Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Young, fashion-conscious and eager for change, thousands of Zimbabweans spent this week partying at music concerts and open-air bars during a six-day festival hosted in the capital against all the odds. The Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA), founded in 1999, was abandoned last …
Read More »Facebook adding 3,000 people to screen out violent content
Washington, United States | AFP | Facebook said Wednesday it is hiring an extra 3,000 staff to root out violent content as the social media giant faces scrutiny for a series of killings and suicides broadcast on its platform. “If we’re going to build a safe community, we need to …
Read More »Facebook steps up fight on state-led propaganda
Washington, United States | AFP | Facebook said Thursday it is stepping up its security to counter efforts by governments and others to spread misinformation or manipulate discussions for political reasons. The new effort expands Facebook’s security efforts beyond “abusive” actions such as hacking and financial scams to “more subtle …
Read More »Apple gets permit to test self-driving cars
San Francisco, United States | AFP | Apple has joined the list of companies with permits to test self-driving cars in California, according to an updated roster released by state officials. The iPhone maker has disclosed little about its ambitions when it comes to self-driving vehicles, with chief Tim Cook …
Read More »Twitter drops egg icon in battle with internet ‘trolls’
San Francisco, United States | AFP | An egg icon that for years marked profiles of new Twitter users was gone Monday, a victim of “trolls” who often hid behind them to launch anonymous online attacks. For seven years, anyone who created a Twitter account automatically got an egg icon as …
Read More »Twitter makes room for more characters in tweets
San Francisco, United States | AFP | Twitter on Thursday began rolling out changes to let people pack more into tweets, subtracting from the character count names of those being replied to in posts. The latest software modification at the one-to-many messaging service comes about a year after Twitter set out …
Read More »Samsung eyes rebound with Galaxy S8 phones, virtual assistant
New York, United States | AFP | Samsung on Wednesday unveiled its new Galaxy S8 smartphones, incorporating the virtual assistant Bixby, as the market leader seeks to rebound from a chaotic handset recall and a corruption scandal. The South Korean giant’s mobile chief DJ Koh told a New York event …
Read More »Bill Gates again world’s richest man; Trump slips
New York, United States | AFP | Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates once again topped the Forbes magazine list of the world’s more than 2,000 billionaires, while US President Donald Trump slipped more than 200 spots, the magazine said Monday. Gates, whose wealth is estimated at $86 billion, led the list …
Read More »Web-based counseling lowers blood pressure as much as meds
Washington, United States | AFP | People who received regular lifestyle counseling online were able to lower their blood pressure as much as a medication would, researchers said Saturday. Their study involved 264 people with high blood pressure and an average age of 58. The subjects’ average blood pressure began at …
Read More »Pressure mounts on Uber and CEO after missteps
Washington, United States | AFP | After a series of embarrassing revelations, ridesharing giant Uber faces challenges in keeping growth on track, with top executive Travis Kalanick likely to face pressure to give up some control. Analysts say Uber’s rocky past month — marred by disclosures about a culture of …
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