San Francisco, United States | AFP | Uber on Friday acknowledged the use of a secret software program to steer drivers away from trouble, including sting operations by local authorities to catch lawbreakers. In the latest in a streak of damaging news for the ridesharing giant, Uber came forward about …
Read More »Hats, shiny leather and a ‘return to sex’: the big Paris fashion week trends
Paris, France | AFP | As the Paris fashion week autumn-winter shows reach their climax, we look at the biggest womenswear trends so far on the catwalk: – Mad hatters – Paris has fallen head over heels for hats. This week has seen an unprecedented sprouting of headwear on the …
Read More »‘Sadistic’ treatment of models casts new shadow over fashion
Paris, France | AFP | The alleged “sadistic” mistreatment of scores of models who were forced to wait in a dark, cramped staircase at a Paris fashion week casting has sparked fresh criticism of how the industry functions. With fashion already under intense scrutiny over under-age and overly thin models, …
Read More »Snap: messages vanish, young billionaires appear
San Francisco, United States | AFP | The mobile application Snapchat became a social media star with messages that vanish after viewing, making co-founders Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy among the youngest billionaires on the planet. The history of the company, recently re-branded just Snap in an effort to be …
Read More »Colon cancer rates rise among Gen X, millennials
Miami, United States | AFP | Colon and rectal cancer rates are rising sharply among young and middle-aged adults in the United States but doctors have yet to pinpoint why, researchers said Tuesday. Generation X and millennials face anywhere from two to four times the risk of colon and rectal …
Read More »China’s Huawei takes aim at ailing Samsung with new smartphone
Barcelona, Spain | AFP | China’s Huawei unveiled a new smartphone with a better camera on Sunday as it tries to fill the void left by Samsung’s withdrawal of its flagship device due to problems with the battery. Huawei’s P10 and the larger P10 Plus, launched on the sidelines of …
Read More »Versace gets political with defiant defence of feminism
Milan, Italy | AFP | Italy’s fashion queen Donatella Versace sent a message to women everywhere Friday with a show that screamed defiance at attempts to turn back the clock on feminism. Supermodels Gigi and Bella Hadid, Kendell Jenner and Behati Prinsloo strutted their stuff on a runway strong with …
Read More »Brazil’s economy puts damper on Rio carnival
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | AFP | The Rio carnival is a celebration of joyful excess but deep recession in Brazil means that samba schools are thinking about their budgets as much as their dance moves. “Here the key word is austerity,” says Luiz Carlos Magalhaes, president of the Portela …
Read More »Facebook pushes video onto TV screens
San Francisco, United States | AFP | Facebook on Tuesday announced it was rolling out apps to allow people to view videos posted on the social network on connected televisions. The new apps — for Apple TV, Amazon’s Fire TV and Samsung Smart TV — will provide a more convenient …
Read More »Dubai aims to launch hover-taxi by July
Dubai, United Arab Emirates | AFP | Dubai has tested a Chinese prototype of a self-driving hover-taxi, its transport authority said on Monday, with the aim of introducing the aerial vehicle in the emirate by July. The test of the one-man electric vehicle comes as the city state in the …
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