By Simon VALMARY NAIROBI, April 26, 2024 (AFP) – “Done!” — the catchphrase punctuating former rugby player Dennis Ombachi’s cooking videos is as famous as the balcony of the Nairobi apartment where he films himself in action. A former Rugby Sevens international, Ombachi reinvented himself to become a social media star with a global fanbase in just a few years> He has 2.3 million followers on TikTok and 1.4 million on Instagram. Known as “The ..read more

LOS ANGELES, April 26, 2024 (AFP) – The Denver Nuggets rallied to push LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers to the brink of elimination from the NBA playoffs on Thursday as the Philadelphia 76ers, fueled by 50 points from Joel Embiid, clawed back a win against the Knicks. The defending champion Nuggets erased a 10-point first-quarter deficit to beat the Lakers 112-105 in Los Angeles. Aaron Gordon scored 29 points and grabbed 15 rebounds ..read more

  (Eagle News)–Hans Leo Cacdac is the new Department of Migrant Workers secretary. President Bongbong Marcos appointed Cacdac to head the department months after he was designated officer-in-charge of the same in September 2023. Cacdac became OIC following the passing of then-Secretary Susan “Toots” Ople the month before. According to the Presidential Communications Office, Cacdac also served as executive director of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration. He also ..read more

By Michael ZHANG A spaceship carrying three astronauts from China’s Shenzhou-18 mission safely docked at Tiangong space station Friday, state-run media reported, the latest step in Beijing’s space programme that aims to send astronauts to the Moon by 2030. The crew took off in a capsule atop a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China’s northwest at 8:59 pm local time !1259 GMT) Thursday. By early Friday the spacecraft had “successfully ..read more

By Harumi OZAWA KYOTO, Japan, April 26, 2024 (AFP) – Diagnosed with autism, Shoko Sakuma says she struggled working in accounting but now she is putting her childhood love of drawing to work in a special Japanese animation studio. The groundbreaking initiative aims to provide job training and confidence to people with autism who can find it hard to cope in Japan’s often high-stress and long-hours work environment. “I was really bad at numbers, which ..read more

By Lucie PEYTERMANN The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo is accusing Apple of using “illegally exploited” minerals extracted from the country’s embattled east in its products, lawyers representing the African country said Thursday. The DRC’s lawyers have sent Apple a formal notice seen by AFP, effectively warning the tech giant that it could face legal action if the alleged practice continues. The Paris-based lawyers accused Apple of purchasing minerals smuggled from the DRC ..read more

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, United States, April 25, 2024 (AFP) – Two US astronauts arrived Thursday at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, ahead of their launch aboard the Boeing Starliner’s first crewed mission next month. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will blast off on the years-delayed flight on May 6 for a weeklong stay on the International Space Station (ISS). “We’re about to launch on Boeing Starliner and broaden the capability to and from Space ..read more

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) – Malaysia’s Tony Fernandes, one of Asia’s most prominent entrepreneurs, has decided to extend his contract as chief executive of Capital A, the firm said Wednesday, after the board persuaded him to delay his planned retirement. Fernandes, 59, a pioneer of Southeast Asia’s budget carrier sector who is often compared to British tycoon Richard Branson, said in January that he intended to step aside within the next five years after more than ..read more

By Romain FONSEGRIVES with Moises Avila in Austin LOS ANGELES, April 26, 2024 (AFP) – Pro-Palestinian protests spread to more college campuses in the United States on Thursday as authorities appeared to be running out of patience and police began to push back forcefully. Riot officers used chemical irritants and tasers at one university as administrators at some of the country’s most prestigious institutions battled to prevent occupations taking hold. Staging sit-ins and mounting boisterous ..read more

By Glenn CHAPMAN Microsoft and Google on Thursday drubbed quarterly earnings expectations as the tech titans continued investing heavily in artificial intelligence promising to shake up the way people live. The results were cheered by Wall Street investors who pushed up Alphabet’s share price more than 11 percent and Microsoft shares up nearly 4 percent in after-market trades. Google parent Alphabet reported profit of $23.7 billion on revenue of $80.5 billion, crediting growth in cloud ..read more