New York, United States -Four members of the Kardashian clan, including Kim herself, have launched personalized apps designed to provide the latest window into their much-followed lives.
Kim, Khloe and their half-sisters Kendall and Kylie Jenner, partnered with California-based Whalerock Industries to create the latest tool to keep up with the Kardashians.
Each app will be free for seven days and then cost $2.99 per month.
Kim Kardashian, star of "Keeping up with the Kardashians" and wife of rapper Kanye West, already has 35 million followers on Twitter and 46 million on Instagram.
The app is her second, following on the heels of the "Kim Kardashian Hollywood" game, which is available on smartphones and tablets.
According to Forbes magazine, Kardashian is one of the highest-grossing celebrities of 2015, with earnings of $53 million, half of which come from the game.
The apps "provide a unique and personal look into their lives," according to a statement from Whalerock Monday.
The apps will be updated throughout the day and will include "personal diaries, live streaming video, beauty tutorials, workout tips."-
Paris, France-New research has added to tentative evidence that eating chocolate in modest quantities may be good for the heart, its investigators said.
Scientists in Britain looked at data from nearly 21,000 people who filled out questionnaires about their lifestyle, and had their health monitored for more than 11 years.
Their average daily consumption was seven grams (0.25 ounces) of chocolate, ranging from none to 100g.
The top fifth of chocolate-eaters were 12 percent less likely to develop heart disease and 23 percent less likely to suffer a stroke compared to the bottom fifth of consumers, the researchers found.
The study, published in the British journal Heart, noted that most consumers of the confectionary ate milk chocolate, not dark chocolate which famously has a higher percentage of protective molecules called flavonoids.
"This may indicate that not only flavonoids, but also other compounds, possibly related to milk constituents, such as calcium and fatty acids, may provide an explanation for the observed association," it said.
The team, headed by Phyo Myint of the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, admitted the probe had limitations.
The study was observational, meaning it could not show cause and effect, merely an association which may be circumstantial.
Another question mark was to be found in "reverse causation": participants who knew they had cardiovascular problems may have followed a healthier diet and eaten less chocolate.
The team also did a review of other published studies, covering more than 130,000 people in total, and said they had found a similarly beneficial association with regular chocolate consumption.
"Cumulative evidence suggests that higher chocolate intake is associated with a lower risk of future cardiovascular events," it said.
"There does not appear to be any evidence to say that chocolate should be avoided in those who are concerned about cardiovascular risk."
A couple of squares of chocolate are around 16g, and an average bar of chocolate about 50g.
Commentators not involved in the research were cautious, noting too much chocolate can lead to weight gain, which is bad for the heart.
"You can't draw a medical conclusion from this study," said Arnaud Cocaul, a nutritionist at the Pitie Salpetriere Hospital in Paris.
"People who refrain from eating chocolate are not necessarily those who eat the most balanced diet."
Added Tim Chico, a cardiologist at the University of Sheffield in northern England: "I would not advise my patients to increase their chocolate intake based on this research, particularly if they are overweight," in remarks to Britain's Science Media Centre (SMC).
Los Angeles, United States -Director Spike Lee and actress Gena Rowlands will receive honorary Oscar awards this year and film star Debbie Reynolds will be awarded a humanitarian prize, Academy Award organizers said .
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences emphasized the "extraordinary contribution" that the three legends have made to show business throughout their long careers.
"We'll be celebrating their achievements with the knowledge that the work they have accomplished –- with passion, dedication and a desire to make a positive difference -– will also enrich future generations," Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs said in a statement.
The honorees will receive the awards -- which look just like the Oscars that will be given out at the Academy Awards in February -- at the Governors Awards in November.
It will be the seventh annual Governors Awards, held in Hollywood.
None of the honorees have won an Oscar, though they have all been nominated.
Lee, 58, earned a best screenplay nomination for 1989's "Do the Right Thing," and his 1997 "4 Little Girls" earned a best documentary nomination.
His influence on the film industry has extended from mainstream hits such as "Malcolm X" and "He Got Game" to cutting examinations of contemporary urban American life in dozens of independent films.
Rowlands received best actress nominations for 1974's "A Woman under the Influence" and 1980's "Gloria."
Reynolds, who will receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, first captivated audiences in 1952's "Singin' in the Rain."
She was later was nominated for an Oscar for her lead role in 1964's "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" and helped found a group that works to combat mental health issues.
Last year, singer Harry Belafonte earned the humanitarian award.
Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki and French director Jean-Claude Carriere took home the honorary awards.
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San Francisco, United States -Google broke down the wall between Android smart watches and iPhones, taking on Apple Watch on its home turf.
A version of Android Wear smart watch software tailored for Apple's mobile operating system made its debut, paired for now only with LG Watch Urbane, according to a Google blog post.
"Today, Android Wear for iOS works with the LG Watch Urbane," Google said.
"All future Android Wear watches, including those from Huawei, Asus, and Motorola will also support iOS, so stay tuned for more."
Android Wear was modified to work with iPhone 5 models or newer powered by the latest versions of Apple's mobile device operating system, according to Google.
The move puts Android-powered smart watches in position to compete with Apple Watch to be the computing device strapped to the wrists of iPhone owners.
Android Wear previously worked only with the Google-backed mobile operating system.
- Apple news coming -
International Data Corporation last week said that Apple's freshly launched smart watch was a hot commodity in the second quarter of this year.
Apple Watch was hot on the heels of activity tracker Fitbit, the top device in the "wearable computing" market, according to IDC estimates. Apple has not released official smart watch sales figures.
Apple shipped 3.6 million smart watches to rank second behind Fitbit, which shipped 4.4 million units during the second quarter of this year, according to IDC.
Overall shipments of wearable computing devices leaped 223 percent to 18.1 million from the 5.6 million units shipped in the second quarter last year, IDC calculated.
"Anytime Apple enters a new market, not only does it draw attention to itself, but to the market as a whole," IDC wearables team manager Ramon Llamas said in a note released with the figures.
Apple is set to host a September 9 media event in San Francisco, hinting that Siri virtual assistant software in its mobile devices will play a role.
In trademark enigmatic style, the emailed invitations provided little more than the time and place of the event. Beneath graphics based on the Apple logo was written "Hey Siri, give us a hint."
The timing of the Apple event did not come as a surprise since the California-based company is known to host September events to announce iPhone updates.
Rumors about the coming event included the possibility of new iPhone models and news about Apple TV set-top boxes.
Industry trackers expect Apple to unveil new generation big-screen iPhone 6 models.
Improvements are likely to include faster processing power and improved camera capabilities along with screens that can distinguish light touches from hard presses for more nuanced controls.
Apple could also use the event to tout milestones including how well its smart watch is selling.
Montreal, Canada -Canadian musicians had a record year abroad in 2014, with airplay royalties exceeding Can$55 million (US$42 million), the agency that collects monies on their behalf said.
The uptick is "proof that our music creators resonate around the globe, and that SOCAN (Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada) is doing even better at the complicated job of tracking international use of music," that non-profit society said in a statement.
The United States remained the top market for Canadian music, followed by France, Britain, Brazil and Germany.
New albums released in 2013 or 2014 by Bryan Adams, Arcade Fire, Bobby Bazini, Justin Bieber, Leonard Cohen, Drake, Sarah McLachlan, Nickelback and Rush were largely responsible for the increase in radio play and licensing of Canadian music.
Several Quebec and Acadian artists also reached a growing audience in France, including Coeur de Pirate, Lisa Leblanc, Pierre Lapointe and Robert Charlebois.
London, United Kingdom-The summer scourge of sticky hands could become a thing of the past as British researchers announced the discovery of an ingredient to make slow-melting ice cream.
The protein BslA, which occurs naturally in some food, helps to blend the components of ice cream to make it smoother and more resistant to melting.
"The protein binds together the air, fat and water in ice cream, creating a super-smooth consistency," the University of Edinburgh announced in a statement.
Developed by researchers at the Scottish universities of Edinburgh and Dundee, the ingredient could be available within three to five years.
"We're excited by the potential this new ingredient has for improving ice cream, both for consumers and for manufacturers," Professor Cait MacPhee, of the University of Edinburgh's school of physics and astronomy.
It can also help to keep ice cream frozen, so it remains creamy and smooth without gritty ice crystals forming.
Manufacturers could also be enabled to make ice cream with fewer calories and saturated fat, according to the research.
The scientists developed a way to produce the protein using friendly bacteria.
"Childhood memories of sticky hands from melting ice cream cones could soon become obsolete," the university statement read.
Miami, United States | AFP | Monday 8/31/2015 - 19:00 GMT | 318 words
People who do not get enough sleep are four times more likely than their well-rested counterparts to catch a cold, US researchers said .
The findings in the journal Sleep are based on a study of 164 volunteers who allowed themselves to be exposed to the cold virus by researchers who were also tracking their sleep habits.
First, the subjects underwent health screenings and completed questionnaires so researchers could understand factors such as stress, temperament, and alcohol and cigarette use.
Their sleep habits were measured for one week prior to the beginning of the study, which required them to stay in a hotel room in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area.
Once sequestered in the hotel, researchers administered the cold virus via nasal drops and monitored the volunteers for a week, collecting daily mucus samples to see if the virus had taken hold.
The results showed that those who had slept less than six hours a night during the week leading up to the study were 4.2 times more likely to catch the cold compared to those who got more than seven hours of sleep.
Those who slept less than five hours were 4.5 times more likely to get sick.
"Short sleep was more important than any other factor in predicting subjects' likelihood of catching cold," said Aric Prather, assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, and lead author of the study.
"It didn't matter how old people were, their stress levels, their race, education or income. It didn't matter if they were a smoker. With all those things taken into account, statistically sleep still carried the day."
Previous studies have linked lack of sleep to chronic illness, premature death, susceptibility to disease, car crashes, industrial disasters and medical errors.
One in five Americans gets less than six hours of sleep on the average work night, according to a 2013 survey by the National Sleep Foundation.
London, United Kingdom -Colourfully-dressed revellers partied under umbrellas and raincoats as the grand finale of London's Notting Hill Carnival was hit with stormy downpours of rain.
The crowds refused to let the weather spoil the party as they drank beer and rum and ate traditional Caribbean food beside a parade of steel bands, colourful floats and processions of exotic dancers.
Known as Europe's street party, the festival celebrating Caribbean culture was expected to draw around one million people.
Dancers in elaborate costumes and feathered headdresses shimmied through the streets of west London, some improvising with umbrellas and plastic ponchos as British capital was hit by the equivalent of almost half a month's average rain.
The festival featured 60 bands playing different music styles and dozens of mobile systems pumping out music along a five-kilometre parade route.
The Carnival began in the 1960s when Notting Hill had a large population of immigrants from the Caribbean and was notorious for its slums, a far cry from today when it is one of London's most expensive districts.
But the festival has become known for sporadic gun-related violence and thefts.
Police made more than 290 arrests over the festival for offences including theft, drugs, assault and possession of weapons.
One 19-year-old man was brought to hospital with stab wounds, and three 18-year-old men were arrested in connection with the incident, police said.
Authorities also seized counterfeit and over-proof alcohol, which typically contains more than 50 percent alcohol volume, including spirits, beer and champagne with a street value of over £30,000 at the event ($46,000, 41,000 euros).
The London ambulance service, which treated people for falls and a glass injury, urged revellers to "please drink alcohol sensibly".
Damascus, Syria-Islamic State militants have destroyed two of the most important temples in the UNESCO-listed Syrian city of Palmyra, as they press their campaign to wipe out some of the Middle East's most important heritage sites.
The United Nations released satellite images Monday confirming the ancient city's most famed shrine, the 2,000-year-old Temple of Bel, had been blown up a week after the destruction of the temple of Baal Shamin.
The jihadists have become notorious for demolishing archaeological treasures since declaring a "caliphate" last year straddling Iraq and Syria.
The following are examples of world cultural heritage targeted by Islamist extremists elsewhere:
- Iraq -
IS has carried out a campaign of "cultural cleansing", razing part of ancient Mesopotamia's relics and looting others to sell valued artefacts on the black market.
In a video released by IS on February 26, militants were shown using sledgehammers to smash statues in the country's second city Mosul, sparking global outrage.
According to antiquities officials, around 90 objects were destroyed or damaged, most of them originals.
Thousands of books and rare manuscripts were also burned in February in Mosul's library.
In July 2014, IS rigged the Nabi Yunus shrine in the northern city of Mosul -- revered by both Muslims and Christians as the tomb of the Prophet Jonah -- with explosives and blew it up.
According to the Iraqi government, IS militants on March 5 bulldozed and blew up Nimrud, an ancient Assyrian city south of Mosul.
- Libya -
Several mausoleums have been destroyed by Islamist extremists, who believe they go against their interpretation of Islam.
In August 2012, Islamist hardliners bulldozed part of the mausoleum of Al-Shaab Al-Dahman, close to the centre of the Libyan capital.
The demolition came a day after hardliners blew up the mausoleum of Sheikh Abdessalem al-Asmar in the western city of Zliten.
- Mali -
The fabled desert city of Timbuktu, named as the "City of 333 saints" and listed by UNESCO, was for months attacked by jihadists following a brutal version of Islamic law.
In June 2012, Al-Qaeda-linked militants destroyed 15 of the northern city's mausoleums, important buildings that date back to the golden age of Timbuktu as an economic, intellectual and spiritual centre in the 15th and 16th centuries, UNESCO reported. Reconstruction started in 2014.
- Afghanistan -
In March 2001, Taliban leader Mullah Omar -- now deceased -- ordered the destruction of two 1,500-year-old Buddha statues in the eastern town of Bamiyan, because they were judged to be anti-Islamic.
Hundreds of members of the Taliban from across the country spent more than three weeks demolishing the gigantic statues carved into the side of a cliff.
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Taipei, Taiwan-Thousands of prepaid travel cards featuring a popular Japanese porn star sold out in a matter of hours in Taipei, despite a groundswell of objection from women's groups and politicians.
All 30,000 commuter cards featuring Yui Hatano were sold by 4:18 am local time after going on sale at midnight, the EasyCard Corporation said in a statement.
The two versions of the cards -- "Angels" and "Demons", both bearing a photo of the adult film star and priced at Tw$500 ($15.40) -- were limited to telephone sales only, after the distributor reached a compromise that kept the product out of stores.
Despite the red-hot sales, the company apologised for the controversy and promised not to issue any more cards featuring Hatano, but said it did not believe the photos printed on the cards were "lewd".
The "Demons" version shows Hatano wearing an off-the-shoulder black dress while the "Angels" card features her wearing a white dress.
"We won't release more. We hope this is the end of the event," company spokesman Liao Tai-shiang told AFP, adding that profits from the release would be donated to charity.
The company's apologies failed to quell politicians' anger.
City councillor Chung Hsiao-ping of the Kuomintang party filed a lawsuit against Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je and EasyCard chairman Tai Chi-chuan Tuesday on charges of betrayal of trust and contempt of authority.
The Taipei-based Modern Women's Foundation also lambasted the promotion.
"We're very disappointed," spokeswoman Wu Tzu-ying told AFP. "The company should not have profited from the strategy that has objectified women."
7-Eleven and other major convenience store chains also boycotted the controversial cards ahead of Tuesday's sale.
