FELIX REPORTS

Meet Zenbo, the Asus robot that costs no more than a smartphone Voice-controlled companion, whose touchscreen face shows its emotions, can entertain kids and control the lights  Asus’s chairman, Jonney Shih, introduces Zenbo: ’Our ambition is to enable robotic computing for every household.’ Photograph: Ritchie Tongo/EPA Samuel Gibbs Tuesday 31 May 2016  07.27 EDT Share on Pinterest Share on LinkedIn Share on Google+ Shares 354   Save for later The Taiwanese electronics manufacture  Asus  has unveiled a home robot called Zenbo that can talk, control your home and provide assistance when needed – all for the cost of a top-end smartphone. The $599 (£410) robot rolls around on two wheels in the shape of a vacuum cleaner ball with cameras an oblong head extruding from the top with a colour touchscreen displaying a face with emotions. It is capable of independent movement, can respond to voice commands a...

First baby born with Zika-linked microcephaly in New York tri-state area Published May 31, 2016   FoxNews.com Doctors at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey confirmed Tuesday the birth of a child suffering from Zika-linked microcephaly, a condition wherein the child's brain and head are partially developed. The mother, who is 31 but whose name was not disclosed, contracted the Zika virus while in Honduras and was admitted to the emergency room at Hackensack on Friday while vacationing in the United States. Tuesday, doctors delivered her baby girl, who was born also with intestinal and visual issues. Reports indicate she is the first child born with Zika-linked complications in the New York tri-state area. Read more  http://www.foxnews.com/health/2016/05/31/first-baby-born-with-zika-linked-microcephaly-in-new-york-tri-state-area.html

Facebook and Twitter promise to crack down on internet hate speech Facebook, Twitter and Google are involved in the pledge   CREDIT:  AFP   James Titcomb   31 MAY 2016 • 12:54PM F acebook, Twitter, Google and Microsoft have promised a crackdown on hate speech, signing up to new EU rules that require them to delete the majority of offending comments within 24 hours. The four internet giants have agreed a code  of conduct with the European Commission that binds them to removing the majority of reported illegal hate speech within 24 hours. Online companies have been under pressure to do more to deal with abusive speech amid the refugee crisis and fears that social media is being used as a recruiting ground for terrorists. Read more  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2016/05/31/facebook-and-twitter-promise-to-crack-down-on-internet-hate-spee/

We’re going to kill Donald Trump,” states the toddler, to which the mother responds, “Why are we going to kill Donald Trump?” “Cause he’s bad,” responds the child. “That’s right,” replies the mother. “We have to kill him,” continues the toddler. “Why is he bad?” asks the father. “Cause he wants to take away our family,” responds the child. The mother then encourages the child to make a third death threat against Trump, asking, “So what are we going to do then?” “We’re going to kill him,” the child re-asserts.

To Combat Disease, States Make it Harder to Skip Vaccines May 25, 2016   By  Sarah Breitenbach © The Associated Press Parents wait to testify against a Washington bill that would have kept families from opting out of mandatory vaccinations for personal or philosophical reasons. This story has been updated to say that Colorado’s new vaccination requirements are rules issued by the state’s Board of Health.  When Jennifer Stella’s two children were babies, she made sure they got all the usual vaccines. But when one started having seizures and the other developed eczema after they’d gotten immunizations, the Vermont woman decided her kids would no longer get shots required to attend school.  Stella, a co-founder of the Vermont  Coalition  for Vaccine Choice, is among a growing number of parents who are opting out of childhood vaccinations because they’re worried about their safety. Public health experts say the movement is lead...

A special zoo response team shot and killed a 17-year-old gorilla named Harambe to protect a four-year-old who fell in the enclosure. But new video footage shows the two briefly holding hands (pictured)  New video footage of Harambe shows the 400-pound gorilla HOLDING HANDS with the boy who fell into exhibition moat as zoo director insists they were right to shoot him and the barriers were safe  Harambe was fatally shot after a four-year-old boy crawled past the railing and fell 15ft into the gorilla exhibit moat, authorities said   But witnesses said the gorilla was 'acting protectively' and zoo director confirmed the boy was not under attack Video shows boy reaching for Harambe's arm, and they briefly held hands   Many have blamed the boy's parents for 17-year-old Harambe's death They released a statement on Sunday saying their boy is doing 'just fine'      Zoo director said Harambe was 'disoriented' and tranquilizer wou...

Democracy has been overthrown in Brazil as in Ukraine Paul Craig Roberts | Infowars.com -  MAY 30, 2016   20 Comments   Brazil the country’s largest newspaper has published a transcript of a secret recording leaked to the newspaper. The words recorded are the plot by the rich Brazilian elite, involving both the US-corrupted Brazilian military and Supreme Court, to remove the democratically elected president of Brazil under false charges in order to stop the investigations of the corrupt elites who inhabit Brazil’s senate and bring to an end Brazil’s membership in BRICS. The Russian-Chinese attempt to organize an economic bloc independent of Washington has now lost 20% of its membership. Read more  http://www.infowars.com/there-has-been-a-coup-in-brazil/

 The pair shake hands at the Vatican (Reuters / Osservatore Romano) Pope gives awards to Richard Gere, George Clooney and Salma Hayek Reuters May 30, 2016 ROME (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Sunday awarded medals to American actors Richard Gere and George Clooney and actress Salma Hayek at an event held at the Vatican to promote the work of a foundation inspired by the pontiff, Scholas Occurrentes. Clooney attended the event with his wife Amal, a lawyer. The foundation, whose name means "schools that meet" in Spanish, links technology with the arts, aiming at social integration and a cultural of peace. Francis had created a similar organization when he was Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, but Scholas has now become an international foundation working out of the Vatican. "Important values can be transmitted by celebrities," said one of the organizers, Lorena Bianchetti, adding that the actors had agreed to ...

13, right now This is what it's like to grow up in the age of likes, lols and longing Story by   Jessica Contrera   Photos by   Victoria Milko Published on May 25, 2016 She slides into the car, and even before she buckles her seat belt, her phone is alight in her hands. A 13-year-old girl after a day of eighth grade. She says hello. Her au pair asks, “Ready to go?” She doesn’t respond, her thumb on Instagram. A Barbara Walters meme is on the screen. She scrolls, and another meme appears. Then another meme, and she closes the app. She opens BuzzFeed. There’s a story about Florida Gov. Rick Scott, which she scrolls past to get to a story about Janet Jackson, then “28 Things You’ll Understand If You’re Both British and American.” She closes it. She opens Instagram. She opens the NBA app. She shuts the screen off. She turns it back on. She opens Spotify. Opens Fitbit. She has 7,427 steps. Opens Instagram again. Opens Snapchat. She watches a sparkly ra...

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/article80386057 About 100,000 in U.S. now work for Chinese firms From slaughterhouses to movie theaters, China spends billions on American companies A small but growing number of acquisitions get national security reviews North Carolina’s fourth congressional district has the second-most Chinese investment in U.S. Barbara Hernandez   Miami Herald Staff BY JAMES ROSEN jrosen@mcclatchydc.com WASHINGTON  In the tiny North Carolina town of Tar Heel, the Smithfield Foods Packing Co., the world’s biggest slaughterhouse that often smells of pig manure, belongs to a giant Chinese meat-processing company. Hundreds of movie theaters across the country are owned by the Kansas City-based AMC Theatres chain, which reports to  China’s richest man . Read more  Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/article80386057.html#storylink=cpy http:...

+2 A mind-reaching machine that can translate thoughts into speech is coming closer to reality. The research has been ongoing for several years, and recently, scientists successfully managed to playback a word that someone is thinking by monitoring their brain activity The device that eavesdrops on the voices in your head: Mind-reaching machine could soon turn your secret thoughts into speech Scientists want reproduce speech from brain recordings in real-time Goal is to help those affected by motor disease such as Lou Gehrig's Such a novel device would communicate people's intended thoughts via an electronic speaker or writing device, the say By  ELLIE ZOLFAGHARIFARD FOR DAILYMAIL.COM PUBLISHED:  16:15 EST, 27 May 2016  |  UPDATED:  11:38 EST, 28 May 2016 machine that can translate thoughts into speech is coming closer to reality. The research has been ongoing for several years, and recently, scientists successfully managed to playba...

By  Kevin Dugan May 27, 2016  |  3:34pm Two Silicon Valley billionaires with a history of bad blood are squaring off over Gawker. Pierre Omidyar, an eBay co-founder, is leading the charge to support Gawker in its appea$140 million judgment awarded to Hulk Hogan, whose lawsuit was bankrolled by rivalbillionaire and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, The Post has learned. Two Silicon Valley billionaires with a history of bad blood are squaring off over Gawker. Pierre Omidyar, an eBay co-founder, is leading the charge to support Gawker in its appeal of a $140 million judgment awarded to Hulk Hogan, whose lawsuit was bankrolled by rival billionaire and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, The Post has learned. Omidyar’s First Look Media, the online news venture that includes The Intercept, is reaching out to other media organizations to file friend-of-the-court briefs in support of Nick Denton’s Gawker, which could be bankrupted by the Hoga...

17:17, 28 MAY 2016 UPDATED  18:36, 28 MAY 2016 BY   KEYAN MILANIAN Scientists Ian Yeoman and Michelle Mars have imagined what a brothel will look like in 2050 and say android sex workers will help stamp out people trafficking and STIs Getty Ian Yeoman and Michelle Mars have imagined what an Amsterdam brothel will be like in the year 2050 Experts say sex robot prostitutes are just around the corner - and will help fight people trafficking and the spread of sexual diseases. According to a bizarre paper in an academic journal,  red-light districts  will be transformed by 2050 with the introduction of the robotic sex workers.  Ian Yeoman, a scientist specialising in futurology, and Michelle Mars, a  sexologist  at the University of Wellington, co-authored a paper entitled "Robots, Men and Sex Tourism".  Read more  http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/amsterdam-sex-robot-brothel-will-8070584