Apple is releasing more than 70 new emoji as part of its latest software update, including slices of bacon, avocado and a selfie.
All of the emoji will be available to iPhone and iPad users.
Apple says its iOS 10.2 update offers "more diverse characters, new professions, expressions like face palm, shrug and fingers crossed, and new emoji representing sports, food, animals and more".
The newly released batch will also bring new types of smiley faces that show different emotions and actions, such as a face with a Pinocchio-like nose.
Emoji was described as the fastest growing language in the UK by 2015 and is said to be evolving faster than many ancient types of communication, including hieroglyphics.
They take their name from the Japanese words meaning "picture" and "character", and originated there in the late 1990s, before becoming popular among social media and instant message users.
The images had to be approved by the Unicode Consortium, which analyses and approves submitted designs for use by major technology firms including Apple, Google, Microsoft and Twitter.
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Kanye West meets Donald Trump at Trump Tower
Rapper Kanye West has visited Trump Tower in New York to meet the President-elect.
Although the pair were happy to pose for photographs, they were less keen to answer reporters' questions on whether West would perform at Donald Trump's inauguration in January.
"I just want to take a picture right now," a newly blond West said.
Although the pair were happy to pose for photographs, they were less keen to answer reporters' questions on whether West would perform at Donald Trump's inauguration in January.
"I just want to take a picture right now," a newly blond West said.
Although the 39-year-old superstar brought a small entourage along for the meeting, he was not accompanied by his wife Kim Kardashian.
In the lobby of Trump Tower, Mr Trump described West as a "good man" who he has known for a long time.
The President-elect told the press pack that the pair "discussed life" during their brief encounter.
In the hours after the meeting, West tweeted to say that he had wanted to meet with the President-elect to discuss "multicultural issues" - including bullying, supporting teachers, modernising curriculums and violence in Chicago.
"I feel it is important to have a direct line of communication with our future President if we truly want change," he tweeted.
West has long said he plans to run for president in 2020 - but in a hint that he would not want to impede Mr Trump's chance at securing a second term in office, he wrote: "#2024."
In November, the rapper was booed at a concert in San Jose, California after he declared his support for Mr Trump, but added that he did not vote in the election.
The artist was also very complimentary of Mr Trump's way of communicating with the electorate, describing it as "very futuristic".
The A-list visit came shortly after Mr Trump announced he had chosen ExxonMobil boss Rex Tillerson as his Secretary of State.
He described the chairman and chief executive of the oil giant as "one of the truly great business leaders of the world" in a tweet.
In the lobby of Trump Tower, Mr Trump described West as a "good man" who he has known for a long time.
The President-elect told the press pack that the pair "discussed life" during their brief encounter.
In the hours after the meeting, West tweeted to say that he had wanted to meet with the President-elect to discuss "multicultural issues" - including bullying, supporting teachers, modernising curriculums and violence in Chicago.
"I feel it is important to have a direct line of communication with our future President if we truly want change," he tweeted.
West has long said he plans to run for president in 2020 - but in a hint that he would not want to impede Mr Trump's chance at securing a second term in office, he wrote: "#2024."
In November, the rapper was booed at a concert in San Jose, California after he declared his support for Mr Trump, but added that he did not vote in the election.
The artist was also very complimentary of Mr Trump's way of communicating with the electorate, describing it as "very futuristic".
The A-list visit came shortly after Mr Trump announced he had chosen ExxonMobil boss Rex Tillerson as his Secretary of State.
He described the chairman and chief executive of the oil giant as "one of the truly great business leaders of the world" in a tweet.
Gambia troops take over electoral commission offices
Gambia's security forces have entered the building of the Independent Electoral Commission, instructed its chairman to leave and barred other employees from entering, according to the commission chairman.
Tuesday's developments came as West African heads of state began arriving in the country to try to convince long-term President Yahya Jammeh to relinquish power after losing an election this month.
"The military came to my office and said I am not to touch anything and told me to leave," Alieu Momar Njie, the electoral commission's chairman, said.
"I am worried for my safety."
The Independent Electoral Commission had announced the news of Jammeh's defeat at the hands of Adama Barrow.
The delegation is headed by Liberian leader Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a Nobel Peace laureate and the current chairwoman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
The delegation also includes Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, Sierra Leone leader Ernest Bai Koroma and outgoing Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama.
The African Union said in a statement late on Monday that it also planned to send a high-level delegation, led by Chad's long-ruling President Idriss Deby, to facilitate a "peaceful and speedy" transfer of power.
The streets of the Gambian capital Banjul were calm on Tuesday, with a high security presence, witnesses said.
Armed guards surrounded a hotel where the delegation was due to meet Barrow, Gambia's president-elect , later on Tuesday.
Barrow has said that he will annul Jammeh's declaration of Gambia as an Islamic republic.
Irregularities alleged
Jammeh initially conceded defeat after official results showed that Gambians voted in Barrow on December 1.
However, last week Jammeh said that he no longer accepted his election loss and called for another vote, saying there were irregularities.
Jammeh's ruling party said late on Saturday that his statement was simply a prelude to the party challenging the results in a petition to the Supreme Court.
By law, election results can be contested up to 10 days after the vote.
Tuesday's developments came as West African heads of state began arriving in the country to try to convince long-term President Yahya Jammeh to relinquish power after losing an election this month.
"The military came to my office and said I am not to touch anything and told me to leave," Alieu Momar Njie, the electoral commission's chairman, said.
"I am worried for my safety."
The Independent Electoral Commission had announced the news of Jammeh's defeat at the hands of Adama Barrow.
The delegation is headed by Liberian leader Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a Nobel Peace laureate and the current chairwoman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
The delegation also includes Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, Sierra Leone leader Ernest Bai Koroma and outgoing Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama.
The African Union said in a statement late on Monday that it also planned to send a high-level delegation, led by Chad's long-ruling President Idriss Deby, to facilitate a "peaceful and speedy" transfer of power.
The streets of the Gambian capital Banjul were calm on Tuesday, with a high security presence, witnesses said.
Armed guards surrounded a hotel where the delegation was due to meet Barrow, Gambia's president-elect , later on Tuesday.
Barrow has said that he will annul Jammeh's declaration of Gambia as an Islamic republic.
Irregularities alleged
Jammeh initially conceded defeat after official results showed that Gambians voted in Barrow on December 1.
However, last week Jammeh said that he no longer accepted his election loss and called for another vote, saying there were irregularities.
Jammeh's ruling party said late on Saturday that his statement was simply a prelude to the party challenging the results in a petition to the Supreme Court.
By law, election results can be contested up to 10 days after the vote.
Wonder Woman dropped from UN ambassador role after protests
Wonder Woman has been dropped from her role as an honorary ambassador for the UN working on behalf of women and girls.
The decision to drop the scantily clad, curvaceous comic book superhero within two months of her appointment came after nearly 45,000 people signed an online petition in protest at her appointment.
The petition asked UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon to reconsider her selection as a way to help the fight for equality for women and girls worldwide during 2017.
The petition said: "Although the original creators may have intended Wonder Woman to represent a strong and independent 'warrior' woman with a feminist message, the reality is that the character's current iteration is that of a large breasted, white woman of impossible proportions."
A UN spokesman, who explained campaigns using fictional characters often went on for a few months only, said the character's role at the 193-member state organisation will now end on Friday.
Her tenure looked uncertain even on the day of her appointment in October when dozens of UN employees protested against it at the UN Headquarters in New York.
DC Entertainment, which publishes DC Comics, said it was pleased that the UN had wanted to use Wonder Woman as a way of trying to achieve gender equality and empower women and girls by 2030.
"Wonder Woman stands for peace, justice and equality, and for 75 years she has been a motivating force for many and will continue to be long after the conclusion of her UN Honorary Ambassadorship," said Courtney Simmons, from DC Entertainment.
Wonder Woman first appeared in DC Comics in 1941 as a heroine fighting villains, rescuing victims and unearthing evil plots.
A full-length Wonder Woman film, unconnected with the UN campaign, is due out next year, with Israeli actress Gal Gadot in the starring role.
Russian hackers 'probably swayed Brexit vote', says Ben Bradshaw MP
Russian hackers "probably" swayed the EU referendum vote in favour of Brexit, a former Labour minister has claimed in the Commons.
Leading Remain campaigner Ben Bradshaw questioned the validity of the result in June, claiming people were underestimating the extent of cyber warfare by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
His extraordinary claim came in an emergency Commons debate on the latest developments in Syria, where President Bashar Assad's Russian-backed forces have been storming the city of Aleppo.
But his allegation was given short shrift by Prime Minister Theresa May's spokesman, who responded: "I have not come across any evidence that Russian cyber warfare was used to influence the referendum."
Mr Bradshaw, dismissed as a "Remoaner" by Leave campaigners, told MPs: "I don't think we have even begun to wake up to what Russia is doing when it comes to cyber warfare.
"Not only their interference, now proven, in the American presidential campaign, probably in our own referendum last year."
He added: "We don't have the evidence for that yet, but I think it's highly probable.
"Certainly in the French presidential election, they will be involved, and there are already serious concerns in the German secret service that Russia is already interfering in the elections coming up.
"We've got to wake up to this."
Earlier this week, Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said there was "a disturbing pattern" of allegations against Russia around cyber warfare.
He pointed to examples in Bulgaria, the referendum in the Netherlands and its continuing pressure on the Baltic states.
But Mrs May's spokesman said on Mr Bradshaw's claim: "The referendum was run in this country, it was a very clear vote and we are now getting on with delivering on the will of the people to take Britain out of the European Union."
Leading Remain campaigner Ben Bradshaw questioned the validity of the result in June, claiming people were underestimating the extent of cyber warfare by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
His extraordinary claim came in an emergency Commons debate on the latest developments in Syria, where President Bashar Assad's Russian-backed forces have been storming the city of Aleppo.
But his allegation was given short shrift by Prime Minister Theresa May's spokesman, who responded: "I have not come across any evidence that Russian cyber warfare was used to influence the referendum."
Mr Bradshaw, dismissed as a "Remoaner" by Leave campaigners, told MPs: "I don't think we have even begun to wake up to what Russia is doing when it comes to cyber warfare.
"Not only their interference, now proven, in the American presidential campaign, probably in our own referendum last year."
He added: "We don't have the evidence for that yet, but I think it's highly probable.
"Certainly in the French presidential election, they will be involved, and there are already serious concerns in the German secret service that Russia is already interfering in the elections coming up.
"We've got to wake up to this."
Earlier this week, Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said there was "a disturbing pattern" of allegations against Russia around cyber warfare.
He pointed to examples in Bulgaria, the referendum in the Netherlands and its continuing pressure on the Baltic states.
But Mrs May's spokesman said on Mr Bradshaw's claim: "The referendum was run in this country, it was a very clear vote and we are now getting on with delivering on the will of the people to take Britain out of the European Union."
Pro-Assad forces execute dozens of civilians in sweep through rebel-held Aleppo, says U.N.
BEIRUT — Dozens of people were executed by Syrian government loyalists sweeping through the remaining opposition-held districts of Aleppo, where rebels are battling for survival after being pushed into a last sliver of territory, the United Nations said Tuesday.
Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the U.N. human rights council, said his office in Geneva received reports that pro-government forces had killed at least 82 civilians, entering homes and killing people “on the spot.”
Others were reportedly shot as they fled. A list of names provided to the U.N. included 11 women and 13 children, he said.
The reports of civilian executions and apparent house-by-house rampages by Syrian forces reflected the chaos gripping the strategic northern city as Syrian forces and allies — including Iranian-backed militias — have steadily pushed rebels into a corner over the past week.
“A complete meltdown of humanity in Aleppo,” said Jens Laerke, the U.N. humanitarian spokesman, citing reports from a Syrian volunteer relief group known as the White Helmets.
“It’s hell,” added Laerke.
A full rebel defeat in Aleppo would be a significant blow to factions that have fought the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the more than five-year conflict. Aleppo’s fall would not likely end the fighting in Syria, but it would hand a major battlefield prize to Assad and his backers, including Russian military forces that have come to his aid.
[Cries from embattled Aleppo: “No place now to go”]
International aid agencies urged government forces to refrain from acts of revenge against people who either escape rebel-held areas or are captured there.
“Thousands of civilians lives are in danger as front lines close in around them,” said a statement from the International Committee of the Red Cross.
A deepening humanitarian catastrophe and further loss of life can be averted only if the basic rules of warfare — and of humanity — are applied.”
When rebel forces seized Aleppo’s eastern districts in 2012, they envisaged the area as a seat of power to rival the capital, Damascus. Its loss, now inevitable, will deal a crushing blow from which the armed groups will be unable to recover.
Almost a month after pro-Assad troops launched a final push to take back the city, the rebels’ collapse came swiftly. By late afternoon Monday, their final districts were falling like dominoes, sparking jubilation in the streets of some government-held areas.
Rebel forces have regularly shelled west Aleppo, and the presence of an al-Qaeda-linked group in Syria’s armed rebellion has led many government supporters to view all militants as terrorists.
Thousands of civilians have escaped the last handful of neighborhoods still controlled by the rebels. In fierce fighting overnight, the remaining rebels managed to stave off further government advances.
Syrian state television showed thousands of people streaming into the government-held part of the city clutching possessions and bags.
But when the sun rose Tuesday, the fighting appeared to have slowed as rain and thunderstorms made it difficult for warplanes to fly.
In a video posted to the livestreaming site Periscope, Abdulkafi al-Hamdo, an English teacher, addressed viewers from an empty street. “Now it is raining. Bombs a little bit calmer,” he said. “We wanted freedom. We didn’t want anything else but freedom. You know, this world doesn’t like freedom it seems.”
Thousands more were still trapped in the rebel held areas, refusing to leave because they fear for their safety at the hands of government troops, said Zouhir al-Shimale, an activist who is still living under rebel control.
“We’re in a very tiny area and there are so many families stuck here,” he said. “Either they can’t leave because they are wanted by the government or they don’t want to leave because this is their home.”
Friends who escaped to the east have told him that men who leave are being separated from the others who are fleeing and taken to serve in the depleted Syrian army, one of the reasons he is not leaving the enclave.
In Berlin, French President Francois Hollande repeated Western appeals for Russia to help create a humanitarian aid for civilians trapped in Aleppo.
Hollande, after meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel, said Aleppo’s “humanitarian situation ... is unacceptable.”
Brian Murphy in Washington contributed to this report.
Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the U.N. human rights council, said his office in Geneva received reports that pro-government forces had killed at least 82 civilians, entering homes and killing people “on the spot.”
Others were reportedly shot as they fled. A list of names provided to the U.N. included 11 women and 13 children, he said.
The reports of civilian executions and apparent house-by-house rampages by Syrian forces reflected the chaos gripping the strategic northern city as Syrian forces and allies — including Iranian-backed militias — have steadily pushed rebels into a corner over the past week.
“A complete meltdown of humanity in Aleppo,” said Jens Laerke, the U.N. humanitarian spokesman, citing reports from a Syrian volunteer relief group known as the White Helmets.
“It’s hell,” added Laerke.
A full rebel defeat in Aleppo would be a significant blow to factions that have fought the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the more than five-year conflict. Aleppo’s fall would not likely end the fighting in Syria, but it would hand a major battlefield prize to Assad and his backers, including Russian military forces that have come to his aid.
[Cries from embattled Aleppo: “No place now to go”]
International aid agencies urged government forces to refrain from acts of revenge against people who either escape rebel-held areas or are captured there.
“Thousands of civilians lives are in danger as front lines close in around them,” said a statement from the International Committee of the Red Cross.
A deepening humanitarian catastrophe and further loss of life can be averted only if the basic rules of warfare — and of humanity — are applied.”
When rebel forces seized Aleppo’s eastern districts in 2012, they envisaged the area as a seat of power to rival the capital, Damascus. Its loss, now inevitable, will deal a crushing blow from which the armed groups will be unable to recover.
Almost a month after pro-Assad troops launched a final push to take back the city, the rebels’ collapse came swiftly. By late afternoon Monday, their final districts were falling like dominoes, sparking jubilation in the streets of some government-held areas.
Rebel forces have regularly shelled west Aleppo, and the presence of an al-Qaeda-linked group in Syria’s armed rebellion has led many government supporters to view all militants as terrorists.
Thousands of civilians have escaped the last handful of neighborhoods still controlled by the rebels. In fierce fighting overnight, the remaining rebels managed to stave off further government advances.
Syrian state television showed thousands of people streaming into the government-held part of the city clutching possessions and bags.
But when the sun rose Tuesday, the fighting appeared to have slowed as rain and thunderstorms made it difficult for warplanes to fly.
In a video posted to the livestreaming site Periscope, Abdulkafi al-Hamdo, an English teacher, addressed viewers from an empty street. “Now it is raining. Bombs a little bit calmer,” he said. “We wanted freedom. We didn’t want anything else but freedom. You know, this world doesn’t like freedom it seems.”
Thousands more were still trapped in the rebel held areas, refusing to leave because they fear for their safety at the hands of government troops, said Zouhir al-Shimale, an activist who is still living under rebel control.
“We’re in a very tiny area and there are so many families stuck here,” he said. “Either they can’t leave because they are wanted by the government or they don’t want to leave because this is their home.”
Friends who escaped to the east have told him that men who leave are being separated from the others who are fleeing and taken to serve in the depleted Syrian army, one of the reasons he is not leaving the enclave.
In Berlin, French President Francois Hollande repeated Western appeals for Russia to help create a humanitarian aid for civilians trapped in Aleppo.
Hollande, after meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel, said Aleppo’s “humanitarian situation ... is unacceptable.”
Brian Murphy in Washington contributed to this report.
Trump chooses oil boss Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State
Donald Trump has chosen oil boss Rex Tillerson as his Secretary of State.
The ExxonMobil chairman and chief executive was described as "one of the truly great business leaders of the world" by the US President-elect in a tweet announcing his decision.
Mr Trump's office said Mr Tillerson would be a "forceful and clear-eyed advocate for America's vital national interests, and help reverse years of misguided foreign policies and actions that have weakened America's security and standing in the world".
Mr Tillerson, 64, has held the top jobs at ExxonMobil since 2006 and was due to retire in March under the company's policy, which sees employees retire at 65.
The Texan trained as an engineer and has never worked in government so, while he may be experienced at reaching business deals with other nations, he has no experience working with them as a diplomat.
:: Who else will be in Donald Trump's cabinet?
He is also likely to face a tough confirmation process before the Senate, with issues likely to include his close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his views on climate change.
He first met Mr Putin in the 1990s while supervising an Exxon project on the Russian island of Sakhalin and they became closer after Mr Putin took over from Boris Yeltsin in December 1999.
In 2011, a deal was signed between ExxonMobil and Russia's public energy giant Rosneft to explore and drill in the Arctic and Siberia, a deal that could generate hundreds of billions of pounds.
But after Russia's 2014 incursion into Crimea, US sanctions forced ExxonMobil to scrap some projects and put the Rosneft deal on hold.
During a shareholders' meeting that year, Mr Tillerson voiced his frustration, saying: "We always encourage the people who are making those decisions to consider the very broad collateral damage of who are they really harming with sanctions."
Mr Tillerson has previously acknowledged that the Earth's climate is changing, the average temperature is rising and greenhouse gases are increasing.
But he has also said that climate remains a complex area of scientific study and, despite an increase in energy production from fracking in the US, he has resisted cutting investment in the search for new oil wells.
In 2011, he warned that, should the US step back, a "large consuming country" such as China could "step into that void".
ExxonMobil's scientists recognised climate change as early as the 1970s, according to recently leaked internal documents, and some US states are suing the oil company for allegedly deceiving the public about the role of fossil fuels in global warming.
Mr Tillerson's views on foreign policy are not well known, apart from his support for free trade and American engagement in the Middle East, neither of which fit with Mr Trump's campaign pitches.
After the Iraq War, ExxonMobil agreed to develop a large project in southern Iraq on terms less favourable to the company than most of its other deals.
Mr Tillerson was paid $27.3m (£21.5m) last year and has approximately $160m (£126m) in Exxon stock and $149m (£117m) in uninvested stock options, according to a statement filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Holding these shares could pose a conflict of interest because decisions he might make as Secretary of State - dropping sanctions against Russia, for example - would likely influence that share price.
Mr Tillerson has beat eight or nine contenders for the secretary of state role, including former CIA director David Petraeus, former UN ambassador John Bolton, Senate Foreign Relations chairman Bob Corker and one-time Trump critic and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.
The ExxonMobil chairman and chief executive was described as "one of the truly great business leaders of the world" by the US President-elect in a tweet announcing his decision.
Mr Trump's office said Mr Tillerson would be a "forceful and clear-eyed advocate for America's vital national interests, and help reverse years of misguided foreign policies and actions that have weakened America's security and standing in the world".
Mr Tillerson, 64, has held the top jobs at ExxonMobil since 2006 and was due to retire in March under the company's policy, which sees employees retire at 65.
The Texan trained as an engineer and has never worked in government so, while he may be experienced at reaching business deals with other nations, he has no experience working with them as a diplomat.
:: Who else will be in Donald Trump's cabinet?
He is also likely to face a tough confirmation process before the Senate, with issues likely to include his close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his views on climate change.
He first met Mr Putin in the 1990s while supervising an Exxon project on the Russian island of Sakhalin and they became closer after Mr Putin took over from Boris Yeltsin in December 1999.
In 2011, a deal was signed between ExxonMobil and Russia's public energy giant Rosneft to explore and drill in the Arctic and Siberia, a deal that could generate hundreds of billions of pounds.
But after Russia's 2014 incursion into Crimea, US sanctions forced ExxonMobil to scrap some projects and put the Rosneft deal on hold.
During a shareholders' meeting that year, Mr Tillerson voiced his frustration, saying: "We always encourage the people who are making those decisions to consider the very broad collateral damage of who are they really harming with sanctions."
Mr Tillerson has previously acknowledged that the Earth's climate is changing, the average temperature is rising and greenhouse gases are increasing.
But he has also said that climate remains a complex area of scientific study and, despite an increase in energy production from fracking in the US, he has resisted cutting investment in the search for new oil wells.
In 2011, he warned that, should the US step back, a "large consuming country" such as China could "step into that void".
ExxonMobil's scientists recognised climate change as early as the 1970s, according to recently leaked internal documents, and some US states are suing the oil company for allegedly deceiving the public about the role of fossil fuels in global warming.
Mr Tillerson's views on foreign policy are not well known, apart from his support for free trade and American engagement in the Middle East, neither of which fit with Mr Trump's campaign pitches.
After the Iraq War, ExxonMobil agreed to develop a large project in southern Iraq on terms less favourable to the company than most of its other deals.
Mr Tillerson was paid $27.3m (£21.5m) last year and has approximately $160m (£126m) in Exxon stock and $149m (£117m) in uninvested stock options, according to a statement filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Holding these shares could pose a conflict of interest because decisions he might make as Secretary of State - dropping sanctions against Russia, for example - would likely influence that share price.
Mr Tillerson has beat eight or nine contenders for the secretary of state role, including former CIA director David Petraeus, former UN ambassador John Bolton, Senate Foreign Relations chairman Bob Corker and one-time Trump critic and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.
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