Life

Russia fines WhatsApp for failing to delete content

MOSCOW, June 1, 2023 (AFP) – A Russian court imposed a fine on US messenger service WhatsApp on Thursday for failing to delete banned content. The three-million-rouble ($37,000) fine was the first imposed on WhatsApp for such an offence. WhatsApp’s parent company, Meta, was banned and branded “extremist” by Russian authorities last year. Meta’s other platforms, Facebook and Instagram, were blocked in Russia along with Twitter, but WhatsApp remained accessible. WhatsApp was punished for failing […]

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EU, US ready common code of conduct on artificial intelligence

By Marc Preel with Shaun Tandon in Oslo STOCKHOLM, May 31, 2023 (AFP) – The European Union and the United States said Wednesday that they would soon release a voluntary code of conduct on artificial intelligence, hoping to develop common standards among democracies as China makes rapid gains. Both political and technology industry leaders have been warning of the growing risks as AI takes off, with potentially wide-ranging effects on privacy and other civil liberties. […]

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Amazon settles Ring customer spying complaint

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – Amazon on Wednesday agreed to pay $30.8 million to settle Ring and Alexa privacy complaints filed by US regulators, including accusations that employees spied on female customers, according to court documents. The Federal Trade Commission charged Amazon-owned home security camera company Ring with failing to implement basic protections to stop hackers or employees from accessing people’s devices or accounts. According to the FTC complaint, Ring’s failures in security resulted in “egregious” […]

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Fungi and plants clean up California pollution

LOS ANGELES (AFP) – In an industrial wasteland in Los Angeles, Kreigh Hampel is uprooting California buckwheat with a pitchfork to find out how much lead it has absorbed. The plant’s delicate white and pink flowers belie an astonishing cleaning power, which scientists think could be harnessed to get rid of dangerous pollutants — and even recycle them. “That’s the miracle of life,” enthuses 68-year-old Hampel, who is volunteering on the project. “Plants really can […]

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France to open its first electric car battery factory

By Caroline Nelly PERROT Agence France-Presse BILLY-BERCLAU, France, May 30, 2023 (AFP) — France will launch its first battery factory for electric cars on Tuesday, taking a big step in its race to build up a sector dominated by China. Building up the battery industry is at the heart of President Emmanuel Macron’s “reindustrialization” plan for France, with a clutch of factories set to emerge in the north of the country over the next three […]

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Shanghai swelters through hottest May day in 100 years

SHANGHAI, May 29, 2023 (AFP) – Shanghai recorded its hottest May day in more than 100 years on Monday, the city’s meteorological service announced, shattering the previous high by a full degree. Scientists say global warming is exacerbating adverse weather, with many countries experiencing deadly heatwaves and temperatures hitting records across Southeast and South Asia in recent weeks. “At 13:09, the temperature at Xujiahui station hit 36.1 degrees Celsius (97 degrees Fahrenheit), breaking a 100-year-old […]

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China to send first civilian into space on Tuesday

By Ludovic EHRET Agence France-Presse JIUQUAN, China, May 29, 2023 (AFP) — China will send its first civilian astronaut into space as part of a crewed mission to the Tiangong space station on Tuesday, its Manned Space Agency announced, as Beijing pushes ahead with its extra-terrestrial ambitions. The world’s second-largest economy has invested billions of dollars into its military-run space program, trying to catch up with the United States and Russia after years of belatedly […]

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Dangerous slowing of Antarctic ocean circulation sooner than expected

PARIS, May 26, 2023 (AFP) – Climate change-driven shifts in the circulation of waters to the deepest reaches of the ocean around Antarctica, which could reverberate across the planet and intensify global warming, are happening decades “ahead of schedule”, according to new research. Scientists have said that an acceleration of melting Antarctic ice and rising temperatures, driven by the emission of planet-warming gases, is expected to have a significant effect on the global network of […]

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 Musk’s Neuralink says cleared for human test of brain implants

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Elon Musk’s start-up Neuralink on Thursday said it has gotten approval from US regulators to test its brain implants in people. Neuralink said clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its first in-human clinical study is “an important first step” for its technology, which is intended to let brains interface directly with computers. “We are excited to share that we have received the FDA’s approval to […]

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Guam ‘weathers storm’ as Typhoon Mawar moves west

LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Typhoon Mawar was moving away from Guam on Thursday, prompting the governor of the US territory to declare the island had “weathered the storm.” Forecasters said the typhoon had blasted Guam with winds of 140 miles per hour (225 kilometers per hour) on Wednesday when the eye of the storm passed just north of the island. Mawar was now heading towards the Philippines and Taiwan, packing stronger winds of […]

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Typhoon Mawar leaves trail of destruction as it moves from Guam

LOS ANGELES, May 25, 2023 (AFP) — A typhoon that slammed into Guam, knocking out power and flooding buildings with a powerful storm surge, was moving away Thursday — leaving residents of the US Pacific Ocean territory to survey the damage. Governor Lou Leon Guerrero was set to venture out when conditions allow to see what damage has been wrought on the island, a key US military outpost and home to 170,000 people. The governor […]

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Solar investment outshines oil: IEA

By Catherine Hours and Richard Lein Agence France-Presse PARIS, France, May 25, 2023 (AFP) — Investment in solar power is expected to overtake oil for the first time this year as clean energy spending outpaces that for fossil fuels, the IEA said in a report Thursday. While that is a welcome development, the International Energy Agency warned that investment in fossil fuels is rising when it should be falling fast to achieve net zero emissions […]

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