Europe's oldest person, French nun Sister Andre, turns 117 on Thursday after surviving Covid-19 last month and living through two world wars, with a special birthday feast including her favourite dessert -- baked Alaska.

Born Lucile Randon on February 11, 1904, Sister Andre said she didn't realise she had caught the coronavirus, which infected 81 residents of her retirement home in the southeast city of Toulon, killing 10 of them.
-I'm told that I got it- the nun told AFP on Wednesday at the home, where she sat basking in the winter sun, her eyes closed and hands clasped in prayer. 
-I was very tired, it's true, but I didn't realise it- she added in a steady, strong voice that belies her years.
But David Tavella, spokesman for the Sainte Catherine Laboure nursing home, said she had "experienced a triple confinement: in her wheelchair, in her room and without a visit".
"So her birthday, it reinvigorates us," he added, following the deadly outbreak.
Sister Andre, who has been inundated with calls from reporters around the world, said she was not planning to do anything special for her 117th birthday.
But the home has other ideas, with a celebration to include a video call with her family. 
The facility, home to a dozen nuns, plans a special mass, and the chef is preparing a birthday feast with foie gras, capon fillet with porcini mushrooms and Sister Andre's favourite dessert: baked Alaska.

She says her favourite food is lobster and she enjoys "a small glass of wine every day".

Born in the southern town of Ales in a Protestant family, she grew up as the only girl among three brothers.
One of her fondest memories was the return of two of her brothers at the end of World War I. 
-It was rare, in families, there were usually two dead rather than two alive. They both came back- she told AFP last year, on her 116th birthday.
As a young woman she worked as a governess to children of wealthy families in Paris, a job she said "suited me very well."
She converted to Catholicism and was baptised at the age of 26. Driven by a desire to "go further", she joined the Daughters of Charity order of nuns at the relatively late age of 41.
Sister Andre was then assigned to a hospital in Vichy, where she worked for 31 years and then spent 30 years in a retirement home in the French Alps before moving to Toulon.
Nineteen French presidents have occupied the Elysee presidential palace since Sister Andre was born.
She is the second-oldest living person in the world, according to the Gerontology Research Group, after Japanese woman Kane Tanaka, who is 118.
Asked what she would say to young people, Sister Andre said, hands clasped in prayer, "Be brave and show compassion."

She says her favourite food is lobster and she enjoys "a small glass of wine every day"

Sister Andre, Lucile Randon in the registry of birth, the eldest French and European citizen, prays in a wheelchair, on the eve of her 117th birthday - born on February 11, 1904.

Europe's oldest person, turns 117 after surviving COVID

With over 350,000 followers on his luxury yacht-focused Instagram account, Denis Suka is already something of an influential figure in the yachting world.
But after posting about incredible vessels for nearly three years, the man behind the @theyachtmogul account is turning his hand to yacht design.
The social media influencer has teamed up with Bhushan Powar Design Studio to devise a superyacht concept named after his hugely popular account.
Measuring 295 feet, the Mogul project features a 26-foot infinity pool, as well as an owner's suite with floor-to-ceiling windows, offering panoramic views, a private hot tub and direct access to a touch-and-go helipad station.
-A lot of yachts aren't very beautiful- he tells CNN Travel. -I thought, if I can bring something nice, maybe someone will want to build it. My goal was to come up with something different.--There are thousands of yachts in the industry. If we make something the same as the others, it's not going to make any difference.-

Since creating the Instagram page in 2018, Suka has devoted much of his time to studying yachts and says he's developed a good understanding of what makes designs stand out, along with what's currently missing from the market.
He decided to make the owner's quarters the main focus while conceptualizing Mogul after noticing that this aspect was often neglected in similar vessels.
-In other yachts, you don't even know where the owner's room is- Suka explains.
-But in Mogul, the owner can sail the boat and look out at a 180-degree view. I can imagine waking up with that view.-Mogul also has a large swim platform, a beach lounge, two tender garages on either side with room for plenty of water toys.
After proposing his idea to the design studio last year, Suka spent six to seven months working on the project, and is thrilled with the result.
-I put so much work into it- Suka admits. -Especially because it was my name [Mogul].-He says he's received a lot of positive feedback from potential buyers since revealing the Mogul concept, which has an estimated price of between $180 and 200 million, and has been in discussions with other designers and naval engineers about moving to the next stage.

If the Mogul concept was to be picked up, Suka believes it would take at least three years to build.
Demand for superyachts has been rising for many years -- the global fleet increased from 3,906 crafts in 2009 to 5,646 in 2019, according to the Superyacht Group.
While sales dipped slightly in 2020 due to the pandemic, superyacht market intelligence source BOAT Pro indicated that a total of 341 were sold by the end of the year.
But the more superyachts that emerge onto the scene, the harder it is to truly stand out, and designers are being pushed to come up with vessels that are both eye-catching and innovative.
Mogul is one of several exciting new superyacht concepts that could be hitting the waters in the coming years.
Slovenian design company VOM Creations recently shared adventurous new explorer concept Mr. Hunt, named after Tom Cruise's character in the "Mission Impossible," while Lazzarini Design Studio launched the Prodigium project, a vessel shaped like a shark, back in November.

Suka, who moved to Monaco in 2018, says he's noticed a shift towards more cutting edge, inventive designs and the boundaries will be pushed further and further as time goes on.
-I'm sure we won't see these types of designs [such as Mogul] in a few years- he says.
-In the future, buyers will be even younger and they'll want more futuristic designs. We'll see designs that are more like spaceships.-While Suka hopes the Mogul project will come to fruition soon, he's currently developing a new design for an explorer concept, as well as working as a yacht broker.
-I will keep bringing projects until one of them is built- he adds.
But despite his numerous assignments, Suka remains dedicated to his Instagram account, pointing out that all of the opportunities he's garnered in the yachting world have come as a result of the page.
-No matter how high I go, Instagram is my priority- he says. -That's where I started, and where I am now is because of the account. Everyone knows me as 'the yacht mogul.-

Measuring 295 feet, the Mogul project features a 26-foot infinity pool, as well as an owner's suite with floor-to-ceiling windows, offering panoramic views, a private hot tub and direct access to a touch-and-go helipad station

Mogul also has a large swim platform, a beach lounge, two tender garages on either side with room for plenty of water toys

What happens when an Instagrammer designs a superyacht

"Everything went smoothly" -- a 67-year-old man awaiting trial for the robbery of reality star Kim Kardashian in Paris four years ago has come clean in a new book, laying out the life history that led to his involvement in the heist.

Yunice Abbas, who calls himself a "part-time crook," was one of 12 people arrested for nabbing a small fortune in jewels after surprising Kardashian in the luxury residence she rented to attend Fashion Week.
As his book's title makes clear -- "I Kidnapped Kim Kardashian" -- Abbas has no plans to contest the charges at a trial prosecutors are hoping will begin this year.
It was the biggest robbery of an individual in France in two decades, with the thieves making off with a combined haul worth about nine million euros ($10.8 million).
Most of the pieces were never found: police have recovered only a diamond-encrusted cross that Abbas dropped while leaving the scene by bike.
-The jurors will have to decide, and in theory they'll do it based only on what's presented to them in court, but 50 stories have already been told about all this -- I wanted to tell my truth, the one I've lived- Abbas told AFP.
He was one of five men aged 60 to 72 -- dubbed the "Grandpa robbers" in the press -- who entered Kardashian's apartment at around 2:30 am on the night of October 3, 2016.
The star later told police the men, at least one of whom was wearing a jacket with police insignia, tied her up with plastic cables and adhesive tape, and placed her in the bathtub.

-It went fast, maybe five, six, seven minutes, from entry to exit, because everything went smoothly. Nobody interfered, the victim handed over the jewels without resistance- Abbas said.

But as he entered the street alone -- he says he was last to leave -- he found himself face to face with a police patrol.
-I was shutting the door and they looked at me, so I gave a little sign, like a salute.--They were just on one of their rounds, but obviously I was nervous. I looked calm, or at least I tried to, and it worked.-Abbas said that almost immediately he had regrets, and he was one of 12 suspects arrested three months later.
He had spent his life in and out of jail -- 21 years in total -- but had been "clean" for nine years before being offered the Kardashian heist "at a time when I needed the money," he said.
After 22 months behind bars, a judge released him on health grounds, and Abbas now hopes a jury will be lenient after he underwent heart surgery.
-My fear is returning to prison, my health is no longer good," he said. "If you have an attack, you might have to wait hours before they can do anything, with catastrophic results.-

It was the biggest robbery of an individual in France in two decades, with the thieves making off with a combined haul worth about nine million euros

Yunice Abbas, who calls himself a "part-time crook," was one of 12 people arrested for nabbing a small fortune in jewels after surprising Kardashian in the luxury residence she rented to attend Fashion Week

Kardashian thief recounts Paris heist in tell-all book

A roller coaster now under development in the Middle East is set to smash existing records for speed, height and track length.
Called "Falcon's Flight," the ride will be the main attraction of Six Flags Qiddiya, due to open in Saudi Arabia outside of capital Riyadh in 2023.
According to a press release issued by the Qiddiya Investment Company, which has partnered with US-headquartered Six Flags to build the park, the coaster will travel across four kilometers (about 2.5 miles) of track.Riders will experience the thrill of diving over a vertical cliff into a 160-meter-deep valley (525 feet) thanks to the use of magnetic motor acceleration (LSM technology), and "achieve unprecedented speeds of 250-plus km/h" -- about 155 miles per hour.
-The Falcon's Flight will also be the world's tallest free-standing coaster structure, featuring a parabolic airtime hill allowing a weightlessness airtime experience- says the release.
It will take up to 20 passengers on a three-minute long ride that and offers panoramic views of Six Flags Qiddiya. If the video rendering produced by Qiddiya is an accurate depiction of what guests will experience, this one's only for true thrill seekers.As for the park, Six Flags Qiddiya will feature 28 rides and attractions across six themed lands: The City of Thrills; Discovery Springs; Steam Town; Twilight Gardens; Valley of Fortune; and Grand Exposition.
Appropriately, the Falcon's Flight will be part of the City of Thrills, along with Sirocco Tower, which will be the world's tallest drop-tower ride.
Construction on the park, located about 40 minutes from Riyadh, kicked off in 2018.

The Falcon's Flight is being designed by Intamin. Headquartered in Liechtenstein, it's been creating theme park attractions for over 50 years and is behind many of the world's most famous rides. That includes the current holder of the world's fastest roller coaster title -- the Formula Rossa, at Ferrari World Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. It travels at speeds of up to 240 kilometers (149 miles) per hour.
The current world's tallest coaster made of steel -- yet another Intamin project -- can be found in New Jersey. Kingda Ka, at Six Flags Great Adventure, stands 139 meters (456 feet).
And finally, the longest roller coaster on the planet right now is the Steel Dragon 2000. Developed by D. H. Morgan Manufacturing, it can be found inside Japan's Nagashima Spa Land amusement park in Nagashima, Kuwana.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, it spans 2.48 kilometers (1.54 miles).

Called "Falcon's Flight," the ride will be the main attraction of Six Flags Qiddiya

It will take up to 20 passengers on a three-minute long ride that and offers panoramic views of Six Flags Qiddiya

Record-breaking roller coaster will travel more than 155 miles per hour

Google on Thursday unveiled an upgraded fitness app which uses smartphone camera capabilities to measure respiration and heart rate.

Google Fit already uses smartphone sensors to figure out how far people walk or how many calories they have burned, but new features rolling out to Google Pixel phones will add pulse and breathing to health data crunched by the app.
Sensors and software that make it possible to take stunning photos with smartphones or automatically adapt streaming video to how handsets are held can be used to sense respiration and heartbeat, according to Google health technologies team leader Shwetak Patel.
-We are seeing more and more smart devices that have more and more sensors in them- Patel said, spotlighting the smartphone as the most ubiquitous.
-The same sensors can be used for health and wellness.-A modification coming in the next month to the Fit app tailored for Google-made Pixel smartphones will use camera sensors detect someone's chest moving as they breathe, calculating their respiration rate.
Placing a fingertip on the lens will let Fit use a camera to determine how fast someone's heart is beating based on how skin color changes as blood is pumped, members of the team explained.
Data processing is all done on smartphones, and users will have the option to save results securely in their accounts at Google datacenters.
The Fit app lets users set activity or health goals and weaves in artificial intelligence to coach them about how to achieve objectives.
-If you think about health care, the journey doesn't end at the hospital- Patel said.
-It's really this continuous journey as you are living your daily life, and being able to give you feedback and measure your general wellness is an important thing.-Google plans to soon add the capabilities to versions of Fit for other smartphones powered by Android software, and eventually onto the app for iPhones.
Connected accessories such as activity tracking bracelets or pendents are already used to track lifestyles with health in mind. Apple has made health a selling point for its smart watch, which boasts an array of features including electrocardiograms and measuring blood oxygen levels.
Google did not specify plans for one day making money from the Fit app..

Data processing is all done on smartphones, and users will have the option to save results securely in their accounts at Google datacenters

Google said its Pixel smartphones will be able to measure respiration and heart rate with an upgraded fitness app, as part of its digital health efforts

Google fitness app to catch breath and heart rate

The Montreux Jazz Festival, which was forced to cancel last year's edition due to the pandemic, said Tuesday it was moving towards a hybrid model, including livestreaming concerts.

Organisers said they had reached a deal with Qello Concerts by Stingray for livestreaming, allowing live events and digital projects to be combined.
-Streaming is a crucial medium for securing the continued success of the festival: if people can’t come to the Festival, we will bring it to them- said Nicolas Bonard, head of Montreux Media Ventures.
They are also creating a new brand, MJF Spotlight, dedicated to promoting emerging talent through digital content.
Taking place in the idyllic Swiss town of Montreux on the shores of Lake Geneva, the summer event has over the past half century become a magnet for big names and rising stars. 
The jazz label has been retained despite an expanding repertoire over the years, bringing in the likes of Nina Simone, Johnny Cash, Deep Purple, Prince and Nick Cave.
The festival had already in 2019 begun moving towards more of a hybrid model with increased focus on digital content.
But that strategy was accelerated significantly by the Covid crisis, which forced the first cancellation in the festival's history.
Lionel Richie, Brittany Howard, Lenny Kravitz and Black Pumas were among the artists who had been booked for last year.
However the festival "continued to keep its lights on", organisers said, pointing to several initiatives including the free online publication of 50 legendary concerts. 
The programme for this year's festival, expected to take place July 2-17, will be published in coming weeks.

They are also creating a new brand, MJF Spotlight, dedicated to promoting emerging talent through digital content

A photograph taken in Montreux shows a statue of Queen's late singer Freddie Mercury wearing a protective face mask

Montreux Jazz Festival to livestream future events

A front-line Swedish nurse is getting some Covid downtime with a week of private screenings of the Gothenburg film festival, in a former lighthouse off the country's west coast.
More than 12,000 candidates from 45 countries applied to watch the festival's films in almost near isolation on an island 400 kilometres (250 miles) from Stockholm.
The prize is a week viewing as many of the festival's 70 premieres as they like in a hotel in the former Pater Noster Lighthouse. But they will be in isolation and will have no access to their own computer or laptop.
The bright-red lighthouse, built on a tiny island off Sweden's west coast in 1868, is surrounded by a scattering of squat, red buildings originally built to house the lighthouse keeper's family. It can only be reached by boat or helicopter, depending on the weather.
After a series of interviews and tests, festival organisers chose emergency nurse and film buff Lisa Enroth for the prize, in keeping with the 2021 festival's theme, Social Distances.
Before boarding a small speedboat out to the island on the clear, chill winter's morning, Enroth said she had applied not only out of her love for the cinema, but also to seek respite from her hectic work as an emergency nurse during the pandemic. 
-It has been hectic, so it's a nice opportunity just to be able to land and to reflect over the year- she said.&nbsp;

<h2>Months working amid Covid crisis</h2>

Sweden, which has taken a light-touch approach to the pandemic compared to its neighbours, has been facing a stronger than expected second wave of the virus. So far, more than 11,500 people have died from Covid-19 across the country.
Enroth works in the emergency ward of a hospital in Skovde in central Sweden. Since the start of the pandemic, her hospital's work caring for virus patients on top of their regular workload has been intense.
-We had a lot of Covid cases during this year and every patient that has been admitted to the hospital has been passing through the emergency ward- she told journalists.
The organisers said they were surprised by the numbers of applicants for the prize but were confident they had chosen the right candidate -- not only for her love of cinema. 
-She has also dedicated this past year in the frontline against the Covid-19 pandemic- the festival's creative director Jonas Holmberg said to AFP. 
-That's also one of the reasons we chose her-.&nbsp;

Boarding the boat dressed in a thick survival suit, Enroth sped over the calm, icy waters, jumping off in the island's tiny harbour and disappearing into her lodgings.
A screen has been set up in the lantern room at the top of the windswept island's lighthouse, offering a 360-degree view of the sea and coastline around.
Another wide screen has been set up in one of the island's buildings.
Enroth will also have a tablet and headphones if she wants to watch films elsewhere on the island, which measures just 250 metres by 150 metres.
With only one other person staying permanently on the island -- a safety precaution -- Enroth's only contact with the outside world will be through her video diary about the films she has viewed.
The festival's films will be shown online and two venues in Gothenburg itself will allow screenings for just one person at a time.
Holmberg, the festival's creative director, said he hoped events like these would maintain interest in the industry at a time when many screens are closed because of pandemic restrictions.
-We are longing so much to come back to the cinemas and in the meantime we have to be creative and do the things that we can to create discussion- he told journalists.

The festival's films will be shown online and two venues in Gothenburg itself will allow screenings for just one person at a time

A screen has been set up in the lantern room at the top of the lighthouse

Swedish film festival offers nurse an isolated, island cinema for a week

Cristiano Ronaldo broke coronavirus travel restrictions with a trip to a mountain resort, according to media reports Thursday.
Juventus striker Ronaldo allegedly travelled to Courmayeur, 150 kilometres north-west of the Serie A club's Turin headquarters, for his girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez' birthday.
When contacted by AFP, Juve declined to comment.
Rodriguez, who turned 27 on Wednesday, apparently posted a video of the couple on a snowmobile on Instagram.
She later removed it, but it was picked up by several Italian news sites.
The Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper said Ronaldo and Rodriguez spent Tuesday night in a hotel and took a ride in the snow the next morning, before returning to Turin.
Under current Italian coronavirus rules, the couple should not have left the town of Turin. They each risk a fine of 400 euros ($485).
The 35-year-old footballer has been embroiled in coronavirus-related controversy before.
He was criticised in October for travelling to Portugal while Juventus were in isolation after two virus cases. 
Ronaldo then tested positive himself, and returned to Italy to spend a couple of weeks in isolation at home. 
At the time, Italian Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora accused the star of "violating" coronavirus restrictions.

Juventus striker Ronaldo allegedly travelled to Courmayeur, 150 kilometres north-west of the Serie A club's Turin headquarters, for his girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez' birthday

Rodriguez, who turned 27 on Wednesday, apparently posted a video of the couple on a snowmobile on Instagram

Cristiano Ronaldo broke coronavirus rules

Organizers of the Cannes film festival announced Wednesday new dates for the event that will now be held in July.
After the global lockdown brought on by the coronavirus pandemic forced organizers to cancel last year’s event, they said the festival will keep its rendezvous this year.
The 74th edition will take place from July 6-17, instead May 11-22, when it was originally scheduled.
The world’s biggest film festival is a prestigious event for filmmakers and actors to showcase their work in the competition section, as well as for producers, distributors, buyers, and programmers looking at the business side in the market section, called Marche du Film.
The red carpet, set against the backdrop of the stunning French Riviera, walked by A-list actors and models infusing high glitz and glamor, makes it one of the highly awaited events.
The annual festival is attended by more than 45,000 people including journalists and film professionals.

New dates moved to July 6 - 17

The annual festival is attended by more than 45,000 people including journalists and film professionals

Cannes film festival scheduled for July

Wikipedia celebrates its 20th anniversary on Friday and the collaborative, volunteer-produced internet encyclopedia aims to spend the next 20 years further expanding free access to information.
Founded on January 15, 2001 by the American-British entrepreneur Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia is now the seventh-most popular website in the world, with its more than 55 million articles being consulted 15 billion times every month.
The website started in English but within two months had already launched in German and Swedish. It is now available in 309 languages.
But Wales doesn't intend to stop there, with the languages of the developing world in the website's sights.
"That's really important that the next billion people, two billion people who come online are going to want to participate in Wikipedia, to grow their own storehouse of knowledge, and they're going to rely on us to support that work, and that's a big part of how I think about the future," Wales told AFP in an interview.
In 2006, Wales set the goal of having 100,000 entries in Wikipedia for every language with more than one million speakers, but he recognised that Wikipedia is still at least 20 years from achieving that.
Wikipedia's non-profit status nature make it an outlier among today's internet dominated by the likes of Google and Facebook, and hark back to the web's early idealistic days when the open-source movement harnessed the talents of volunteers to offer free access to tools and knowledge.
Wales said he was inspired by such collaborative efforts.
-I'd seen the growth of open-source software, free software, and to me it seemed obvious that you could use the same kind of techniques to build a free encyclopedia, so I was in a real kind of panic because I thought this is such an obvious idea that other people will do it- he said.
-But we actually were probably two years into the project before anybody noticed or cared, so maybe it didn't have to be so urgent.-
Wikipedia continues to be a volunteer-driven effort, with each language site built up independently from original contributions rather than translated articles.
Unlike traditional encyclopedias, contributions by non-experts are welcome, which has driven innumerable debates about content and have led to restrictions on updating certain entries.
The website has also come in for criticism due to the fact that its volunteers are overwhelmingly white males from Western countries, with critics saying it lacks information about women and developing nations.

The website started in English but within two months had already launched in German and Swedish

Wikipedia is the web's seventh-most visited site

As Wikipedia turns 20 it aims to reach more readers

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have quit social media after growing disillusioned by the "hate" they have found on sites like Facebook and Twitter, a UK newspaper reported on Sunday.
The couple were rejecting social media in both a personal and professional capacity as part of their new "progressive role" in the United States, the Sunday Times said.
A source close to the couple told the newspaper they had "no plans" to use social media for their new Archewell Foundation and were "very unlikely" to restart utilising platforms personally.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who moved to California last year after abruptly resigning from British royal duties, have previously had prominent presences online.
They amassed more than 10 million Instagram followers to their Sussex Royal account while they were working royals.
But the couple have also previously complained about their treatment on social media, as well as in the British press.
Meghan described past trolling of her as "almost unsurvivable" while Harry issued an unprecedented statement in 2016 denouncing "the racial undertones of comment pieces" and "the sexism and racism of social media trolls".
Last year they launched a wide-ranging non-profit organisation, Archewell, after giving up their "Sussex Royal" brand as part of the terms of their departure from frontline monarchy duties.
They have started other creative ventures, including signing a deal with Spotify to produce podcasts that tell "uplifting and entertaining stories".
The couple also signed a multi-year contract, reportedly worth tens of millions of dollars, with streaming giant Netflix to produce "impactful" films and series.
Meanwhile Markle, a former television actress, narrated a wildlife documentary on Disney+ in 2020.

The couple have also previously complained about their treatment on social media, as well as in the British press

Harry reportedly used a secret anonymous Instagram account when he and Meghan first started dating

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle quit social media

Hungarian gymnast Agnes Keleti, the world's oldest living Olympic champion as well as a Holocaust survivor, is still showing off as she looks forward to turning 100 next month.
-I feel good, but I don't look in the mirror, that's my trick! Then I remain young!- Keleti told AFP in Budapest last month.
A five-times Olympic champion, Keleti, who celebrates her birthday January 9, is also Hungary's most successful gymnast, and one of the most decorated Jewish athletes in history.
While she now has dementia that affects her short-term memory, her feisty spirit remains intact.
Moving in a sprightly manner around her apartment where both her life mementoes and Olympic medals are on display, she joked about not being let perform the full-leg splits anymore.
-I'm told by my caretaker that it's not good for me at this age- she laughed, while leafing through a new book "The Queen of Gymnastics, 100 years of Agnes Keleti" published to mark her centenary birthday.
Keleti's life story, including Olympic glory and Holocaust escape, reads like a gripping Hollywood film script. 
Born in 1921, she won 10 gymnastics medals in all, most won after she turned 30 and was competing against gymnasts half her age, including five golds in Helsinki (1952) and Melbourne (1956).
-I did sport not because it felt good but to see the world- Keleti told AFP in a 2016 interview.
Called up to the national team in 1939, she won her first Hungarian title the next year, but later in 1940 was barred from taking part in any sporting activity due to her Jewish background.
After the Nazi German occupation of Hungary in March 1944, she escaped deportation to a death camp by getting false documents and assuming the identity of a maid girl Piroska Juhasz.
-I stayed alive thanks to Piroska with whom I swapped not only clothes and papers, but also the way she talked- said Keleti, who kept fit while hiding in the countryside by regular running.
Keleti's father and several members of her family were killed in Auschwitz, while her mother and brother were rescued thanks to the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg.
Keleti emigrated to Australia in 1957 a year after Hungary's failed anti-Soviet uprising, before settling in Israel where she married a Hungarian sports teacher Robert Biro in 1959, with whom she later had two children.
After she retired from competition, she worked as a physical education teacher, and became head coach of the Israeli national gymnastics team. 
She was only able to return home to then-communist Hungary -- where she has lived since 2015 -- for the World Athletics championships in 1983.
-It was worth doing something well in life, considering the attention I have received, I get the shivers when I see all the articles written about me- Keleti says.

Keleti: I feel good, but I don't look in the mirror, that's my trick! Then I remain young!

Oldest living Olympic champion Agnes Keleti to turn 100

Berlin's international film festival said Friday it was postponing its February 2021 edition as the coronavirus pandemic continues to take a toll on the global entertainment industry.
Usually Europe's first major cinema showcase of the year, the annual Berlinale, as the event is known, will now take place as a strictly digital event for industry players in March with its competition for the Golden Bear top prize to be held online.
Featured films would be screened for the public in June, the festival said in a statement.
-There is a great desire to meet face-to-face. The current situation does not allow a physical festival in February, at the same time it is important to offer the film industry a market within the first quarter of the year- Berlinale Executive Director Mariette Rissenbeek said. 
-With the change in the festival format in 2021, we will have the chance to protect the health of all guests and to support the restart of the cinema industry.-&nbsp;

Rissenbeek said the June screenings, to take place in open-air and indoor movie houses, would "offer the Berlinale audience the long-awaited community experience of cinema and culture".
Organisers had earlier ruled out a purely online edition of the event -- a route taken by some smaller festivals during the outbreak -- given its popularity with movie lovers in the German capital.
The Berlinale, which ranks with Cannes and Venice among the top European film festivals, prides itself on being the only one of the trio to sell tickets to the public for nearly all screenings.
Germany mothballed all cinemas in the country in early November as part of a shutdown to tame the virus but the restrictions have failed to bring infection numbers down. 
The closures have been extended until at least January 10 and are expected to last through most of the winter.
Alongside the competition for the Golden Bear and screenings of hundreds of new films, the normally 11-day Berlinale also hosts the European Film Market where movie distribution rights are bought and sold.
Moritz Hemminger, deputy head of sales and acquisitions at sales agency ARRI Media, said pushing the Berlinale into the spring wouldn't have a major impact on the festival circuit, even though it would be closer to Cannes, usually held in May.
-Producers were holding back movies over the last months for the return of physical festival editions- he told trade magazine Variety.
-There are many exciting films lined up and ready to be showcased at major festivals next year.-
Venice managed to benefit from a break in high infection levels to take place in September.
But the second wave has had a crippling impact on the global entertainment industry.
The 2020 edition of the Berlinale took place in February before Germany felt the full impact of the virus. The Golden Bear went to an Iranian drama filmed in secret, "There Is No Evil".

Featured films would be screened for the public in June

Usually Europe's first major cinema showcase of the year, the annual Berlinale, as the event is known, will now take place as a strictly digital event for industry players in March

Berlin film fest postponed until March, competition to go online

He kept the beat for one of the world's most iconic bands, has fronted his supergroup for three decades, is a two-time rock hall-of-famer -- and at 80, Ringo Starr is as energetic as ever.
The pandemic has stalled his normally packed touring schedule, but the former Beatle is set to release a quarantine-developed EP as well as a photo memoir about his All Starr Band, which comes out Wednesday.
In 1989, fresh out of rehab, Starr started the band, one of history's longest running live touring groups that has featured a wide array of music luminaries.
Its first edition featured blues star Dr. John, Joe Walsh of the Eagles, and Nils Lofgren and Clarence Clemons, who played with Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band.
-I had recently cleaned up my act, but now I needed to find some way to get that act back out on the road- Starr said.
-In those days, you had those little phone books that were so civilized, and I just started calling people- the drummer and vocalist told AFP in an interview. -It worked out great.-
-Ringo Rocks: 30 Years of the All Stars- which is being sold exclusively by Julien's Auctions -- chronicles the ever-shifting band's history through rare photos and anecdotes from Starr.
-How far out- the artist said from Los Angeles via video chat.
-Thirty years... I didn't sit there and say 'Oh man, I could do this for 30 years.' And it would've been 31 if we didn't have this pandemic!-
Starr had two 2020 tours booked that were grounded by the coronavirus crisis, and his annual birthday bash had to go virtual.
-Some days, it's miserable- the animated percussionist said. 
-I would sit there some days and think, 'Oh I want to go out! I want to hug people!- well, the result of that could be you die. So I didn't do that either.-

Instead, the octogenarian crafted a four-track EP -- "I loved EPs when I was a lad," he said -- at his home studio between April and October this year.
The mini-album entitled "Zoom In" -- "which I thought was appropriate for this day and age; that's all we do!" -- features collaborations with a laundry list of top artists.
Its single "Here's To The Nights" -- out Wednesday in conjunction with the photo memoir -- was penned by songwriter Diane Warren and features a who's who of music including Walsh, Dave Grohl, Sheryl Crow, Lenny Kravitz, and none other than Paul McCartney.
-If he's in town and I'm making a record, I always save a track if I know he's coming in- Starr said of his former bandmate. -He's just an incredible bass player and a beautiful human being.-
The musician called the December 8 anniversary of John Lennon's death "a moment of reflection," saying that as an only child, "I'm blessed... I was in a band."
-I have three brothers who were very close.-
-It's one of those moments- he said of the 40th anniversary of Lennon's shooting, also noting the poignancy that arrives every year on November 29, the day George Harrison died in 2001.

In his well over half-a-century in the music business, one thing has stayed constant for the Liverpool-born, Los Angeles-based artist: he loves life in a band.
-I've always done everything I've done with other musicians- Starr said. 
-When I started, a lot of people were starting, so we learned together, we jammed together, we made mistakes together.-
Not one for the flashy drum solos many other percussionists make their names with, Starr said he prefers to keep the rhythm for his bandmates.
-Some people have done really great solos, but it's just something that didn't appeal to me -- even when I started, when you want to really show off- he said.
-I just wanted to hold. It. Down- he added, emphasizing each syllable.
Starr said musicians involved in making his EP took the necessary health precautions.
-We were all very conscious of the fact that it's mad out there, so we wore masks and stayed quite a bit apart- he said.
-Sometimes it was only five feet, not six- the Beatle known for his quips added with a wink.
-That kept me busy and also I like to paint, so I've got a little room where I can splash paints and it doesn't bother anybody- Starr said. -I'm finding things to keep me moving.-
-And so that's how we're coverin' it, you know?-

Starr had two 2020 tours booked that were grounded by the coronavirus crisis

Ringo Starr, shown here performing at the 50th anniversary celebration of Woodstock in upstate New York in 2019, saw his packed touring schedule grounded by the pandemic

An EP, a book and some paints: Ringo Starr's long and winding self-quarantine

Facebook said Tuesday it will launch its news tab feature in Britain from next year, paying publishers for stories delivered through the world's leading social network.
The arrival of Facebook News in January comes after the service was rolled out in the United States in late 2019 and is part of plans to extend it worldwide, the US company said.
-With Facebook News, we will pay publishers for content that is not already on the platform, help drive new audiences, and bring publishers greater monetisation opportunities- it added. 
Titles covered in the first wave of deals include The Economist, The Guardian, The Independent and the Mirror, and local newspapers the London Evening Standard, Manchester Evening News and the Scotsman.
Lifestyle magazines such as Cosmopolitan, GQ, Vogue and Tatler have also signed up, while there is a video partnership with Channel 4 News.
Facebook's director of news partnerships Jesper Doub said the company was "in active negotiations" to bring the feature to France and Germany.
-We will continue to work with publishers in countries where market conditions and regulatory environments invite this kind of investment and innovation- he added.
Media companies have struggled with dwindling advertising revenue and print sales as content has moved online and become available for free, forcing a host of titles to close.
In April, the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) said the coronavirus pandemic has made the situation worse and called on the British government to impose a windfall tax on global tech giants to help shore up struggling publishers.
NUJ assistant general secretary Seamus Dooley said foreign-based platforms including Facebook generate huge ad revenues in Britain on the back of free news content but pay little domestic tax.
-There's very much common cause between employers and owners that effectively these are platform providers that are eating our lunch- he told AFP.
-They're reliant on the work of media organisations - of journalists, photographers and videographers.-
Last week, Google said it had signed individual agreements on copyright payments with several French newspapers and magazines, after months of wrangling over the sharing of revenues from the display of news in search results.
Agence France-Presse, which along with other media groups has lodged complaints against Google with France's competition regulator, did not sign the accord.
But AFP chief executive Fabrice Fries said he was "optimistic" about improved relations with Google, Facebook and Apple, which also sells a news feature.

Lifestyle magazines such as Cosmopolitan, GQ, Vogue and Tatler have  also signed up

The arrival of Facebook News in UK is planned January

Facebook News to launch in UK next year

With tree-covered slopes that rise to a pointed summit, the mountain overlooking the Bosnian town of Visoko resembles any other ordinary hillside in the Balkan state.
 Yet thousands of yearly visitors - including high-profile stars like Serbian tennis champion Novak Djokovic - don't see it that way.&nbsp;
Despite scientists' efforts to debunk the claims, large numbers of people still believe the hill is part of an ancient man-made pyramid complex with healing powers.
 Djokovic, who is known for his new-age spiritual interests, has made two trips this year, hailing the site as a "paradise on earth."&nbsp;
The mountain is now part of a controversial pyramid park founded by Semir Osmanagic, a 60-year-old self-styled explorer who "discovered" the site just outside of Sarajevo in 2005.
 -I saw this hill covered with fir trees and vegetation, its slopes perfectly oriented towards the cardinal points- Osmanagic, wearing a leather jacket and Indiana Jones-style hat, told AFP on a recent weekend while leading a tour group through the site.&nbsp;&nbsp;
-It was obvious to me that it was not a natural hill but the construction- of a -technologically superior civilisation-, he said, insisting it is the "largest and oldest pyramid ever built".

Archaeologists have long ago disputed this theory as pseudo-science, saying the hill is a natural geological structure.&nbsp; In a letter to Bosnian authorities in 2006, European archaeologists denounced the support given to a "cruel hoax on an unsuspecting public" that "has no place in the world of genuine science".&nbsp;
But this did not prevent Osmanagic, previously a US-based businessman, from carrying out "archaeological excavations" on the hill with hundreds of volunteers from abroad.&nbsp;He bought a piece of surrounding land, which includes a network of tunnels he says emit a curative energy force, and a few years later opened the park through his "Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun" foundation.&nbsp;
Djokovic buzz
Today, the park is buzzing with visitors, who have come in even higher numbers since two recent trips from Djokovic.
 In July and October, Djokovic made pilgrimages to the park and invited "all athletes" to take advantage of the healthy oxygen levels.&nbsp;&nbsp;
-I know there are many doubts and dilemmas about the authenticity (of the place)- he told AFP in October.
But -in order to fully understand what is going on here... you have to come.-&nbsp;
After a quiet spring subdued by the pandemic, weekend crowds are back at the park, consisting mostly of visitors from the region.
 -The beginning of the season was catastrophic, but since Djokovic has been here, it's been a joy.- says Nermin Alihodzic, 47, who sells tourists colourful mini-pyramids and pieces of quartz.&nbsp;
While the government stopped backing the park over a decade ago, local authorities have helped finance the construction of roads, parking lots and other infrastructure to encourage tourists.
 A five euro ($5.94) entry fee for the whole park also includes access to the underground tunnel network which Osmanagic claims emit healing electromagnetic waves.&nbsp;&nbsp; In his tour of the park, Osmanagic takes groups down to the chambers, urging them to hold their hands over a smooth rock and feel the "energy" rising.&nbsp;
Dzenana Halepovic, a 67-year-old from Sarajevo, is a frequent visitor. 
 In the tunnels -I feel good, I breathe well, I feel light. I simply feel like I'm receiving energy there- she said.&nbsp;
Immunity boosterFor Enver Imamovic, a professor emeritus of archaeology at the University of Sarajevo, the project is pure scam. &nbsp;
 The tunnels are likely "remnants of an ancient gold mine" while wedges of stones on the hillside, which believers consider to be the building blocks of the pyramid, are "nothing more than natural geological formations", he told AFP.&nbsp;&nbsp;
-Everything that is said about the pyramids is absolutely unacceptable.-&nbsp;
Founder Osmanagic has also been promoting the site as a place to "boost immunity" during the coronavirus pandemic.
While he insists no cures are guaranteed, he cites other alleged miracles in which people have been healed of ailments like hypertension, diabetes or even cancer after a trip to the underground tunnels.
 In a destitute country with a weak health system whose shortcomings have been exposed by the coronavirus crisis, many are drawn to the hope of alternative medicine.&nbsp;
Emina Kavaz, 53, says she is choosing the pyramids to treat her asthma.
 -I used to come every Saturday to go through the tunnels for between 40 and 60 minutes- she told AFP.&nbsp;&nbsp; -The price... is insignificant compared to the result obtained.-

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Novak Djokovic during his visit in Visoko

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Entertainment

Europe's oldest person, turns 117 after surviving COVID

What happens when an Instagrammer designs a superyacht

Kardashian thief recounts Paris heist in tell-all book

Record-breaking roller coaster will travel more than 155 miles per hour

Google fitness app to catch breath and heart rate

Montreux Jazz Festival to livestream future events

Swedish film festival offers nurse an isolated, island cinema for a week

Cristiano Ronaldo broke coronavirus rules

Cannes film festival scheduled for July

As Wikipedia turns 20 it aims to reach more readers

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle quit social media

Oldest living Olympic champion Agnes Keleti to turn 100

Berlin film fest postponed until March, competition to go online

An EP, a book and some paints: Ringo Starr's long and winding self-quarantine

Facebook News to launch in UK next year

Bosnian 'energy pyramids' boosted by Djokovic visits