STOCKHOLM (AFP) -- Three researchers from the US and Britain on Monday shared the Nobel Medicine Prize for research into how human cells sense and adapt to changing oxygen levels, opening up new strategies to fight common diseases such as cancer and anaemia.   William Kaelin and Gregg Semenza of the US and Britain's Peter Ratcliffe split the nine million Swedish kronor ($914,000) award.While the fact that humans need oxygen to survive has been understood for centuries, how the body reg

World News Oct. 7, 2019

BUSAN -- A new film about the Sewol ferry sinking, a disaster that killed more than 300 people -- most of them children, will premiere at Asia's biggest film festival, five years after director Lee Sang-ho caused controversy with his first documentary on the topic."Diving Bell", which screened at the 2014 Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), criticised then leader Park Geun-hye's administration on its handling of the sinking.In response, angry officials cut BIFF's $1.3 million fun

Film Oct. 5, 2019

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) -- Facebook on Thursday launched Threads, an image-centric messaging app designed to weave tight circles of Instagram friends together, while ramping up its challenge to rival Snapchat.Threads is its own separate smartphone app, but ties into lists of "close friends" that Instagram began letting users create late last year, according to director of product Robby Stein."Threads is the fastest way to share a photo or video with your close friends on Instagram,&qu

World News Oct. 4, 2019

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- Less than a month ago, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo triumphed over rivals to emerge as the dominant force in Donald Trump's foreign policy.Pompeo's ascendancy was confirmed in a very public manner when Trump sacked his chief adversary, John Bolton, as national security advisor on September 10.But Pompeo's fortunes have suddenly darkened over his role in the Ukraine scandal that has triggered an impeachment probe into the president.After prevaricating for days, Pompeo fin

World News Oct. 4, 2019

NEW YORK (AFP) -- Netflix announced Monday a fourth season of retro sci-fi show "Stranger Things," the site's most successful original production, as it bids to fend off intense competition from other streaming platforms.The video subscription service added that it had entered into a multi-year deal with the hit series' creators, Matt and Ross Duffer, to work on unspecified film and series projects."Stranger Things," a nostalgic 1980s drama about a gang of suburban adolescent

Television Oct. 1, 2019

BEIJING (AFP) -- China celebrates 70 years of Communist Party supremacy Tuesday with a parade of tanks, missiles and troops, a muscular display of its rising superpower status even as it faces an unprecedented challenge to its authority in seething Hong Kong.Authorities in Beijing have closed roads, banned the flying of kites, and shut some bars as they tightened security for an event celebrating China's journey from a country broken by war and poverty to being the world's second-largest economy

World News Oct. 1, 2019

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has confirmed that US President Donald Trump asked him to help gather information for an inquiry into Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election.The New York Times, citing two unidentified US officials, earlier reported the request to assist in the investigation -- which aims to discredit the Russia probe -- was made during a recent telephone call between Trump and Morrison.An Australian government spokesma

World News Oct. 1, 2019

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- John Bolton warned Monday that North Korea had not truly chosen to give up nuclear weapons in the hawk's first public appearance since he left as President Donald Trump's national security advisor.At a think-tank conference on North Korea, Bolton said he could now "speak in unvarnished terms" about the "grave threat" posed by the regime of Kim Jong-un, who has courted Trump."It seems to be clear that the DPRK has not made a strategic decision to give

North Korea Oct. 1, 2019

BEIJING (AFP) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping paid his respects to Chairman Mao Zedong's embalmed body Monday in a rare gesture ahead of China's celebration of 70 years of Communist rule.Xi and other top Chinese officials visited Mao's mausoleum -- located in the heart of Beijing in Tiananmen Square -- and bowed three times to the late leader's statue, reported official news agency Xinhua.He also paid respects to the remains of Mao, whose embalmed body is kept in a glass display at the memorial

World News Sept. 30, 2019

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) -- Seventy years after the founding of communist China, once rosy predictions of coexistence with the United States have dissipated with expectations rising instead of a long-term, globe-spanning rivalry.The United Nations General Assembly showcased the harsh new tone between the world's two largest economies, with US President Donald Trump declaring from the rostrum that the age of tolerance for China's "abuses" was over.Representing China at the annual summit of

World News Sept. 29, 2019

LOS ANGELES (AFP) -- Spider-Man will spin his web on the big screen once again.A breakdown in talks between Sony Pictures and Marvel had imperiled the web-slinger's celluloid future, but the two companies announced a deal Friday for Marvel Studios to produce the third Spidey film starring British actor Tom Holland.The film -- which follows up on "Spider-Man: Homecoming" and "Spider-Man: Far from Home" -- is set for release on July 16, 2021, the studios said.Marvel Studios pre

Film Sept. 29, 2019

TOKYO (AFP) -- Fed up with finding yourself next to a screaming child on a long-haul flight? On some Japanese airlines a seat map will warn you where potentially bawling babies are sitting.The facility, offered as part of Japan Airlines' "Smile Support" travel service for those with infants, is not new, but lit up the internet after a Twitter user praised it."Thank you, @JAL_Official_jp for warnings me about where babies plan to scream and yell during a 13 hour trip. This really o

World News Sept. 27, 2019

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) -- Iran's president on Wednesday closed the door on meeting Donald Trump despite last-minute European efforts to ease tensions as the United States again ramped up punishing sanctions.French President Emmanuel Macron had shuttled between his US and Iranian counterparts over two days at the United Nations, trying to arrange a historic encounter that he hoped could reduce the risk of all-out war in the Middle East.But Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, addressing the UN General

World News Sept. 26, 2019

NEW YORK (AFP) -- A downbeat Donald Trump on Wednesday dismissed as a "joke" the grounds laid out for the impeachment inquiry into him, as Democrats stood firm in accusing the US president of a "mafia-style shakedown" of his Ukrainian counterpart.Trump denied claims he abused his office by repeatedly urging President Volodymyr Zelensky to probe his rival Joe Biden -- as confirmed in a call transcript released by the White House.The next explosive episode in the rapidly unfold

World News Sept. 26, 2019

NEW YORK (AFP) -- Placido Domingo, the legendary opera singer facing myriad sexual harassment accusations, is withdrawing from all future performances at New York's Metropolitan Opera, both he and the institution announced Tuesday.The 11th-hour decision comes just one night before the 78-year-old Spaniard, dubbed the "king of opera," was scheduled to perform in the Met's sold-out first production of "Macbeth." "Placido Domingo has agreed to withdraw from all future perfo

World News Sept. 25, 2019