadian cities, Regina and Winnipeg. In the capital Ottawa, meanwhile, authorities announced the cancelation of some shows marking the end of Canada’s 150th anniversary celebrations held this year. […]

Apple apologizes for slowing iPhones, offers discounted batteries

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Apple on Thursday apologized to its customers for slowing down the performance of older iPhone models and said it would discount replacement batteries for some of its handsets. The move by Apple responded to an uproar from iPhone users — and a series of lawsuits — after news of the battery problems stoked concerns the company was unfairly nudging consumers to upgrade. “We know that some of you feel […]

Top Italian chef to open community kitchen in Paris

PARIS, France (AFP) — Top Italian chef Massimo Bottura, whose Osteria Francescana was named the world’s best restaurant last year, is in talks to open a community kitchen in Paris that would serve the homeless and other people in need. “Discussions are underway to set up a canteen in the basement of the Madeleine Church,” Jean-Francois Rial, chief executive of the group Voyageurs du Monde, told AFP Thursday. “It is still just a project, nothing […]

Epson, Apple face French legal pressure over planned obsolescence

by Anne LEC’HVIEN and Adam PLOWRIGHT Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — French prosecutors have launched a probe into Japanese printer maker Epson for alleged planned obsolescence in its products, using landmark consumer legislation that campaigners hope to turn against Apple as well. The investigation, confirmed to AFP by a legal source on Thursday, was opened in November and is being led by anti-trust and consumer protection specialists in the French economy ministry under the […]

Apple CEO must fly private aircraft for ‘security, efficiency’

SAN FRANCISCO, California, United States (AFP) — Apple’s board has instructed chief executive Tim Cook to use only private aircraft “in the interests of security and efficiency” at the world’s most valuable company, regulatory documents show. A filing with securities regulators this week said the board determined that its CEO must use private aircraft for “all business and personal travel.” The policy was implemented in 2017 “in the interests of security and efficiency based on […]

UPDATE: Russia loses contact with Angolan satellite

by Olga Rotenberg and Anna Smolchenko Agence France-Presse moscow, Russia (AFP) — Russia has lost contact with Angola’s first national telecoms satellite launched from the Baikonur space pad, its maker said Wednesday — a fresh embarrassment for Moscow’s once proud space industry. The incident involving the Russian-made Angosat-1 followed a similar one in November when Russia lost contact with a weather satellite launched from a new cosmodrome in the country’s far east. Energia, Russia’s top […]

Nintendo eyes 20 mn Switch sales

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Nintendo is expecting to sell more than 20 million of its new “Switch” consoles in the next fiscal year, the firm’s president said, with sales outpacing its smash-hit Wii console in some places. Tatsumi Kimishima told Thursday’s Kyoto Shimbun newspaper that the momentum for Switch is stronger in some markets than that of the Wii, a smash-hit household console that sold more than 100 million units worldwide. Kimishima said he expected […]

Self-healing glass: a cracking discovery from Japan

by Hiroshi Hiyama Agence France-Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A Japanese researcher has developed — by accident– a new type of glass that can be repaired simply by pressing it back together after it cracks. The discovery opens the way for super-durable glass that could triple the lifespan of everyday products like car windows, construction materials, fish tanks and even toilet seats. Yu Yanagisawa, a chemistry researcher at the University of Tokyo, made the breakthrough […]