China’s state press agency has unveiled a virtual newsreader designed to deliver headlines 24 hours a day. Xinhua’s “artificial intelligence news anchor” is a lifelike digitised reporter which can read out text by mimicking the image and voice of a real human presenter. https://youtube.com/watch?v=h_OetRQl2s0%3Frel%3D0%26enablejsapi%3D1 The agency claims the virtual presenter – a realistic-looking man, sharply […]

Vancouver Coastal Health has issued a public warning about a locally-made sauce which could cause botulism. The health authority said investigators have discovered that Betty’s King Sauce, sold in six-ounce jars, is being prepared in a Richmond home, which is not an approved or inspected facility. It added that the ingredients being used and the […]

There are around 1.4 million books in the University of Lethbridge Library. On Thursday, the substantial collection expanded, but not in traditional paperback or hard cover form. “Instead of borrowing a book, you go and talk to a person,” University of Lethbridge Library operations specialist Nanda Stannard explained. To celebrate international education week, the U […]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s strategy to contain Iranian power in the Middle East by forging Arab allies into a U.S.-backed security alliance was in trouble even before the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Now, three U.S. sources said, the plan faces fresh complications. Khashoggi’s murder on Oct. 2 in the Saudi consulate […]

LONDON (Reuters) – The European Union’s markets watchdog has proposed a temporary fix to avoid uncleared derivatives contracts worth trillions of euros being disrupted if there is a no-deal Brexit next March. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) said the changes it was proposing would give banks one year to “repaper” or shift their […]

A constable with the Dillon RCMP detachment in northern Saskatchewan is accused of accessing sensitive, private images from a cell block surveillance recording. Two members of the detachment reported Const. Wade Chitrena had improperly accessed the images on Oct. 13 in the Buffalo Narrows cell block area. Chitrena, a nine-year member of the force, was […]

Al Jazeera spoke to David Handley the founder of Bondi’s ‘Sculpture by the Sea’. The Sculpture by the Sea exhibition in Sydney and Perth is Australia’s largest annual outdoor sculpture exhibition. Australia’s Bondi Beach is famous all over the world for its sun, sea, sand, and surf. But it’s also rapidly becoming a centre for […]

GENEVA (Reuters) – The World Food Programme plans to double its food assistance program for Yemen, aiming to reach up to 14 million people “to avert mass starvation”, it said in a statement on Thursday. “Yemen is the largest hunger crisis in the world. Millions of people are living on the edge of famine and […]

One man has been arrested and police are seeking other suspects following a violent home invasion in Peterborough on Wednesday night. Police say around 8:40 p.m., a group of men showed up at a Bruce Street home brandishing baseball bats with nails and carrying knives. They allegedly broke into the home after being denied entry. […]

DUSHANBE (Reuters) – Tajik security forces have killed at least 13 inmates at a prison in the city of Khujand where a riot broke out late on Wednesday, three security sources told Reuters on Thursday. The city government, contacted by Reuters, confirmed there had been a riot, but provided no other information. Source: Read Full […]