Macedonia, Greece seek to settle name spat at last

The Greek and Macedonian foreign ministers meet in Vienna on Friday for UN-mediated talks aimed at translating progress in their bitter dispute over the ex-Yugoslav republic's name into a deal.

The long-running spat, which has sparked emotional protests by thousands of people in recent weeks in both countries, has raged since Macedonia became an independent country in 1991.


Greece objects to its northern neighbour's name, arguing it suggests that Macedonia has claims to the territory and heritage of Greece's historic northern region of the same name.

In light of the Greek objections, the country joined the United Nations in 1993 with the unwieldy name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, or FYROM for short.

The spat has also hampered Macedonia's hopes of joining the European Union and the NATO military alliance.

Last year, UN mediator Matthew Nimetz was able to relaunch the process, meeting both sides separately and together.


Several possible names have been doing the rounds, with "Gorna Makedonija" ("Upper Macedonia") the most frequently cited.

'Honourable compromise'

There have been signs of progress, with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias and his Macedonian counterpart Nikola Dimitrov saying last week they were looking for an "honourable compromise".

Macedonia in February made a concession by renaming the capital's Alexander the Great airport as Skopje International Airport.

The motorway linking Macedonia with Greece has also just been renamed the Friendship Highway.

The UN's Nimetz said in January that he was "very optimistic the process is going in the right direction".


Athens and Skopje have a "common resolve... to solve the problem," Macedonian political scientist Nano Ruzin, a former NATO ambassador close to the government, told AFP.

Nationalists

But both countries' governments are facing the opposition of nationalists who refuse any concession over the issue.

Kotzias has received threats and a survey Sunday showed that seven out of 10 Greeks would be hostile to a name including the term Macedonia or a derivative.

In Skopje, the nationalist right-wing opposition VMRO-DPMNE party could use the issue to weaken the government, which relies on a thin majority, although its current leaders are more moderate now.

And the devil is in the detail.

Athens wants the change of name to be backed with a constitutional change, and for it be applied on the "erga omnes" ("towards all") legal principle, meaning universal use inside and outside Macedonia.

Even with the support of the ethnic Albanian minority parties, the Social Democrats who lead Macedonia's government do not have a majority to pass a constitutional change in parliament.

Before the meeting, Kotzias said that his desire for constitutional change should be translated into the "international agreement we will conclude at the UN, and the inter-state agreement we will sign."


Ruzin sees this as the Greeks leaving the door open to a staged process, with the possibility of leaving the constitutional change for later.

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Foreign companies in China brace for VPN crackdown

Chinese people and foreign firms are girding for a weekend deadline that will curb the use of unlicensed software to circumvent internet controls, as the government plugs holes in its "Great Firewall".

Chinese people and foreign firms are girding for a weekend deadline that will curb the use of unlicensed software to circumvent internet controls, as the government plugs holes in its "Great Firewall".

A virtual private network (VPN) can tunnel through the country's sophisticated barrier of online filters to access the global internet.

VPNs give users a way to see blocked websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Google and Western news outlets, as well as certain business network tools such as timesheets, email and directories.

But new government regulations unveiled last year sent chills among users of the software, with a March 31 deadline for companies and individuals to only use government-approved VPNs.

Currently, many foreign companies have their own VPN servers in locations outside of China. But in the future, dedicated lines can only be provided by China's three telecom operators.

Critics have slammed the new policy as a revenue grab that will eliminate cheaper VPN options and make internet users more vulnerable to surveillance.

But some companies are still planning to comply.

"We will apply for a VPN line with (the government)," the chief executive of a foreign-owned technology company told AFP.

"As a company that is globally-focused based in Beijing, I think that's the best option... because we don't want to break the rules or have our VPN access disrupted," she said, requesting anonymity.

Some embassies in Beijing experienced disruptions to their communications due to restrictions on VPN usage late last year, prompting the European Union delegation to send a letter to the government to complain, diplomatic sources told AFP.

American Chamber of Commerce Shanghai President Kenneth Jarrett warned that foreign companies and their employees could "bear the brunt of the new policies".

"Foreign companies, especially entrepreneurs and smaller companies rely on overseas platforms such as Google Analytics and Google Scholar," Jarrett told AFP.

"Limiting access to affordable VPNs will make it harder for these companies to operate efficiently and just adds to the frustration of doing business in China."

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has dismissed concerns that using state-approved providers could jeopardise the security of private data, saying they "are not able to see information related to your business".

'At the mercy of regulators'

A member of China-based anti-censorship group GreatFire.org, which tracks internet restrictions, said the new rules are aimed at wiping out low-cost Chinese VPN providers and increasing control over access to information.

"Are foreign companies at the mercy of Chinese regulators? Yes, probably. Will there be more surveillance? Absolutely," said the member, who uses the alias Charlie Smith.

Under the new licensing regulations, it is unclear whether companies or individuals will be punished for using unauthorised VPNs, or if the software will be blocked.

But on December 21, Chinese citizen Wu Xiangyang from the south Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region was given a five-and-a-half-year prison sentence and 500,000 yuan ($76,000) fine.

Wu "illegally profited" from setting up VPN servers and selling software "without obtaining relevant business licenses", according to a news site managed by the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

It was the most severe known VPN-related conviction.

Last September, a 26-year-old man from Guangdong province was sentenced to nine months in prison in a similar case.

Samm Sacks, who researches China's technology policy at the US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said it is likely that China will be lenient to most foreign companies.

"We will probably see selective enforcement. So far, there have not been many foreign companies that have experienced problems with their company VPNs," Sacks said.

"It just adds a new layer of uncertainty at a time when foreign companies are already facing a host of challenges to doing business in China," she said.

In the European Chamber of Commerce in China's 2017 survey of its members, companies reported suffering from restricted internet and slow and unstable connections in China, before new VPN restrictions were announced.

"Poor internet connectivity not only damages China's efforts to portray itself as an innovative society, it also impacts overall productivity," chamber president Mats Harborn told AFP.

"Some reported losses of more than 20 percent of their annual revenue as a result."

'No, we don't sell VPNs'

Earlier this month, in the southern trade hub of Guangzhou, a small shop with the letters "VPN" painted in red on its wall said they no longer offered them.

"No, we don't sell VPNs," a Chinese shopkeeper said curtly, refusing to explain why.

But it was business as usual for a nearby store that was licensed to sell VPNs from state-owned telecommunications operator China Telecom.


"We've had no problems. Our clients are mostly Chinese and African traders who want to keep in touch using Whatsapp," a technician said.

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Happ, Springer open MLB season with homers in triumphs

Chicago Cubs leadoff hitter Ian Happ smashed the opening pitch of the 2018 Major League Baseball season for a home run Thursday as the Cubs beat the Miami Marlins 8-4.

Chicago Cubs leadoff hitter Ian Happ smashed the opening pitch of the 2018 Major League Baseball season for a home run Thursday as the Cubs beat the Miami Marlins 8-4.

Marlins pitcher Jose Urena endured a nightmare start in the first game of the new campaign, which will conclude with the World Series in October.

Happ, playing his first major league opening day after joining the Cubs in May last year, blasted the opening offering from 26-year-old Dominican right-hander Urena into the right-field stands.

It was not the first time a season's first pitch was swatted for a homer. Boston's Dwight Evans homered on the first pitch of the 1986 season at Detroit off Tigers star pitcher Jack Morris.

Happ wasn't the only leadoff hitter to homer as Houston's George Springer smacked the third pitch from Texas starter Cole Hamels over the rightfield fence to launch the new season for the World Series champion Astros.

"It felt great to hop on the first one and get us on the board," said Springer. "It's a great way to start the season."

Springer, last year's World Series Most Valuable Player, became the first season leadoff homer hitter for a defending World Series champion. He's also the only player to hit a leadoff homer on opening day in consecutive years, having also homered in last year's opener against Seattle.

Jake Marisnick also homered for the Astros in their 4-1 victory.

Happ, 23, became the youngest Cub to hit an opening-day homer since 1955. He smacked 24 homers and batted in 68 runs last year as a rookie for the Cubs.

Urena's horror show only began with the homer, however, as his first opening-day start saw the Marlins hurler surrender three runs on 57 pitches in the first inning. All nine Chicago batters came to the plate.

Happ became the first player to homer off the first pitch his team faced in a season since Japan's Kazuo Matsui in 2004 for the New York Mets.

School shooting tribute

Both teams paid tribute to the 17 people killed at a mass shooting last month at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School by wearing matches with the initials "MSD" and 17 stars.

Cubs first baseman Rizzo, who as a teen attended Stoneman Douglas, will host the school's baseball team at Friday's Marlins-Cubs game, when four families of victims or survivors are scheduled to make a ceremonial first pitch.

The Cubs showed support for the gun-control and voter registration pushes being made by student survivors, wearing special T-shirts before the game made by Cubs manager Joe Maddon's charity foundation.

"The kids are standing up for what they believe in," said Rizzo, who also homered in the game.

Ohtani singles to open

Japan's Shohei Ohtani, expected to be the first regular pitcher-batter in the major leagues since Babe Ruth's heyday a century ago, singled off the first major league pitch he saw for the Los Angeles Angels at Oakland, batting eighth in the lineup as a designated hitter in his debut after coming over from the Nippon Ham Fighters. The 23-year-old is scheduled to start on the mound Sunday against the A's.

Ohtani finished 1-for-5 as the Angels fell 6-5 in 11 innings, but said it was a day to remember.

"That (first) at-bat, I'm probably never going to forget the rest of my life," added Ohtani who is scheduled to start on the mound on Sunday for the Angels.

Dominican 38-year-old slugger Albert Pujols hit his 615th homer, seventh on the all-time list, for the Angels in the sixth inning.

An emotional pre-game ceremony before the New York Yankees opened at Toronto paid tribute to former Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Roy Halladay, who was killed in a plane crash last November.

Halladay's sons walked to the mound and placed the ball there ahead of a moment of silence. The Blue Jays retired Halladay's number 32 jersey.


The Yankees, snapped a club-record six-opener losing streak with a 6-1 win over Toronto as Giancarlo Stanton homered twice in his Yankees debut.

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Child footballers 'offered boots and underwear for sex work'

Trainee footballers at Argentinian giants Independiente were coaxed into underage prostitution with offers of football boots or even just underwear, a Buenos Aires public prosecutor has said.

The shocking revelation of an illicit sex network operated at one of Argentina's most prestigious and successful clubs was made after a 17-year-old told an Independiente psychologist he had been encouraged, alongside another 19-year-old player, to prostitute himself to adult men in a trendy Buenos Aires neighbourhood, local press said.

Public prosecutor Maria Soledad Garibaldi has asked to meet all 50-plus boys aged between 13 and 19 housed at a boarding facility operated by the club in the Avellaneda suburb of the sprawling Argentine capital.

"Of the five boys I spoke with (on Monday), three gave me some information," said Garibaldi, quoted by local press.

"One of them told me it didn't happen, but that they had been approached. The children knew something was going on.

"They've allowed me to reveal that they were offered to do it for a pair of boots or underwear."

Football referee Martin Bustos and his lawyer have been arrested over the scandal, which was brought to the judicial authorities' attention by Independiente club bosses.

Bustos's lawyer is suspected of having destroyed a mobile phone in order to hide evidence.

According to Garibaldi, there might also be similar underage prostitution networks operated at other clubs.

"Unfortunately, that doesn't surprise me," admitted Independiente coach Ariel Holan.

"It's something that's hidden and it's a problem in society, like drugs, alcohol and human trafficking.

"It's not an issue that's confined to sport or to Independiente."

According to Andres Bonicalzi, a lawyer for a rape victims charity, young players from the vast interior of the country -- well away from Buenos Aires on the western shore of the Rio de la Plata estuary -- who are far from their families, are particularly vulnerable to exploitation.

"They see the club as a role-model, they see it as a father-figure. They're far away from their own fathers," said Bonicalzi.

"(The perpetrators) have exploited their immaturity and these children's need to belong to something."

Independiente are the fourth most successful team in Argentine history with 16 national titles, behind fellow Buenos Aires outfits River Plate (36), Boca Juniors (32) and their local rivals from Avellaneda, Racing (17).

They've also won the continental Copa Libertadores -- South America's equivalent to the UEFA Champions League -- a record seven times, having never lost a final.


Part of a multi-discipline sports organisation, Independiente has a host of different teams throughout the youth ranks as well as a football academy and an education centre for children throughout their compulsory schooling period.

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Ryder chases clubhouse leaders Glover, Tway at rain-hit Houston Open

Former US Open winner Lucas Glover and Kevin Tway ignited hopes of securing the last Masters berth on Thursday with seven-under par 65s at the rain-hit Houston Open.

Former US Open winner Lucas Glover and Kevin Tway ignited hopes of securing the last Masters berth on Thursday with seven-under par 65s at the rain-hit Houston Open.

Glover and Tway were out in the morning, teeing-off after a two-hour delay after heavy overnight rain that saturated the Golf Club of Houston course.

When darkness halted play, they were the clubhouse leaders, but American Sam Ryder was at eight-under through 15 holes and fellow American Beau Hossler was seven-under with two to play.

Thirty-four players in the field of 142 were still on the course and were to complete their rounds on Friday morning.

Glover, 38, capped his round with four straight birdies from his fifth hole and then birdied two of his closing three.

It was the South Carolina golfer's lowest tournament score by two shots in 45 rounds on the Houston course, where his best finish was seventh in 2005.

Despite owning a major title, Glover is not exempt into next week’s Masters having last competed at Augusta National in 2014.

"I like it here in Houston and I've had some success and then not, but that's every tournament, I guess, when you've been out here for 15 years," he said.

"But I do, I like it. I've got good vibes around here."

Tway, the 29-year old son of 1986 PGA Championship winner Bob Tway, highlighted his first appearance in Houston with four birdies over his closing eight holes, a good start in his quest for a win that would secure his first Masters appearance.

"Today was good and always close to home with the wind in Texas, the same in Oklahoma, so I felt pretty comfortable," he said.

"I kept the ball in play, made a few key putts. A couple up-and-downs to keep the momentum of the round going, so yeah, pleased."

If Tway should win through to the Masters he's no stranger to Augusta National having caddied many years for his illustrious father at the pre-tournament Par-3 Contest.

Rickie Fowler boosted his hopes of a first victory since capturing the Tiger Woods-hosted Hero World Challenge last December with a first-round 66.

The current World No. 8, third in Houston last year, was tied with Australian Rod Pampling, Julian Suri and Ryan Armour.

"The fairways are still pretty soggy and you have to make sure you catch the ball cleanly because if you don't it can make you look like a weekend golfer, at times, if you caught it a little heavy," Fowler said.

"But it was good to play good tee to green and also nice to make putts, including some longer ones and with the softer greens you could definitely putt more aggressively," he said.

'Good things coming' for Spieth

Struggling Jordan Spieth displayed a timely return to form, birdying his three closing holes in a four-under 68 and then marking the effort a "nine out of 10" as he looks to build confidence ahead of next week’s Masters.

"Given how I was feeling going into this week I call that a nine out of 10 for me today on the rebound on kind of where I've been my last two tournaments," he said.

"Only way it gets to 10 out of 10 is to be in the lead, right?" added Spieth, who finished with birdie putts of seven feet, six inches and three feet.


"I put in a lot of work the last few days and we're starting to get something out of it. I thought that four-under kind of felt more like a six-under to me, but that means that good things are coming."

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Out of this world Inside Japan's space colony centre

A newly created Space Colony Research centre led by Japan's first female astronaut is bringing cutting-edge technology to bear on one of mankind's greatest questions: Can we live in space?

A newly created Space Colony Research centre led by Japan's first female astronaut is bringing cutting-edge technology to bear on one of mankind's greatest questions: Can we live in space?

Tucked away in high-tech laboratories at the Tokyo University of Science, a team of 30 researchers directed by Chiaki Mukai are studying new ways to keep humans alive on a potential moon or Mars colony.

"It's in our nature to explore. The Earth is too small for us, don't you think?" asked Mukai, a petite and energetic 66-year-old who spent more than 500 hours in space on two separate missions.

Human space exploration is entering a new era, said Mukai, with commercial ventures like Elon Musk's SpaceX and US President Donald Trump's pledge to explore beyond the moon and towards Mars.

Billionaire entrepreneur Musk has grand visions for private space exploration, including sending tourists into orbit around the moon and eventually colonising Mars.

In December, Trump directed US space agency NASA to set up a lunar base as a first step in a mission to Mars.

"It's very realistic to establish a colony on the moon by 2030," said Mukai, who said humans needed to think beyond the International Space Station, which she described as a "campsite -- you have to bring everything with you".

One of her team's innovations is a unique food production system using liquid plasma created by passing high-voltage electricity through a saline solution.

This reduces the damaging algae usually formed in water when growing crops, and tests simulating conditions in space have shown that potatoes can be grown quicker and more efficiently using this system.

The Space Colony Research Centre has also developed a system to create electricity using tiny thermoelectric sensors about the size of an iPod Nano that could be attached to a potential colony.

The colony would be kept at comfortable room temperature, but outside it would vary between 130 degrees Celsius (266 Fahrenheit) during the day and -230 at night.

The technology harnesses the difference in temperature -- heat flux -- between inside and outside to create enough electricity to "power an entire space colony," said Tsutomu Lida, in charge of the project.

"The same device can be used for day and night. There are no moving parts, so there is no maintenance required," said Lida.

Another team is working on early detection and capture of space debris.

More than 29,000 pieces measuring at least 10 centimetres (four inches) across orbit Earth and could pose a danger to potential space colonists.

Space flight attendant

Mukai, who established the centre as part of the Tokyo University of Science at the beginning of the year, said many of the technologies they are working on have applications here on Earth.

"We are not only developing the technology for a moon base but as a spin-off, we will be able to help many issues that we need to solve on Earth," she said.

For example, she said hydroponic technology -- growing food without soil -- could be valuable in countries in parts of sub-Saharan Africa lacking natural resources and minerals.

Mukai said she was "certain" she would see a fully-functioning moon colony in her lifetime and was itching to go back into space, taking as her example former colleague and US astronaut John Glenn, who went into orbit aged 77.

The former heart surgeon said that with her medical expertise and extra-terrestrial experience, she could be very useful on future commercial space tourism flights.


"My dream is to get a job as a flight attendant on a commercial spaceflight so I can help to get people to the moon," she said, laughing.

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Referee warned about Smith, Warner in 2016: report

A match referee warned of disgraced Australian cricketers Steve Smith and David Warner "being involved in a ball-tampering incident" in the domestic Sheffield Shield in 2016, a media report said Friday.

The report came after Smith and Warner were stripped of the captaincy and vice-captaincy and banned for a year from the sport after being caught up in a plot to alter the condition of the ball during the third Test against South Africa on Saturday.

Daryl Harper said the pair were not engaging in fair play while representing New South Wales in a match against Victoria in November 2016, according to an email he sent to Cricket Australia's match referee and umpire selection manager Simon Taufel, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

"When David Warner repeatedly bounced his returns in to (NSW wicket-keeper) Peter Nevill on the first day, the umpires appealed to Smith to support their calls for fair play," the former Australian Test umpire reportedly wrote in the email.

"They weren't encouraged by his response. I assisted the umpires on the second morning by suggesting to (NSW coach) Trent Johnston that CA didn't need an issue with the national captain being involved in a ball-tampering incident."

Harper, who is Australian, said Smith had complained about the state of the Sydney Cricket Ground pitch after his team lost, and also "gave the impression that he wasn't happy to be playing the Sheffield Shield match".

"This was at the same time that the South African captain (Faf du Plessis) was under scrutiny (for ball tampering) and before he had been charged," Harper added.

"As it transpired, there were no further errant throws for the final three days of the game from either team. Steve's participation in the post-match meeting was quite limp, and not as I would expect from our national captain."

Cricket Australia has announced a review into team culture in the wake of the South Africa ball-tampering scandal.

Smith and Bancroft held emotional press conferences in Australia Thursday after returning from South Africa, while coach Darren Lehmann said he would quit after the fourth and final Test which starts Friday, despite being cleared of any involvement in the affair.


David Warner is due to address the media in Sydney on Saturday.

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Sweden's Lindberg surges to ANA Inspiration lead

Sweden's Pernilla Lindberg closed with back-to-back birdies to grab the first-round lead at the ANA Inspiration with a seven-under par 65.

Sweden's Pernilla Lindberg closed with back-to-back birdies to grab the first-round lead at the ANA Inspiration with a seven-under par 65.

Lindberg had seven birdies without a bogey at Mission Hills in Rancho Mirage, California, powering past Japan's Ayako Uehara and Spain's Beatriz Recari who shared second place on 66 in the first LPGA major of the season.

American Jessica Korda, South Korea's Jang Ha-na and Swiss amateur Albane Valenzuela were tied on 67.

Lexi Thompson -- who endured a rules nightmare last year that cost her a four-point penalty and a likely victory at Mission Hills last year -- headed a group of six players on 68.

Thompson was delighted to get a solid first round under her belt on a course she loves, but which inevitably brings back unwelcome memories of last year.

"I don't know if I would say it's a relief," she said. "I was just really looking forward to just playing this week. I love coming here, and the course can't be in any better shape. Probably the best I've seen it, and the greens are perfect.

"Overall I played really well today. So just going to take that into the next three days," said Thompson, who added she was touched by the fan support she received.

There was little to celebrate in defending champion Ryu So-yeon's return. The South Korean, who eventually beat Thompson in a playoff to lift the trophy last year, failed to make a birdie in a three-over 75.

Lindberg lights it up

Lindberg teed off on 10 and had three birdies on her outward run. Her four coming in included back-to-back birdies to cap her round.

"I just set a number for myself in my head every day," she said. "Today, I kind of kept adjusting that all day when I kept making birdies, and I even kind of upped my own number.

"That's what I'm going to do every day."

Uehara set the early pace, shaking off an opening bogey to take the clubhouse lead with eight birdies on the day.

"The beginning I had a three-putt, and I kind of played tight," said Uehara, who relaxed as she strung together three birdies around the turn and finished with two straight birdies.

Recari's six birdies included three in a row at 10th, 11th and 12th.

"From the beginning I felt very confident," Recari said after her bogey-free round. "I knew my strategy. I'll stick to it. Whenever I was in trouble I was actually in a good spot, and I was able to get up-and-down quite easily."

Korda burst out of the blocks with four straight birdies to start her round. She finished with eight birdies.

Korda is relishing golf, and life, after jaw surgery to correct a severe overbite.


"I didn't realize how much it affected me until I got the surgery done," said Korda, who won the Honda LPGA in Thailand in February, her season debut. "I'm just a happy person now. I wake up, no headaches. I get to wake up pain free every day and that's amazing to me."

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Spielberg revisits 1980s heyday in 'Ready Player One'

He tugged at heartstrings with "E.T." and "War Horse," played on our deepest fears in "Jaws" and amped up the Cold War paranoia in "Bridge of Spies."

Now Steven Spielberg is returning to his favorite target -- the adrenal gland -- with the release of "Ready Player One," a high-octane love letter to the thrilling family films of the 1980s that made his fame.

Starring Tye Sheridan, the movie is based on a 2011 novel about a teenager on a treasure hunt in a virtual reality game, in a world torn apart by an energy crisis.

Sheridan plays teenage gamer Wade Watts, who finds himself inside an addictive virtual reality world called Oasis in the year 2045.

Hoping to escape the squalor of his trailer park in a futuristic Columbus, Ohio, Wade puts on the Oasis headset and gloves and is transported into the body of an avatar named Parzival.

Within the program he discovers clues to a game embedded by its mysterious creator, played by Oscar-winner Mark Rylance, that promises the winner full ownership of the Oasis.

The all-star support cast also features Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, T.J. Miller and Simon Pegg, who told AFP at the world premiere in Hollywood on Monday that shooting the movie felt like experiencing the future.

"We had a VR set that we could go into. We could put the mask on and actually have a look at the set that we were gonna be in," he said.

"Because you know, when you're in the grey room, you're like 'what am I looking at?' so we could have a little look at it before we start acting, which was a real treat."

'You can do anything'

In the world of Oasis, Wade encounters 1980s pop culture icons such as Freddy Krueger and the Iron Giant, and gets to race the DeLorean from "Back to the Future" as he weaves to avoid huge wrecking balls.

King Kong, R2-D2, the Joker and Mechagodzilla all get screen time while the classic 1960s Batmobile whizzes through the streets -- and there is even a glimpse of the Overlook Hotel from Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining" (1980).

"I was born in 2025, but I wish I'd grown up in the 1980s, like all my heroes," Wade says in voiceover.

Spielberg told the Comic-Con crowd in San Diego, where the movie was previewed last year, that the source novel by Ernie Cline was "the most amazing flash-forward and flashback at the same time about a decade I was very involved in -- the 1980s."

The veteran filmmaker said he had relished directing a sci-fi feature about the dystopian world people would be living in almost 30 years in the future.

"People are leaving the country and all of a sudden virtual reality gives you a choice, gives you another world to exist in," he said.

"And you can do anything in that world -- anything you can possibly imagine."

Spielberg actually cut most of the novel's references to his own movies, but this hasn't stopped critics suggesting that the big-screen "Ready Player One" is a kind of cinematic autobiography.

'Sweetly nostalgic'

The critics have been mainly positive, yielding a 79 percent "fresh" rating from more than 200 reviews collated by Rotten Tomatoes, which described it as "a sweetly nostalgic thrill ride" that played to Spielberg's strengths.

Not everyone is on board, of course. The Chicago Reader described the sci-fi epic as an empty "special-effects maelstrom" in which a taciturn Sheridan is in constant danger of "being out-acted by his own avatar."

Wednesday preview screenings gave the production, scripted by Cline with Zak Penn ("The Avengers"), its first $3.8 million, and it is expected to come out of the four-day Easter weekend atop the domestic box office with $45-$50 million.

Penn remembers the 1980s as a decade of technological breakthroughs in the arts, pointing to the Walkman personal stereo, video consoles and the advent of the personal computer in people's homes.

"And also films: the move towards blockbusters... really changed the way people went to the movies," he told AFP.

"I think a lot of stuff happened in those 10 years that really has had some lasting impact."

Universal's "Pacific Rim Uprising," Marvel's "Black Panther" and Lionsgate's "I Can Only Imagine" are expected to vie for second place over the holiday weekend.


The also-rans will include Lionsgate thriller "Tyler Perry's Acrimony" -- starring Taraji P. Henson as a vengeful wife -- and Pure Flix's "God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness."

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Preacher for president? Costa Rica votes

Costa Rica is facing a choice of an evangelical preacher who has surged from obscurity or an ex-minister from the current ruling party in a presidential race to be decided voting on Sunday.

Costa Rica is facing a choice of an evangelical preacher who has surged from obscurity or an ex-minister from the current ruling party in a presidential race to be decided voting on Sunday.

The result of the run-off election is uncertain. Surveys show the two candidates to be neck-and-neck -- but each appealing to very different segments of the small Central American country's population of five million.

Fabricio Alvarado, a 43-year-old right-wing preacher, journalist and singer, is riding a wave of support fanned by neo-Pentecostal churches that have sprung up in poorer rural areas in recent years.

His rousing rhetoric, honed at the pulpit, has resonated strongly with the religious and conservative voters attracted to his criticisms of political corruption and gay marriage.

Against him is Carlos Alvarado (no relation): a 38-year-old former labor minister in the ruling center-left Citizens' Action Party who is also a journalist, as well a published novelist.

Far more restrained in his speeches, Carlos Alvarado has promised to tackle Costa Rica's growing deficit, while upholding its environmental protection standards and promoting education.

Social divide

Their styles are poles apart, reflecting a social divide pitting earthy, faith-based country folk against their more-educated, better-off urban counterparts.

For many Costa Ricans, especially in the capital San Jose, the prospect of the preacher becoming president carries the risk of losing some of the country's much-vaunted human rights record.

They are proud that their nation was the first to do away with its military, enshrined in its 1949 constitution, and its relative prosperity in a region riven by poverty and violent crime.

And they boast that its ranking as one of the world's happiest countries has much to do with its social tolerance.

But Fabricio Alvarado's unexpected emergence as frontrunner in the first round of the presidential election in February has forced a rethink of the national character.

The preacher -- hitherto unknown -- triumphed over 12 rivals by vociferously opposing gay marriage, tapping into a conservative Christian current that runs deep in the country.

The issue had been brought to the fore after the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which is hosted in Costa Rica, urged Latin American nations to recognize same-sex marriage.

Rights 'at stake'

Since then, though, Fabricio Alvarado has broadened his platform somewhat, to offer policies on the economy, sport and infrastructure -- though he has kept up verbal attacks on UN agencies in Costa Rica, and defends "cures" for homosexuality offered by evangelical churches.

He told El Pais newspaper in an interview that his stance on gays "is in a church context, not a political context."

Some, though, portray him as a threat to the very foundations of Costa Rican society.

"This election isn't about small things at stake. In this election, democracy is at stake, education is at stake. culture, and above all, human rights are at stake," Leonardo Garnier, former education minister, said as Carlos Alvarado wrapped up his main campaigning last weekend.

Garnier is part of the National Liberation Party, the biggest mainstream grouping in Costa Rica. Yet others in the party have rallied to Fabricio Alvarado.

One of the country's highest-profile diplomats, Christiana Figueres, who led negotiations on the Paris climate change accord, said her country should not allow backsliding on its human rights record.


"I am very worried that some people have chosen to focus in this election on people's personal right to choose who to love," she said.

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Tesla recalls 123,000 cars for power steering fix

Tesla on Thursday issued a voluntary recall of 123,000 Model S cars to replace a power steering bolt that could corrode due to salt used on winter roads.

Tesla on Thursday issued a voluntary recall of 123,000 Model S cars to replace a power steering bolt that could corrode due to salt used on winter roads.

No accidents or injuries have been caused by a flaw that prompted the decision to replace the part in all Model S vehicles built before April of 2016, according to the Silicon Valley-based company.

"If the bolts fail, the driver is still able to steer the car, but increased force is required due to loss or reduction of power assist," Tesla said in an email to Model S owners whose cars are impacted by the recall.

"This primarily makes the car harder to drive at low speeds and for parallel parking, but does not materially affect control at high speed, where only small steering wheel force is needed."

No other Tesla models were involved in the recall.

The corrosion has only been noticed in places where winter roads are frequently salted to melt snow or ice, but all Model S vehicles with the part will be retrofitted in a protective move, according to Tesla.


Tesla shares that ended the Nasdaq trading day up lost 2.5 percent to $259.40 after hours.

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Huawei P20 Pro triple camera explored: Everything you need to know about Huawei's camera

Here's everything you need to know about Huawei's P20 Pro camera, based on what Huawei has revealed and our initial experiences with the camera so far.

The Huawei P20 and P20 Pro were announced on 27 March 2018 in a huge global launch event in Grand Palais, Paris.

The Huawei P20 Pro will grab the attention of a lot of people because it has three cameras on the back. Dual camera phones are now fairly common, but Huawei wants to take things further - looking to bring "master level" photography to its new flagship phone.

Huawei P20 Pro camera specs

• 40MP RGB 1/1.7in type sensor, f/1.8
• 20MP monochrome, f/1.6
• 8MP 3x zoom, f/2.4, OIS
• 24MP front camera, f/2.0
• Laser AF and colour temperature sensor 

There are three cameras on the rear of the Huawei P20 Pro: two are combined into a raised unit; this is the RGB and monochrome cameras. These operate in the same way as previous dual camera Huawei systems, developed with Leica involvement. 

That means that you have one sensor that captures colour information while the second captures monochrome (black and white) information. Together, these should give you a better quality photo, because it can gather and assess more data. But, Huawei was also keen to point out that this sensor is big with a 1/1.7in size, larger than most rivals.

In addition, you have dedicated monochrome shooting that can leverage that 20-megapixel sensor to create a black and white photo, rather than converting one from a colour image - and it's this that you might naturally associate with Leica.

The third camera is the zoom. It has an 8-megapixel sensor, but the lens offers 3x optical zoom. This is designed to get you closer to the subject without losing quality as you would through digital zoom, also offering optical image stabilisation with an aperture of f/2.4.

As well as the 3x optical zoom, the Huawei P20 Pro also offers 5x Hybrid zoom. Hybrid zoom uses sensor cropping on that 40-megapixel sensor to take you closer to the action, aiming to reduce image degradation. 

The cameras are supported by laser autofocusing and a colour temperature sensor, aiming to make sure that white balance is accurate. This new colour temperature sensor will assess the white balance across the entire scene, not just in one point. 

All three cameras can provide data, so there's more information for creating depth maps when portrait shooting, for more accurate bokeh effects, as well as offering a "variable aperture" mode where you can change the background blurring after you've taken the photo. 

What about that 40-megapixel camera?

• Pixel Fusion technology for 2µm pixels
• Default 10MP shooting

That 40-megapixel camera is likely to be the thing that a lot of people notice. Let's just remind everyone that more megapixels does not make a better camera - it's what you do with them. If you're a smartphone fan you'll know that the likes of Apple, Samsung and Google all use a 12-megapixel main camera and generally have the excellent results from that. 

So what is Huawei doing with the 40-megapixel camera? Firstly, it's not shooting massive 40-megapixel images. It's combining the pixels using Pixel Fusion, so you're then getting the equivalent of a 2.0µm pixel (the Pixel 2 is 1.4µm for example). The idea is that the larger the pixel area, the more light it can receive and the better it will work in low light conditions.

So the default camera mode is 10-megapixels in a 4:3 aspect and if you don't change the settings, that's what you'll be using.

Secondly, the 40MP camera is being used for hybrid zoom. This isn't new to Huawei, it offered Hybrid zoom on previous devices. Now, in addition to the optical 3x zoom offered by the third lens, it can now use information from that zoom lens and the main camera to give you 5x Hybrid zoom. 

This uses sensor cropping - and we've noticed that the zoom options aren't available if you tell the camera to shoot at 40-megapixels, because it then can't do the crop to get you closer to the action. There's something clever that works all the details out and we'll be sure to explore this further, as the results hopefully will be much better than standard 5x digital zoom.

Huawei P20 Pro low light shooting

• ISO 102,400 for low light shooting
• Live exposure
• Hand-held long exposures

The Huawei P20 Pro also offers ISO 102,400 for low light shooting to try and ensure you get the shot no matter what - although we're yet to see exactly how these photos come out. Examples we've seen suggest that this camera will take photos that rivals won't be able to take at all.

We've already mentioned the Pixel Fusion technique it will use to give a larger surface area to pixels for light capture, but one of the big headline features is the ability to handhold longer exposures - up to 8 seconds. Huawei says you can ditch the tripod for those night shots thanks to this technology. 

We've not tested this extensively, so we don't really know what the final results are like, but we have tried it a couple of times. This involved taking a long exposure in a dark room - and the results looked good on the phone, but we've not seen it on a larger screen. 

The exposure on these longer night shots happens gradually, so you can see it developing, the same system that some use for light painting capture where you progressively see the image building up. This uses Huawei's AIS - artificial intelligence stabilisation.

We'll bring you a lot more on the low light performance when we've had the time to fully review the Huawei P20 Pro. 

Huawei P20 Pro AI shooting

• 19 modes
• Auto recognition and categorisation 

Huawei says that a lot of the camera's skill comes down to AI. AI is a central theme of all smartphone launches and has been used to great effect by the likes of Google. 

For Huawei, the AI recognises the scene with a choice of 19 different types - food, portrait, cat, landscape and so on. This isn't that revolutionary (Sony has offered the same thing on its Superior Auto modes on its phones and cameras for years), but it claims to pick out the best type of shot for the subject that's recognised.

Some of this comes back to the reference for the type of photo and Huawei worked with photographers in a range of different disciplines to teach the AI what constituted a photo that looked good. Exactly how that all pans out we don't yet know, but we've seen the Huawei P20 Pro recognising things and switching modes.

One thing that might be controversial is switching to portrait mode when it recognises a face - exactly how that will effect the background we don't yet know, but we have found it's easy to cancel the mode, as well as having the option to turn off AI mode selection entirely. 

The categorisation of photos also extends to your galleries, to make it easier to find your best shots.

Huawei P20 Pro 960fps shooting

• 960fps super slow-motion
• 720p resolution

Huawei joins the likes of Samsung and Sony in offering 960fps super slow-motion capture. This is at a 720p resolution, the same as Samsung, not reaching the high levels of 1080p offered by the Sony Xperia XZ2. 

We've not had long to play with this function, but we've seen it in action and compared capture to the Samsung Galaxy S9+. 

Samsung offers automatic detection of motion, but it's not that effective unless the action is very deliberate. Samsung also suffers in low light: testing the two side-by-side we found that Huawei was able to capture 960fps indoors and give a nice, bright and clear super slow-mo video where Samsung struggled with dark and grainy video.

This was only one test however, and we've not seen the results from Huawei on the big screen yet. 

There's loads packed into the new camera on the Huawei P20 Pro and there's a lot more we need to do to assess the quality. Huawei promised a renaissance and there's a lot happening here on the P20 Pro. 

Will this approach reward us with results that can beat the likes of the Pixel 2 XL? We'll be sure to share our findings as soon as we can.

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What are Google Home, Home Max, and Home Mini and what can they do?

As a result, we have the Google Home family. Here's everything you know about it, including what it is, how the original Google Home works and where you can buy these speakers.

What is Google Home?

Google Home is a Wi-Fi speaker that doubles as a smart home control centre and a personal assistant for the entire family. You can use it to playback entertainment throughout your home, effortlessly manage everyday tasks, and ask Google things you want to know. It's basically an Amazon Echo device, but it's Google version.

The device itself has interchangeable bases available in various colours and finishes (such as metal and fabric, allowing you to match it to your decor). Underneath that swappable shell there is a speaker that can playback songs and allow Google Assistant to talk to you. And at the top, there is a capacitive touch display with four LEDs.

You'll use this display to interact with Home, trigger Assistant, adjust volume, and so forth. As for buttons, there are none (just dual mics that listen for your voice). There is, however, a single mute button on the shell. Google Home can filter and separate speech from noise and offers "best-in-class voice recognition", according to Google.

The actual speaker insider features dual side-facing passive radiators, which deliver full range, clear highs, and rich bass. And the entire contraption is available in three colour variations: Mango, Marine, and Violet bases join Carbon, Snow, and Copper tops. The $20 bases can be swapped out, too. So you can buy several of them, if you want.

What about Google Home Max and Mini?

In 2017, Google expanded the Google Home line to include the Google Home Max and Google Home Mini. Think of Google Home Max as the Sonos-level version of Google Home. It's a premium speaker product. Meanwhile, the Google Home Mini is more like an Amazon Echo Dot. It's a compact, affordable speaker. Both have Assistant.

These three speakers make up the Google Home family. Although they have different speaker specs and tech specs, the important thing to remember is that you can use any of them for music and video playback, smart home control, and usual voice command queries. To see how they technically differ, check out our guide here:

How does Google Home work?

Music and video playback

Because Google Home is a Wi-Fi speaker, it can stream music directly from the cloud. With it you can access songs, playlists, albums, artists, and podcasts from your favourite music services just by asking with your voice. Or, if you prefer, you can send music from your Android or iOS device through Google Cast.

That last bit is important because, with Google Cast support, you'll be able to use Google Home to control other connected speakers in your home. You'll even get multi-room playback, meaning you can add one or more Google Home devices to a group of speakers in order to blast tunes throughout your house. But that's not all...

Google Home will let you control your video content. Let's say you want to watch your latest episode of Daredevil on Netflix, or some sort of cat video on YouTube. Just issue a voice command to Google Home, and then the content will appear on your TV. This only works if you've set up both devices in the Google Home app, however.

Smart home hub

Google Home can be a control centre for your entire home, because it has access to Google Assistant (see below). It will let you do the basics like set alarms and timers and manage to-do lists and shopping lists. It will also connect your smarthome and support popular network systems. But you need the Google Home app to do any of this.

Once you set up your Google Home device in the Google Home app and all your smart devices in your home, you will be able to control them, whether they're smart lights, switches, doors, or Google's own Nest products. Google plans to work with developers so you can control things beyond the home too, such as booking a car or ordering dinner.


The best part is you will be able to do this with just your voice.

Ask Google

Speaking of your voice, Google Home will let you ask Google anything.

You can ask for the weather update or seek facts on Wikipedia. You will have access to Google's 17 years of search experience. That allows you to ask specific questions such as "How much fat is in an avocado?" or "What is Wayne Rooney's shirt number?" Those types of questions would stump Amazon Echo, but not Google.

Because Google Home has Google Assistant, you can be conversational and ask follow-up questions, too, like "Where did he go to school?" and then Google Home will be able to connect the "he" pronoun to your previous question about Rooney or whoever in order to serve up an accurate answer. You can even ask complex stuff.


So, say, "OK Google, what was the US population when NASA was established?" Google Home will give you immediate answers each time. Also, it can read the relevant parts of webpages back to you.

Which services does Google Home support?

At launch, Google Home works with YouTube Music, Spotify, Pandora, Google Play Music, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio. In the UK, there are specific services, such as BBC, Telegraph, and Guardian news sources. To connect your accounts of these services to your Google Home, you will need to use the Google Home app.

With support for these services, you can ask, "OK Google, play that Shakira song from Zootopia." Without having to name the song, Google Home can figure it out and play it from your favourite app. Thanks to Google Assistant and its machine-learning capabilities, Google Home knows you and your preferences and learns over time.

Google Home also works with Nest, SmartThings, Philips Hue, and IFTTT, which means you'll be able to control these smart home devices and activate your IFTTT recipes using the speaker. Google Home also acts as a Chromecast Audio receiver. We know we sound repetitive, but again, you must set these up with the Google Home app.

What is Google Assistant in Google Home?

At Google I/O 2016, Google announced a new Siri-like bot that is an adaption of Google Now and OK Google. It's Google Assistant, and it improves the two-way conversation experience of those services with AI and machine learning.

These advances essentially add context to your questions. For instance, when you say, "OK Google", followed by "What's playing tonight?", Google Assistant will show films at your local cinema. But, if you add, "We're planning on bringing the kids", Google Assistant will know to serve up showtimes for kid-friendly films.

You could then say "Let's see the Jungle Book", and Assistant will buy tickets. You can even ask, "Is the Jungle Book any good?", and then the assistant will display reviews, ratings, and a trailer. Google Assistant is able to string your questions together in order to determine context and serve up the right information.

It can do basic stuff like retrieve your travel itinerary, daily schedule, commute time to work, package delivery information, and more. Google Home isn't the only device with access to the Google Assistant, however. You'll also be able to use the assistant with Android Nougat devices and your Android Auto head unit.

Here's how Google explained its new assistant:

"The assistant is conversational - an ongoing two-way dialogue between you and Google that understands your world and helps you get things done. It makes it easy to buy movie tickets while on the go, to find that perfect restaurant for your family to grab a quick bite before the movie starts, and then help you navigate to the theater."

Assistant on Google Home is the same as your Assistant on the phone. Data is shared across your devices.

When will Google Home be available?

Google Home is now available in the US and UK. 

Where can you buy Google Home?

Google Home

• Availability: UK (from Currys, Argos), US (from BestBuy)
• Price: $130

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