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TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A handful of unhygienic pranks at sushi conveyor belt restaurants in Japan have sparked stock slumps, venue overhauls and legal action, along with furious social media commentary. Several videos dubbed “sushi terrorism” have emerged on social media including Twitter and TikTok in recent days, some of them apparently weeks or even years old. In one, viewed nearly 40 million times on Twitter, an apparently teenaged customer licks the top of a […]
by Frédérique BÉRUBÉ / Frederique BERUBE Agence France Presse Montreal, Canada (AFP) — A choreographed ballet of massive trucks, snowplows and snowblowers takes over the streets of Montreal whenever it snows, an enormous logistical effort with a significant environmental cost. Hundreds of snow-clearing vehicles are deployed across the frigid Canadian city for 100 or more days each year on average, dusting the road with salt and belching emissions into the air. “The snow challenge in […]
by Bahira Amin Agence France-Presse CAIRO, Egypt (AFP) — Thousands of Egyptian bibliophiles weave through a labyrinthine display of books, reviving an annual tradition at the Arab world’s largest book fair, but this year it comes at a steep cost. The 54th Cairo International Book Fair was overshadowed by a punishing economic crisis that has seen Egypt’s currency, the pound, halve in value and prices skyrocket in the past year. Organizers say the fair lured […]
Bogotá, Colombia (AFP) — A judge in Colombia caused a stir by announcing he had used the AI chatbot ChatGPT in preparing a ruling in a children’s medical rights case. Judge Juan Manuel Padilla said he used the text-generating bot in a case involving a request to exonerate an autistic child from paying fees for medical appointments, therapy and transportation given his parents’ limited income. Padilla told Blu Radio on Tuesday that ChatGPT and other […]
SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Google and Apple on Thursday reported downbeat results for the last quarter of 2022 as Amazon beat expectations, but warned that the coming months would be uncertain in a difficult moment for Big Tech. The world’s biggest tech companies posted their earnings as shares in Meta skyrocketed a day after it reported better results than expected and signaled spending and job cuts. The results follow several weeks of unprecedented […]
by Katie Forster / Hiroshi HIYAMA Agence France-Presse Tokyo, Japan (AFP) — Sony upgraded its annual net profit forecasts on Thursday, saying it expects strong results in its key gaming sector as the weak yen inflates profits on products sold abroad. The Japanese electronics and entertainment giant said net profit in the April-December period jumped five percent year-on-year to 809 billion yen ($6.3 billion). This was partly thanks to strong sales in the game, music […]
by Anuj Chopra with Saladin Salem in Berlin Agence France- Presse Washington, United States (AFP) — Chatbots spouting falsehoods, face-swapping apps crafting porn videos and cloned voices defrauding companies of millions — the scramble is on to rein in AI deepfakes that have become a misinformation super spreader. Artificial Intelligence is redefining the proverb “seeing is believing,” with a deluge of images created out of thin air and people shown mouthing things they never said […]
by Glenn CHAPMAN Agence France-Presse SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Facebook and Instagram owner Meta on Wednesday reported its first annual sales drop since the company went public in 2012, but the fall was less brutal than expected, sending its share price soaring. The social media giant said sales dropped one percent to $116.6 billion in 2022, while it also announced that the number of daily users on Facebook hit two billion for the […]
Dutch officials have identified a single case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as “mad cow disease”, in a cow carcass, the government said Wednesday. The infected cow “did not enter the food chain and did not pose a risk to food safety,” Agriculture Minister Piet Adema said. BSE is linked to the fatal human condition Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease if contaminated meat is ingested. Dutch officials had sealed off the affected farm, whose location was […]
by Anuj Chopra and Marisha Goldhamer Agence France-Presse Washington, United States (AFP) — Vaccine skeptics blocking transfusions for life-saving surgeries, Facebook groups inciting violence against doctors and a global search for unvaccinated donors — Covid-19 misinformation has bred a so-called “pure blood” movement. The movement spins anti-vaccine narratives focused on unfounded claims that receiving blood from people inoculated against the coronavirus “contaminates” the body. Some have advocated for blood banks that draw from “pure” unvaccinated […]
HOUSTON, United States (AFP) — Two missing emperor tamarin monkeys turned up alive and well Tuesday, officials said, a day after disappearing from the Dallas Zoo in the latest of a string of bizarre incidents at the attraction. Dallas police had said the two animals, reported missing Monday, may have been intentionally taken out of the zoo and issued a photo of a man in a hoodie who may be linked to the monkeys’ disappearance. […]
by Maggy DONALDSON Agence France-Presse Los Angeles, United States (AFP) — From “The Legend of Zelda” theme to the infectious “Super Mario Bros” score, sound and music have long been foundational to the gaming experience. And now, in a move many fans and insiders consider long overdue, the Recording Academy for the first time has created a Grammy category specifically honoring a video game soundtrack, an acknowledgement of the major impact gaming and its music […]
