Here are the stories making headlines this Friday.
Honda recalls another 69,000 vehicles in China
BEIJING (Reuters) – Honda Motor Co. Ltd () will recall 69,090 UR-V sport utility vehicles (SUVs) in China, market regulators said on Thursday, a result of a cold-climate engine problem that has already forced the recall of hundreds of thousands of vehicles.
Zimbabwe opposition leader Biti in custody after Zambia deports him
HARARE (Reuters) – Zimbabwean police took former finance minister and opposition leader Tendai Biti into custody on Thursday after Zambian authorities rejected his bid for asylum and deported him, his lawyers said. Police in Zimbabwe were looking for Biti and eight other opposition figures for allegedly fomenting violence following a disputed national election in which President Emmerson Mnangagwa was declared the winner.
Italy uncovers massive load of hash in ship’s fuel tanks
ROME (Reuters) – Italian police said on Thursday they found 20 tonnes of hash worth as much as 200 million euros ($232 million) in the fuel tanks of a Panama-flagged ship that was stopped in international waters and escorted to Sicily.
Egyptian students design car that runs on air
CAIRO (Reuters) – A group of Egyptian students has designed a vehicle they say will battle rising energy prices and promote clean energy by running on nothing but air. The undergraduate students, who built the vehicle as part of their graduation project from Helwan University just outside Cairo, are rolling out a prototype one-person vehicle that runs on compressed oxygen.
Suspected al Shabaab militants kill five soldiers in Kenya’s Lamu:…
MOMBASA (Reuters) – Five Kenyan soldiers were killed in an attack claimed by the Somali group al Shaabab in Lamu County on Kenya’s north coast on Wednesday, a senior official said. The local government official in the county, who asked not to be named, said the attack occurred between the areas of Majengo and Bodhei.
Tanzania plans to suspend Naspers’ Multichoice telecoms license
NAIROBI (Reuters) – Tanzania’s telecommunications regulator intends to suspend the license of Multichoice, owned by South Africa’s Naspers, for continuing to carry free-to-air channels. A notice issued by Tanzania’s Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) said Multichoice had been instructed in June not to carry the channels on its platform, but the de facto Africa pay-TV monopoly had persisted in doing so.
Russia: US sanctions are ‘categorically unacceptable’
Further US sanctions against Russia over the poisoning of a former spy are “unacceptable” and “illegal,” according to President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman.
Climate change turns Mideast breadbasket into cannabis farm
Lebanon’s parliament may soon legalize medicinal cannabis and its cultivation. Farmers affected by global warming say the change can’t come soon enough.
Thai soccer team’s stateless boys granted citizenship
Three boys from the Wild Boar soccer team and their coach, who were rescued from deep within a flooded cave in Thailand last month, have been granted Thai citizenship.
Brad Pitt fires back at Angelina Jolie’s child support claims
Brad Pitt is disputing Angelina Jolie’s claims that he has not paid “meaningful” child support.
Exercise is good for body and mind
Exercise helps you live longer and lowers risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes. It leads to better mental health as well, according to a study published Wednesday.
Online dating study: Are you chasing people ‘out of your league’?
Online daters tend to pursue users who are roughly 25% “more desirable” than they are — and, by the looks of their messages, many are well aware of the “hierarchy,” according to a new study.
Legal abortion bill rejected in Argentina
Argentina’s senate has rejected a bill which would have legalised abortion in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. After a marathon debate, 38 senators voted against it and 31 in favour. Its defeat means lawmakers must wait until next year to resubmit legislation.
NZ man filmed 34 women in shower for porn
A New Zealand man has pleaded guilty to filming 34 women at his guesthouse with covert cameras in shampoo bottles. The man from Hawke’s Bay, North Island – who has not been named to protect his wife – made 219 secret recordings from December 2017 to February 2018.
‘Fitting car stereos keeps me young’
Cecilia Wangari is a great-grandmother who works in a garage in Kenya, installing car stereos.
The troubled 29-year-old helped to die by Dutch doctors
In January a young Dutch woman drank poison supplied by a doctor and lay down to die. Euthanasia is legal in Holland, so hers was a death sanctioned by the state. But Aurelia Brouwers was not terminally ill – she was allowed to end her life on account of her psychiatric illness.
Can super-rich tourism help the planet?
On a remote tropical island in the Indian Ocean, a man in a woman’s wig has been hiding in a bush for hours. Armed with an air rifle, he plans to kill the island’s last three surviving specimens of an exotic bird. This, unlikely as it might appear, is the current front line in a conservation revolution.
Apple self-driving cars could have AR windshields perfect for FaceTime
Your car could act a lot more like your iPhone in the future – at least according to Apple patent filings for an augmented reality windshield. Patently Apple found a European patent application for a windshield display that presents map and road conditions in autonomous cars.
The SEC is looking into Musk’s ‘going private’ tweet, report claims
Well, this didn’t take long. According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is looking into Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s recent tweets, in which he announced that Tesla is looking to go private.
Australians are exploiting a little-known perk: A free picture of the Queen
So in Australia, not only do citizens get free healthcare, but they are also legally entitled to a free picture of the Queen. Citizens can send a request to their federal member of parliament for certain “nationhood material,” which includes an official portrait of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, the country’s head of state, or his royal highness, The Duke of Edinburgh.
News anchor’s ‘farting’ slip-up brings hot air to report on wildfires
Look, when you’re a news anchor spending hours every day live on the air, you’re occasionally going say the wrong thing or mispronounce a name, and it’ll happen in the middle of a tragic news story, and you just have to soldier on.
Tesla Solar Roof tiles aren’t coming out beautiful enough for Elon Musk, report claims
Tesla’s production problems apparently don’t stop with the Model 3. According to a Reuters report, production of the company’s solar tiles have been delayed by assembly line problems. Part of the issue is producing tiles that meet the aesthetic standards of company CEO, Elon Musk.
