San Francisco, United States | AFP | Facebook on Tuesday unveiled “Instant Games” allowing users of the world’s biggest social network to play from its Messenger application or directly on their news feeds. The new games effort could be a step toward eventually monetizing Messenger, which now has more than …
Read More »Long bank queues in India? There’s an app for that!
New Delhi, India | AFP | Huge bank queues have become an ubiquitous sight across India after the government suddenly withdrew the two highest denomination notes from circulation two weeks ago — but now you can hire-a-queuer online. New Delhi-based startup BookMyChotu — a play on the Hindi word “chotu” …
Read More »Another Kenya Airways top exec steps down after pilot pressure
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Kenya Airways on Thursday announced the resignation of its chief executive officer, a move demanded by pilots complaining of mismanagement at the troubled airline. CEO Mbuvi Ngunze will step down in the first quarter of 2017. His resignation follows that of chairman Dennis Awori only …
Read More »Over half of world’s population does not use internet
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | More than half the world’s population does not use the internet, with prohibitive broadband costs keeping billions off line, a United Nations report said Tuesday. The UN’s International Telecommunications Union (ITU) said that 3.9 billion people do not have home or mobile internet access and …
Read More »Doctors use WhatsApp to find kin of India train survivors
Pukhrāyān, India | AFP | Eight-year-old Sejal Yadav was pulled from the wreckage of a derailed train in northern India and rushed alone to hospital. Hours later she was reunited with her brother — thanks to WhatsApp. As survivors were rescued from the mangled carriages of the Indore-Patna Express on …
Read More »Trump is ‘just the president’, says defiant fugitive Snowden
Stockholm, Sweden | AFP | Former US National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden on Monday downplayed the importance of President-elect Donald Trump and again defended his decision to leak documents showing massive surveillance of US citizens’ communications. “Donald Trump is just the president. It’s an important position. But it’s one …
Read More »Vintage biplanes on cross-Africa trek land in Khartoum
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | A dozen biplanes taking part in a vintage air rally bound for Cape Town arrived in Sudan’s capital on Sunday, with one participant walking away from a bad landing. The aircraft dating from the 1920s and 1930s took off on November 12 from the Greek …
Read More »Amazon video going global with rival to ‘Top Gear’
San Francisco, United States | AFP | Amazon is set to challenge Netflix worldwide with a massive expansion of its on-demand video streaming service featuring its remake of the BBC’s global hit “Top Gear.” Amazon Prime Video is currently available in Austria, Britain, Germany, Japan and the United States, with …
Read More »Facebook authorizes $6 bn share buyback
San Francisco, United States | AFP | Facebook’s board of directors on Friday authorized spending as much as $6 billion to buy back shares in the leading social network. The stock repurchase program would go into effect at the start of next year, potentially allowing Facebook to take advantage of …
Read More »CEO of US cybersecurity firm resigns after Trump threat
Los Angeles, United States | AFP | The CEO of a cybersecurity firm in San Diego has resigned after posting on his now-deleted Facebook page threatening comments about President-elect Donald Trump. Matt Harrigan, who founded PacketSled, stepped down on Tuesday after his online postings prompted a backlash and calls for …
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