TECH NEWS

Tokyo, Japan | AFP | A Japanese billionaire has launched an online wanted ad for a girlfriend who will fly around the Moon with him on a SpaceX rocket. Yusaku Maezawa, who recently announced his break-up with a Japanese actress, is accepting applications from “single women aged 20 or over” who …

Entebbe, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Civil Aviation Authority-CAA has disqualified 60 airport taxis from operating at Entebbe International Airport on account of being old.  The affected taxis, manufactured majorly before 2003, were discontinued between September 2019 and January 7th 2020. This is line with an agreement between taxi operators, Uganda …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP |  South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Saturday said the country’s debt-laden power utility Eskom would not be privatised and pledged to restore it to full capacity. Rolling blackouts were implemented several times last year to prevent the grid collapsing and resumed last weekend despite …

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | Ethiopia and Egypt failed to resolve a long-running dispute over a massive dam being built on the Blue Nile River during the latest round of talks this week. Officials said Thursday that some progress had been made, though they remained at odds over major sticking …

Washington, United States | AFP |  US President Donald Trump said Thursday he had “suspicions” about the crash of a Ukrainian airliner outside Tehran as US media reported it had been mistakenly shot down by Iran. Unnamed officials told American media that Iranian air defense systems likely accidentally shot down …

Las Vegas, United States | AFP |  Avatars touted as “artificial humans” created a buzz Tuesday at the Consumer Electronics Show even as debate swirled on what exactly the digital entities were. Star Labs, a startup funded by Samsung, showed the painstakingly detailed AI-powered, two-dimensional digital creations to a large crowd, …

  Tokyo, Japan | AFP | Prosecutors in Japan on Tuesday obtained an arrest warrant for Carole Ghosn, wife of former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn, who last month jumped bail and fled the country. The warrant was issued as the fallout from the escape of one of Japan’s most high-profile …

Paris, France | AFP | An AI computer model can diagnose and identify 10 of the most common types of brain cancer with the same accuracy as human doctors, researchers said Monday. More than 15 million people worldwide are diagnosed with cancer every year, and 80 percent of those will undergo …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AGENCIES | After writing, South African Airways has entered bankruptcy protection. As yet, it’s unclear what this means for the long-term future of the airline, but the airline must show appointed financial practitioners it can secure the funds to avoid liquidation according to South African law. …

Oslo, Norway | AFP |  Sales of new electric cars in Norway hit a record high last year, sector experts said Friday, reaching 42.4 percent of all nearly-registered cars in 2019, mostly thanks to strong demand for Tesla’s Model 3. Norway, a major oil producer that has pioneered electric mobility, …