Washington, United States |US Senator Bernie Sanders unveiled his updated "Medicare for all" plan Wednesday with several rival Democratic presidential hopefuls jumping onboard, spotlighting his 2020 campaign call for a national health insurance program.

The idealistic legislation has little to no chance of passage in a divided Congress and in the run-up to next year's election. But Sanders, a frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, is laying down a prominent policy marker at the outset of the race.

"The American people want -- and we are going to deliver -- a Medicare for all, single-payer system," Sanders said at a Capitol Hill press conference.

His plan would convert public and private insurers into a government-run system which the senator said would hit back at the "greed and profiteering" of health providers and the insurance industry.

"Together we are going to end the international embarrassment of the United States of America, our great country, being the only major nation on earth not to guarantee health care to all as a right," he said.

"This is a struggle for the heart and soul of who we are as American people."

Sanders said the plan could save $500 billion annually by eliminating the wasteful bureaucracy of thousands of health care plans.

But critics, including some Democrats, warn it could end up costing trillions of dollars over the coming decade.

Sanders was reintroducing a version of legislation he put forward in 2017, with support from several fellow senators who are now in the presidential race.

The current bill's co-sponsors include White House hopefuls Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren.

"It's what our country needs," Gillibrand said of universal health care. "This has to become the next social safety net."

The messaging comes as President Donald Trump seeks to dismantle the Affordable Care Act that became law under predecessor Barack Obama, and as the number of uninsured Americans soared by seven million people since 2017, to roughly 34 million.

Obamacare opponents argue that costs have risen for millions of enrollees, but supporters say that has occurred largely because of Republican and Trump administration efforts to chip away at the law's provisions.

The White House said Americans deserve relief from the "empty promises" of Obamacare, but also knocked the Sanders plan.

"Self-proclaimed socialist Senator Bernie Sanders is proposing a total government takeover of healthcare that would actually hurt seniors, eliminate private health insurance for 180 million Americans, and cripple our economy and future generations with unprecedented debt," said White House press secretary Sarah Sanders.

The Medicare For All Act faces an uphill battle in Congress, where the top Democrat, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has voiced skepticism about associated costs.

"I'm agnostic. Show me how you think you can get there," she told The Washington Post last week.

"Right now it's a $30 trillion price tag," she added. "What do people get for that in terms of care, and what do they pay for that along the way?"

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San Francisco, United States | As console-quality video games head into the internet cloud, contenders are stepping up to win fans with Netflix-style on-demand services for play.

Hosting blockbuster titles at datacenters and letting people play them on an array of internet-linked devices will allow game makers to add rich new features and broaden their audiences in what is already a $135 billion global video game industry.

- Stadia -

Internet giant Google will launch its video game streaming service Stadia in 14 countries starting in November.

Google will sell its "founders edition bundle" hardware pack for $129, with a monthly subscription price of $9.99. In Europe, the price will be 129 euros and 9.99 euros per month.

Subscribers will have access to free games and will be able to purchase titles as well.

The first free title will be the shooter game Destiny 2 from developer Bungie.

Users may also purchase hit titles such as Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Ghost Recon Breakpoint from game giant Ubisoft.

Google chief executive Sundar Pichai has said the initiative is "to build a game platform for everyone."

As it produces its own games, Google is also courting studios to move to its cloud-based model.

- xCloud -

US technology veteran Microsoft recently began letting employees home test its Project xCloud game-streaming technology.

Microsoft has described a vision to let people play Xbox games "with the people you want, on the devices you want."

Microsoft said it has updated Azure datacenters in regions including Asia, Europe and North America, to synchronize with xCloud.

There are currently more than 1,900 games in development for Xbox One, all of which could run on Project xCloud along with games already released, according to Microsoft.

Details on pricing or availability of xCloud have not been revealed, but might be disclosed at a press event Sunday ahead of the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles.

- PlayStation Now -

Sony launched its PlayStation Now game service five years ago, allowing titles to be streamed to its current-generation consoles or Windows-powered computers.

The subscription service also allows for downloading games to PlayStation 4 consoles. 

PlayStation Now was priced at $20 monthly, or $99 for a year but the annual rate was discounted temporarily ahead of E3.

Longtime video game console rivals Microsoft and Sony recently announced an alliance to improve their platforms for streaming entertainment from the internet cloud.

Microsoft's Azure cloud computing platform will be used by the two companies to support game and digital content streaming services, according to a statement from the companies.

Sony chief executive Kenichiro Yoshida said that Sony's mission is to evolve the PlayStation platform into one that uses the internet cloud to provide players top-quality entertainment experiences any time, at any place.

- Apple Arcade -

Apple has announced plans to launch a new game subscription service called Apple Arcade later this year with at least 100 titles available at its debut.

"Apple Arcade will introduce an innovative way to access a collection of brand new games that will not be available on any other mobile platform or in any other subscription service," Apple said in a statement.

The game service will be available in 150 countries, with pricing yet to be announced.

Arcade subscriptions will allow unlimited play across iPhones, iPads, Mac computers and Apple TV, according to a website devoted to the service.

It said advertisers would not be able to track the activity of subscribers to the new service and that Arcade would have no ads.

Apple is working with game makers to create titles for Arcade.

- Project Atlas -

Video game titan Electronic Arts (EA) has laid out a vision of streaming video games enhanced with artificial intelligence to create "living, breathing worlds that constantly evolve."

EA, maker of the popular Battlefield and FIFA game franchises, is working on a platform to harness the power of cloud computing and artificial intelligence in a game service hosted on the California-based company's servers, according to an online post by chief technology officer Ken Moss.

The effort is called "Project Atlas."

Yerevan, Armenia | In a sleek classroom in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, one of the poorest post-Soviet republics, 14-year-old Nazeli Ter-Petrosyan peers at the screen of her Apple Mac.

During a computer programming course offered at the high-tech Tumo school, Ter-Petrosyan and her classmates learn how to digitise medieval texts.

"I'm developing a programme to enable artificial intelligence to read old manuscripts," said the teen. 

Her computer screen features a page from a 15th century Bible held at Armenia's famed repository of ancient writings, the Matenadaran.

Armenia, which is known for its rich history and troubled past, has grappled with poverty, unemployment and a brain drain since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.

But despite a stagnant economy, Armenia's tech sector has been booming over the past decade, boosting hopes that one day the resource-poor country can become a global IT powerhouse.

Tumo is a cutting edge, after-school learning centre, where around 7,000 Armenians aged 12 to 18, from all walks of life, study for free.

Packed with hundreds of computers with industry standard software, 3D printers, video cameras and an animation studio, Tumo gives youngsters an opportunity to study web design, robotics, animation, music, digital media and more.

The project has been so successful that there is already a Tumo school in Paris and plans for others in Europe and the United States are under way.

In one of the centre's workshops, students are buzzing with excitement as they learn how to build robots from Lego kits and programme them to perform tasks like collecting rubbish or making a salad.

"We are working on projects that we will be able to later use in our everyday life," said Davit Harutyunyan, 14, as he showed off a half-assembled robot.

- One third in poverty -

The South Caucasus country of three million people boasts a vibrant startup scene and its tech workers have been a driving force behind a wave of peaceful protests that ousted the old elite from power in 2018.

Tumo aims to raise the next generation of tech professionals and play a role in creating a knowledge-based economy in a country where 30 percent of the population live in poverty.

"We've got very ambitious plans," chief development officer Pegor Papazian told AFP.

"We want to become one of the world's most competitive labour markets," added Papazian, who holds a master's degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States. 

The non-profit centre was founded in 2011 by Sam and Sylva Simonian, a US-based couple who are part of the influential Armenian diaspora formed largely as a result of World War I massacres by the Ottoman forces.

The school occupies two floors of a six-storey pink tufa stone building, located on the outskirts of Yerevan in the shadow of Mount Ararat which stands just across the border in Turkey.

The Simonians provided the initial investment of $60 million to set up the project but it is now largely self-sustaining, with the centre renting out several floors to tech companies.

The school's gleaming facade and huge windows contrast with dilapidated Soviet-era residential buildings nearby.

Inside the futuristic, open-plan premises, mobile computer workstations allow students to move around freely.

"In Armenia what Tumo offers is extraordinary," Julian Sefton-Green, a professor of new media education at Deakin University, in the Australian city of Melbourne, told AFP in emailed comments.

Tumo offers "a particular vision of a techno future," said Sefton-Green, who visited the school and studied its educational model.

- From Merkel to Kanye West - 

On average, students spend two to three years at the centre. 

They create their own learning plans and are assisted by instructors, many of whom come from companies such as Google and Pixar. 

There are no grades and, at the end of their studies, students receive digital portfolios showcasing their work. 

Tumo has established three satellites across the country and Azerbaijan's breakaway region of Nagorny Karabakh.

Plans are under way to open more than 20 centres over the next 10 years.

Papazian said the staff had been struck by the poverty in which some of their students live. "We are helping them discover a new world," he added.

The authorities have embraced the initiative and it has become a ritual for foreign dignitaries and other top guests to visit the school.

Grammy-award winning rapper Kanye West, whose wife Kim Kardashian is of Armenian descent, toured the premises in 2015. 

Last year, the school also earned rave reviews from German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"This Tumo is not for Armenia only. It's international. It's a philosophy," she said in August during the first visit to Armenia by a German chancellor.

In some ways, the Tumo project could be viewed as being ahead of its time for Armenia, which still lacks the rule of law and a stable economy, among other things.

Sefton-Green said that only time would tell if the pioneering school would help reshape the country.

"Unless there is structural economic response to the kind of investment Tumo has offered, it is possible that benefits will not be felt," he said.

"However the country itself is in a good place to be able to rise to these kinds of challenges."

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Kresevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina | 

To be worthy of the title of master, a blacksmith in Kresevo in central Bosnia had to perform a delicate task -- shoe an egg without breaking it. 

It's an Easter tradition requiring a blacksmith to decorate an egg shell by nailing on it a miniature iron horseshoe.

Now Stjepan Biletic wants to have this ancient know-how recognised by UNESCO as part of the world's cultural heritage.

"That is the most beautiful gift one can offer to a friend, a neighbour, a girlfriend or wife," the 71-year-old craftsman said.

As the Easter holiday approaches, people flock to his small workshop in this village -- population around 5,300 --  almost 80 percent of whom are Catholic Croats.

But Biletic works all year long. His shod eggs, which sell for 3.0 to 7.5 euros ($3.30 to $8.40) per piece, help him make ends meet as a retired teacher. But more than money, he wants to maintain a tradition he believes should be preserved.

Started in the 18th century, the practice was designed to test and show the virtuosity of blacksmith apprentices.

"The shod egg was at the time analysed by the masters. If it was intact, if the shell was not damaged, they would extend the hand to the apprentice to congratulate him," and thereby welcome him into the fellowship, said Biletic.

"That was his diploma, he became a 'doctor' of his profession'," he added.

The shoeing of eggs was originally done with iron. But today Biletic uses lead, a more flexible metal.

It is this traditional craftsmanship that Bosnia would like the UN cultural agency to include on the UNESCO list of  the world's intangible cultural heritage.

Biletic and a few other enthusiasts in his village are preparing the case, based on historical sources, that the world's first shod egg was made in Kresevo.

Centuries on, shoppers still  visit Biletic's workshop to buy his decorated eggs, even in the colours of their favourite football club, Croats for Hajduk Split or Sarajevans for Zeljeznicar.

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© Agence France-Press

New Delhi, India | Pictures of a "Yeti footprint" the Indian Army posted on social media triggered a barrage of jokes 

"For the first time, an #IndianArmy Moutaineering Expedition Team has sited Mysterious Footprints of mythical beast 'Yeti'," an apparently serious -- though misspelled -- tweet on the army's official account said Monday, alongside three images of prints in the snow.

It added the "elusive snowman has only been sighted at Makalu-Barun National Park in the past", referring to footprints reported by British explorer Eric Shipton in 1951 on the west side of Mount Everest.

According to folklore, the abominable snowman lives in the Himalayas but no proof of the enormous creature has ever been produced.

Social media users were quick to jump on the Indian military for its tweet.

"With all due respect, institutions such as yours should be more responsible and careful before going ahead and declaring the sighting of any footprints as 'Yeti's'!", said Kushal Prajapati. 

"There's been lots of research done on Bigfoot/Yeti (including sighting/footprints) with none proving its existence," he added.

"Seriously disappointing to see Army propagating such foolish myths into reality. Expected better from you guys," said another comment.

Several Twitter observers asked why there was only one footprint when the beast would probably have had two feet.

Others, were more forgiving, though still tongue-in-cheek.

"Congratulations, we are always proud of you. salutes to the #IndianArmy Mountaineering Expedition Team," wrote Tarun Vijay, a leader of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

But Vijay said the snowman should not be referred to as "a beast".

The army said the footprints measured 32 inches by 15 inches (81 centimetres by 38) and were spotted by a team on April 9 close to the Makalu Base Camp, an isolated area on the Nepal-China frontier.

An army official told AFP that pictures were released to "excite a bit of a scientific temper".

"We will share whatever we get with the domain experts to analyse. We will be contacting the team on the satphone in the evening for more details about it. The idea is to find out more, to look for an answer," the official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. 

The yeti is traditionally described as an ape-like creature, taller than a human, that lives in the Himalayas, Siberia, and parts of Central and East Asia.

Most scientists have written the creature off as a centuries-old myth originating in Tibet. 

Forensic results of previous samples have proved to be from prehistoric bears. 

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Tokyo, Japan | With just days until Japan ushers in a new era with the crowning of a new emperor, one entrepreneurial company is cashing in by selling cans containing "the air of the outgoing era" -- a breeze at $10.

The can filled with "the air of Heisei" -- the 30-year reign of current Emperor Akihito -- hit the shelves on Monday at the ambitious price of 1,080 yen ($9.60), with producers hoping to sell as many as 1,000 units.

"Air is free of charge but we hope people will enjoy breathing the fresh air of Heisei after the new era comes, or just keep it as a momento," company president Minoru Inamoto told AFP.

The cans have been produced in the central Japanese village of Henari, which is written using the same characters as those used for "Heisei", he said, adding that the cans can be snapped up at a roadside station in the village and online.

They contain nothing but "the air of the current era" and a five-yen coin, often considered a lucky charm.

Firms around Japan are scrambling to produce memorabilia from the outgoing era before the country enters the "Reiwa" era on May 1 when new emperor Naruhito ascends the Chrysanthemum Throne.

Oval gold coins engraved with Heisei are selling like hot cakes at Tokyo department stores, while confectionery makers are bringing back blockbuster sweets popular during the Heisei era.

Henari is seeing an influx of visitors and merchants there are selling everything from chocolate to polo shirts and alcohol bearing the name.

Businesses targeting the new era are also picking up, launching Reiwa-labelled goods such as stickers, smartphone covers, t-shirts, pins and commemorative bottles of the Japanese tipple sake.

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Nantar, Myanmar | Clad in elaborate headdresses representing dragons and wizards, Myanmar's ethnic Pa'O fire huge, homemade rockets into the sky -- an annual call for plentiful rains and a chance for a windfall of cash. 

The Pa'O are one of the largest of the country's minority groups, numbering around 1.2 million people and living mainly in Shan state's highlands.

They are overwhelmingly Buddhist but many intertwine animism with their faith, believing they descend from a she-dragon and a wizard with mystical powers, known as a "weiza".

Twelve days after Myanmar's new year celebrations, as temperatures rise to over 40 degrees, Pa'O communities travel to Nantar village for the annual rocket competition, which ends on Wednesday. 

"Calling the rain like this every year means we get bumper rice harvests," co-organiser Rike Kham tells AFP at the Pwe Lu Phaing festival's 144th edition.

- Dragons and wizards -

People dress in their finest, donning dark tunics and trousers in mourning for the kingdom they lost to the Bamar (Burmese) nearly 1,000 years ago.

But their headwear make up for their sombre attire.

Many women opt for a traditional bright orange cloth, symbolising the dragon.

Others, like Nan Pyone Kha Cho, 21, choose a more modern approach, sporting turbans of scarlet, gold or silver.

A golden hairpin is the "mother dragon's fang", she explains.

Men wear rolled-up cloth of various hues on their heads in the image of the "weiza" as they parade singing and dancing into the village, holding aloft their homemade rockets.

- 'Safety first' -

In the past, these were crafted entirely from bamboo and would carry up to 40 kilos of explosives.

Now they are made with bamboo-wrapped metal, holding five different grades of gunpowder.

For "safety reasons" the maximum length is three feet (0.9 metres) and the diameter must not exceed three inches (eight centimetres).

A monk blesses each device, praying for a safe and long flight, then one-by-one the teams are called to the 10 metre-high bamboo firing rig.

The rocket is laid in position, the trajectory carefully adjusted.

The team captain takes a drag from a cigarette then uses it to light the fuse, before clambering down the bamboo rungs as the rocket lifts off with a deafening roar.

They can land up to seven or eight kilometres away, creating craters 1.5 metres deep in the fields.

A team of "linesmen" note the landing positions so they can later be collected.

- High stakes -

Accidents are rare, says Rike Kham. 

Aside from an unlucky water buffalo hit in 2016, nobody has been hurt since two people died ten years ago after "badly mixing the gunpowder".

The whole village celebrates a good flight -- they after all clubbed together to fund the rockets that cost around $170 each.

Judged by distance, the villages behind the top three placed rockets each take a share of the pooled entry fees.

With 75 rockets in this year's competition, the prize money amounts to some $4,000 -- enough to upgrade a road, build a bridge or connect more homes to the grid.

- Girl rocket power -

One group of women is challenging the traditionally testosterone-driven festivities.

They dance into the village for the second year holding high their own rocket, albeit full of donation money rather than gunpowder.

But next year they will take part with "real rockets", Mhoe Phar Ohon Ye, 67, said smiling, adding that women from other villages are following their lead.

As the sun sets and the rockets fall silent, the next generation is in training.

Groups of boys set off fireworks to squeals of delight and fire toy guns into the air in celebration.

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