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  Apple on Monday said it is ramping up privacy and expanding features in new iPhone operating software to be released later this year. The Silicon Valley technology colossus opened its annual developers conference by teasing improvements to security, privacy and interoperability of its devices, even as the company remains under fire for its tight control of its App Store. "All of this incredible software will be available to all of our users this fall," Apple chief executive Tim Cook said during the Worldwide Developers Conference opening presentation. "I am so excited for these new releases and how they will make our products even more powerful and more capable." The next version of iPhone operating software, called iOS 15, will have improved privacy features including overviews of how apps access smartphone cameras or microphones as well as data such as location or contacts. "We don´t think you should have to make a trade-off between great featu

  The pandemic has shaken up the rankings of the world´s most liveable cities, a study released on Wednesday showed, with metropolises in Australia, Japan and New Zealand leaping ahead of those in Europe. Auckland tops The Economist´s annual survey of the world´s most liveable cities in 2021 followed by Osaka and Tokyo in Japan, Adelaide in Australia and Wellington in New Zealand, all of which had a swift response to the Covid pandemic. "Auckland rose to the top of the ranking owing to its successful the approach in containing the Covid-19 pandemic, which allowed its society to remain open and the city to score strongly," the Economist Intelligence Unit said. In contrast, "European cities fared particularly poorly in this year´s edition." "Vienna, previously the world´s most liveable city between 2018-20, fell to 12th. Eight of the top ten biggest falls in the rankings are European cities," according to the study. The biggest fall overall among t

Israel´s centrist opposition leader Yair Lapid delivers a statement to the press at the Knesset (Israeli parliament) in Jerusalem on May 31, 2021. — AFP Israeli Opposition leader Yair Lapid on Monday said many obstacles remain before a diverse coalition can be built to oust veteran Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but voiced hope it will achieve the "greater goal". Lapid, a secular centrist, has been locked in talks with the right-wing nationalist Naftali Bennett on the terms of a "change alliance" that also hinges on an array of other parties ahead of a Wednesday midnight deadline. Former TV anchor Lapid's chances of success rose when tech millionaire Bennett, despite their ideological differences, said Sunday he would join a "national unity government" in which the two men would take turns to serve as premier. Israel's latest political turmoil comes more than two months after Israel's fourth inconclusive election in less than two years, and

Mona El-Kurd and her twin brother Mohammed El-Kurd. — Photos courtesy Middle East Eye & AFP  Israeli police on Sunday detained the prominent activist El-Kurd twins, whose campaign against the threatened expulsion of Palestinian families from homes in the Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah has found a global audience. On Sunday morning police arrested Mona el-Kurd, 23, at her home in Sheikh Jarrah, where a legal battle between Israeli settlers and several Palestinian families has crystallised anger over Israel's settlement movement. They also left a summons for her twin brother, Muhammad, their father told  AFP . Israeli police told  AFP  that Mona was "suspected of having participated in riots and other recent incidents in Sheikh Jarrah". They did not give details on the status of Mohammad, who had handed himself in after the summons, but family lawyer Nasser Odeh indicated that the 23-year-old remained under investigation. Protesters had ga

  Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, co-founder of the UAE-Israel Business Council and deputy mayor of Jerusalem, poses for a photo during an interview with AFP in the Gulf emirate of Dubai on June 3, 2021.Photo: AFP  The violence by Israel in Gaza created "uncomfortable conversations " between business partners from UAE and Israel months after the two countries recognised each other, the deputy mayor of Jerusalem told AFP. But the conversations were "open" and "everybody was very moderate and understanding", Fleur Hassan-Nahoum said. Speaking on the sidelines of a bilateral investment conference in Dubai, Hassan-Nahoum, co-founder of the UAE-Israel Business Council, also expressed hope that trade between the two countries would exceed the billion-dollar mark in the coming year. The UAE in 2020 became only the third Arab country to establish full ties with Israel, under a Washington-backed deal condemned by the Palestinians. The two sides have since announced a string o

  A health worker (right) speaks to a family during a coronavirus vaccine awareness campaign in Kalwa village, Haryana state, India. Photo: AFP When health worker Neelam Kumari knocks on doors in Indian villages the occupants sometimes run out the back, terrified that she wants to vaccinate them against Covid-19. With India's devastating recent virus surge easing in cities, the deadly pandemic is ravaging the vast poverty-stricken rural hinterland. But here, ignorance and fear rule.   "A lot of people in my village don't want to take the vaccine. They fear that they will die if they take it," Kumari told AFP in Dhatrath, a collection of two-story buildings in Haryana state with buffaloes wandering the streets."One of the villagers was so angry that he beat up a (health) worker who was trying to convince him to take the vaccine." Just 15 percent of people in rural areas, compared with 30 percent in towns and cities have received at least one vaccine dos

  Researchers in Hong Kong say they’ve confirmed that a person can be infected with COVID-19 twice. There have been sporadic accounts on social media sites of people who say they’ve gotten COVID twice. But scientists have been skeptical about that possibility, saying there’s no evidence it happens. The new proof comes from a 33-year-old man in Hong Kong who first caught COVID-19 in March. He was tested for the coronavirus after he developed a cough , sore throat , fever , and headache for 3 days. He stayed in the hospital until he twice tested negative for the virus in mid-April. On Aug. 15, the man returned to Hong Kong from a recent trip to Spain and the U.K., areas that have recently seen a resurgence of COVID-19 cases. At the airport, he was screened for COVID-19 using a test that checks saliva for the virus. He tested positive, but this time, had no symptoms. He was taken to the hospital for monitoring. His viral load -- the amount of virus he had in his body -- went down o

 by:  Eric Cheung  and  Trishna Mahtani ·          Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Victor Lee has developed robots that can automatically disinfect shopping malls and deliver meals in quarantine hotels ·       Mattis Tsang says dedication was crucial as he built a flight simulator to train pilots and students with an emphasis on aviation safety ·       Inside Hong Kong’s busy K11 Musea shopping mall in Tsim Sha Tsui on the southern tip of Kowloon, a fleet of robots with expressive eyes can be seen moving along different floors and spraying disinfectant into the air. Named Jasmine, each of these disinfection robots is equipped with two vents, four wheels and a tank that can store up to 10 liters of sterilising solution. They also have sensors that are able to detect obstacles, giving them the ability to move around and sanitise different areas without the need for human guidance. The robots are the brainchild of Victor Lee, a Hong Kong engineer who founded autonomous robotics start-u

  Republican party has been badly damaged by Trump’s nonserious and jugular attitude which is never expected from the Head of superpower,who rule the world. Trump didnot seem to realize that his amassed wealth cannot win election for him.He had been criticized a lot for his immaturity on number of issues.This is probably the first time that he pleaded for rigging and manoevering the american elections. But this happened even in states where republican had never lost elections.This rhetoric of him is badly damaging the republicans rather than focusing on next elections Trump has directed their attention on false apprehensions of turning around the table through his legal battle ,which will set a bad precedence for the superpower and the great people. Now its also a challenge for Biden administration to devise international policies and domestic policies in line with national objectives and interests .The solution lies in aggressive actions for fulfillment to reverse the damages of previ

  Five of the world´s biggest emerging economies Tuesday called for the development and delivery of Covid-19 vaccines to be sped up, reiterating that measures such as waiving intellectual property rights over jabs could help poorer nations battle the pandemic. The joint statement by the so-called "BRICS" group -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- followed an online summit chaired by India´s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. The foreign ministers said "extensive immunisation" would help bring the pandemic to an end, highlighting the "urgency for expeditious development and deployment of Covid-19 vaccines, especially in developing countries". They also expressed support for the global campaign led by South Africa and India at the World Trade Organization to temporarily waive IP rights for Covid-19 vaccines. Sharing vaccine doses, technology transfers, developing local production and supply chains as well as price transparency would als

Here are tH Here are latest developments in the coronavirus crisis: - Jabs for adolescents - US biotech firm Moderna says that trials have shown its Covid-19 vaccine is "highly effective" in adolescents aged 12-17 and it will seek regulators´ approval in June. - Half US adults jabbed - Half of all US adults will have received full Covid-19 vaccines on Tuesday, the White House says. President Joe Biden has set a target of having 70 percent of adults vaccinated with at least one dose by July 4. The current figure is almost 62 percent. - Few ´breakthrough´ cases - About 0.01 percent of people who have been fully vaccinated became infected with Covid-19 between January and April, a US government study confirming the shots´ high efficacy shows. - Origin probe call - The United States leads calls at the World Health Organization for a more in-depth probe of the pandemic origins, after an international mission to China earlier this year proved inconclusive. - Olympics still going ah