Other News

Asian Games landmark for eSports fires Olympic dreams

NEW DELHI, Sept 18, 2023 (AFP) – ESports’ debut as a medal event at the Asian Games starting this week will change attitudes and be a major step towards Olympic recognition at last, gamers and experts say. Gaming was a demonstration sport at the 2018 Asian Games but gold medals will be up for grabs this time in Hangzhou in seven different games. Players will battle in EA Sports FC, PUBG Mobile, Arena of Valor, […]

Dead spider claws and ‘anal-print’ toilets: 2023’s Ig Nobels

By Daniel Lawler Reanimating dead spiders to use them as robot claws, licking rocks, backwards talking and a toilet that scans “anal-prints”: this year’s Ig Nobel prizes again put a spotlight on the quirky side of science. The 23rd edition of the annual awards, given out “for achievements that first make people laugh, then make them think”, was broadcast in an online ceremony on Thursday evening US-time. Real Nobel prize winners — some wearing silly […]

Taiwan detects 103 Chinese warplanes around island

  TAIPEI, Sept 18, 2023 (AFP) – Taiwan told China on Monday to stop its “destructive unilateral actions” after more than 100 Chinese warplanes and nine navy ships were detected in areas around the self-ruled island. Beijing claims Taiwan as its own territory to be seized one day, and has ramped up diplomatic and military pressure on Taipei in recent years. In the 24 hours between the morning of September 17 and 18, the defence […]

WHO calls on China for ‘full access’ for Covid investigators: FT

GENEVA, Sept 17, 2023 (AFP) – The head of the World Health Organization told the Financial Times he was ready to send a new mission of experts to China to investigate the origins of Covid-19. “We’re pressing China to give full access, and we are asking countries to raise it during their bilateral meetings — (to urge Beijing) to co-operate,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the FT. He said the WHO had already written to China […]

Rockets and Porsches: rich Russians flock to Baikonur spaceport

By Andrey BORODULIN Everyone should witness a rocket launch in their lifetime, says Yevgeniya Degtyarnikova as she watches the rollout of a Soyuz from its hangar in the vast steppes of Kazakhstan. “Unfortunately, my husband could not come so I am fulfilling my dream and his,” said the 35-year-old from the city of Tyumen in western Siberia. “I will bring my entire family here. This is the place that everyone must visit,” she told AFP […]

AI ‘no substitute’ for fashion designers’ creativity

By Helen ROWE AI is transforming the fashion world but the fast growing technology will never be a replacement for designers’ “original creativity”, according to the head of a pioneering project. Fashion innovator Calvin Wong has developed the Interactive Design Assistant for Fashion (AiDA) — the world’s first designer-led AI system. It uses image-recognition technology to speed up the time it takes for a design to go from a first sketch to the catwalk. “Designers […]

Prehistoric Tell al-Sultan site added to world heritage list

By Imad Abu Sombul with Jay Deshmukh in Jerusalem UNESCO inscribed the prehistoric site of Tell al-Sultan, near the Palestinian city of Jericho in the occupied West Bank, on its World Heritage List Sunday, in a move criticised by Israel. Tell al-Sultan, which predates Egypt’s pyramids, is an oval-shaped tell, or mound, in the Jordan Valley, and contains the prehistoric deposits of human activity. The decision by the United Nations cultural organisation, which it posted […]

Coe eager to see Tokyo stadium filled with fans for 2025 World Championships

By Rebecca BRYAN World Athletics president Sebastian Coe is looking forward to seeing Tokyo Olympic Stadium packed with fans for the 2025 World Championships, but says the sport will feel the knock-on effects of the Covid pandemic through 2028. Coe, speaking Sunday in Eugene, Oregon, as the Diamond League finals concluded, said the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics until 2021 had created a logjam in the global calendar that challenged athletes and coaches. “I […]

UK media investigate sex assault claims against comedian Russell Brand

LONDON, Sept 17, 2023 (AFP) – The BBC and Channel 4, former employers of British actor and comedian Russell Brand, said Sunday they were investigating claims of rape, sexual assaults and emotional abuse over a seven-year period, which the 48-year-old has denied. Four women have alleged sexual assaults between 2006 and 2013, when Brand was at the height of his fame working as a presenter for BBC Radio 2, Channel 4 and acting in Hollywood […]

Chinese FM Wang Yi to visit Russia Sept 18-21: foreign ministry

BEIJING, Sept 18, 2023 (AFP) – China’s top diplomat Wang Yi will begin a four-day visit to Russia for security talks on Monday, his foreign ministry said, the latest in a series of high-level visits and phone calls between the two sides. China and Russia are strategic allies, with both countries frequently touting their “no limits” partnership and economic and military cooperation. Their ties became even closer after Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year, […]

UN meet looks to salvage promises on helping world’s poorest

By Amélie BOTTOLLIER-DEPOIS World leaders meet Monday at the United Nations in a bid to salvage ambitious promises to lift the planet’s poorest, at a time when vulnerable nations are facing a volley of crises. But the development summit, on the eve of the annual UN General Assembly that opens Tuesday, threatens to be eclipsed by growing geopolitical tensions — which will be symbolized by the presence at the meeting in New York of Ukrainian […]

Climate protesters throng New York, demand end to fossil fuels

NEW YORK, Sept 17, 2023 (AFP) – Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of New York on Sunday, calling for increased action against climate change ahead of the opening of the UN General Assembly. Taking up multiple city blocks, protesters from some 700 organizations and activist groups carried signs reading “Biden, end fossil fuels,” “Fossil fuels are killing us” and “I didn’t vote for fires and floods” in a demonstration that came […]