Chinese Korean War remains returned from South Korea

More than 60 years after the end of the Korean war, the remains of 36 Chinese soldiers who died fighting against South Korea are being returned home.

The remains were excavated from graves in Paju, near the North Korean border, last year.

It is the third repatriation since a 2014 agreement between the two countries, as relations improve.

The war drew in China and the Soviet Union on the North's side, and UN forces, led by the US, on the South's.

A ceremony attended by South Korean and Chinese defence officials was held at Seoul's Incheon airport before the remains were flown to the north-eastern Chinese city of Shenyang, where China has a cemetery for its war dead.

The remains of Chinese and North Korean soldiers have continued to be discovered over the last six decades, where they were killed, often in remote woods in bleak by-now-overgrown dug-outs, the BBC's Stephen Evans in Seoul says.

Scientists work to identify them by analysing uniforms or ammunition, but often fail to put a name to the fallen soldier, our correspondent adds.

The 505 sets of remains flown back since the 2014 deal, have all been sent ahead of the annual Chinese Qingming, or tomb-sweeping, festival, which this year falls on 4 April.

Up to 1.5 million communist forces are thought to have died in the 1950-1953 Korean War.

About 30,000 US, 400,000 South Korean, and 1,000 UK troops, among others, also died, as well as at least two million civilian.

Tens of thousands more are listed as missing and both Koreas still conduct searches for soldiers' remains, periodically returning the foreign soldier's remains.

The remains of nearly 800 North Korean soldiers, however, have not been returned, such is the animosity between Seoul and Pyongyang, our correspondent says.

The Korean War ended with an armistice agreement. A formal peace treaty has never been signed and the two Koreas remain technically at war.

A Huge Change Is Coming to Skype That Will Make It Much More Helpful

Microsoft wants Skype to be more than just a chat app. The company unveiled a significant Skype update that will turn it into a platform for interacting with other apps, similar to what Facebook has done with its Messenger app.

This new version will allow Microsoft’s virtual assistant Cortana and third-party apps to integrate with Skype. Microsoft is touting the ability to plan trips, shop, and book a hotel all within the Skype app by interacting with virtual bots.

“We want all of these conversational tools to become rich canvases for computation,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said on stage at the company’s Build conference to preface the announcement.

Cortana acts as the intermediary between the Skype user and these bots. For example, a notification from Cortana may appear within the Skype app to ask whether or not you want to share your location with a food delivery service bot. Cortana will also remember some of your preferences and take those aspects into account. For instance, if you have preferred status with the Westin hotel chain, Cortana will start a conversation with the Westin bot when planning a trip.

App makers will be able to start using the Skype bot software development kit starting on Wednesday. Microsoft is also launching a platform called the Bot Framework that will allow developers to create bots that can integrate with various types of communication services, like Slack and email.

It’s another sign that tech companies are moving away from apps and toward communication services in order to connect consumers with services. Facebook made a similar announcement at its own conference last year, and has integrated services like Uber into its Messenger app.

Ben Affleck Has Written His Batman Script

Batman’s greatest strength is that he’s always one step ahead, and it looks like the latest actor to play him has taken that lesson to heart.

Batman v Superman star Ben Affleck has already written a script for a standalone movie about the Dark Knight, according to William Morris Endeavor co-CEO Patrick Whitesell, whose agency represents Affleck.

Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter about how many movies Affleck has signed on for as Batman, he said, “He’s contracted to do at least Justice League [Part] One and Two, so at least three times wearing the cape.” Whitesell added, “There’s a script that he’s written that is a really cool [Batman] idea, so that’s out there as an option.”

Affleck was first linked to a standalone Batman movie as star, director, and co-writer (with Geoff Johns) last summer, and Whitesell’s remarks indicate the project has progressed since then. Affleck recently told EW the movie is “in development” but said he’s currently focused on finishing his adaptation of the Dennis Lehane thriller Live By Night.

“I tend to be a one-movie-at-a-time guy,” Affleck said. “So, when I’m finished with this movie, I’ll then focus on my next movie and figure out what that will be.”

Affleck is also set to make a Batman cameo in the all-star supervillain caper Suicide Squad, opening Aug. 5.

Malala: Education Key In Fight Against Terror

Malala Yousafzai, the teenage activist shot by the Taliban, has told Sky News in an exclusive interview that world leaders need to wake up to the power of education if they are to combat terrorism.

Speaking in Birmingham at an event intended to show how technology can spread education to some of the world's most deprived children, Malala said: "A new generation is understanding it but politicians are quiet.

"And there can be several reasons for it, but I think it's important - if they realise their key goal is to combat terrorism - then they must educate the children, the people there.

"Because, as we can see in many countries, there have been wars but terrorists are still there ... the countries thought that they have fought now, they have ended terrorists, terrorists are killed. But no, through wars and weapons we can only kill terrorists - but this ideology of terrorism can only be ended through education."

Earlier this week, Malala sent her condolences via social media to those killed and injured in last weekend's terrorist attacks in Lahore, Pakistan.

Asked whether more needed to be done to protect women and children from these kinds of attacks, she said: "We need to think where did these people come from in the first place, suicide bombers who are killing people.

"Education is key but also the government ... they need to change their policies, they need to ensure that every child gets full quality education that brings the message of tolerance, patience and love for each other, friendship and harmony in society."

As well as studying for her A-levels, the 18-year-old has become an international campaigner on education, meeting many of the world’s leaders in her push to get more girls educated around the world, and collecting the Nobel Peace Prize for her work in 2014.

It was when she was 15 and living in Pakistan that she was shot in the head by the Taliban after campaigning for the rights of girls to go to school.

After recovering from her injuries she now studies and lives in the UK with her family.

Speaking via video link from Birmingham at an event aimed at connecting to thousands of children growing up in refugee camps, Malala answered questions from about two dozen teenage girls living in the Dadaab refugee settlement in Kenya.

They have been getting lessons as part of the Vodafone Foundation Instant Network Schools programme with UNHCR, which allows young people in camps across Africa to learn using tablet computers.

Part of the programme aims to use technology to connect the young people with "well known" international role models, like Malala, from whom they can learn.

Malala said it was too easy to take technology for granted.

She said: "For me, it was different because I came from Pakistan and our education was just a teacher and a book, so for me it was important that students here in the UK and other countries do realise what opportunities they have got.

"But today, talking to the girls in Kenya, it was amazing they said they see different places outside of the refugee camps, like trees and mountains, and I just never thought about it.

"Your world is so limited if you don't have access to technology and if you're not travelling around the world, you do not know what is there."

Malala is currently studying for her AS levels in Birmingham, and very rarely does interviews because she does not want to disrupt her studies.

But, she said, she is treated just like any other pupil in school, with her friends more interested in when she met footballer David Beckham, than in when she met President Barack Obama.

You May Check In To Your Next Flight On Facebook

Facebook’s popular chat app Messenger has signed on its first airline, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, as the social network aims to turn the app into a one-stop shop for commerce, transportation, customer service, and more.

KLM flyers will be able to automatically receive itineraries, flight updates, check-in notifications, boarding passes, rebook flights, and communicate with customer service all from Facebook Messenger.

The Dutch carrier isn’t the first business to start using Facebook to connect with the app’s 800 million users. At the social networking giant’s developer conference in 2015, the company revealed plans for turning Messenger into a tool for businesses to communicate and potentially sell to users.

Hyatt Hotels, for example, started testing Messenger out last year for customer service requests. Instead of calling Hyatt’s customer service number via phone, hotel guests can search for Hyatt within Messenger and start chatting with a representative. Retailer Everlane is also using Messenger as a way to update customers with shipping times, receipts, and more. Ride-sharing companies Uber and Lyft have started allowing Messenger users to order rides from directly within the chat app.

The social network is taking a page from popular Asian messaging apps like Tencent-owned WeChat, which lets Chinese consumers buy items, order rides, and transfer money to Facebook friends. The idea is to let users do more within the app so they never need to leave it to shop, check on an airline reservation, request an Uber ride, or book a restaurant reservation.

Airlines, however, could be a major use case for Messenger, according to Facebook’s vice president for messaging products, David Marcus. Marcus told USA Todaythat approximately 80% of passengers on planes traveling within the United States have the Messenger app installed on their smartphones.

For now, Facebook said that it is being selective with businesses who can use Messenger to communicate with customers. The Menlo Park, Calif.-based company isreportedly interested in starting to allow retailers to let customers pay for items in stores through Messenger.

That doesn’t mean Facebook has ambitions for these transactions to formulate a new revenue stream as Marcus told USA Today that the world’s largest social network isn’t focused on making money from Messenger just yet.

Still, commerce within the app could help create an opportunity to sell advertising. Facebook is also reportedly planning to start slipping ads in messages between users and businesses by the end of June.

Did Israel-Based Firm Help FBI Crack iPhone?

A company's stock is soaring after reports claimed it helped the FBI to crack the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters.

Japanese technology firm Suncorp owns Cellebrite, the Israel-based company that may have helped the agency to bypass the iPhone's security features.

Its shares soared 17% on Tuesday after the FBI had announced that it had "successfully accessed" the data stored on Syed Farook's iPhone.

On Monday, the FBI purchased £151,000-worth of IT supplies from Cellebrite, which was the same day the government announced its breakthrough.

However, neither Suncorp nor the FBI has confirmed that Cellebrite was involved in unlocking the phone.

As a result of cracking the phone, the Justice Department withdrew a court order compelling Apple to help access the phone.

The device is thought to contain evidence relating to the massacre in December that left 14 people dead.

Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, also wounded 22 others before they were killed in a shoot-out with police.

Federal prosecutors said "an outside party" had come forward with a possible method for unlocking the encrypted phone.

The US government had obtained a court order requiring Apple to write new software to disable passcode protectors, which they can use on the phone.

But Apple fought the order, warning that the software could fall into the hands of hackers and threaten the security of all encrypted devices.

Numerous tech giants including Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Yahoo publicly backed Apple, alongside civil liberties groups and privacy advocates.

Millions In Line For Living Wage Pay Rise

Up to one in three workers in some parts of the country are set to receive a pay rise from Friday as the new national living wage comes into effect, according to a study.

Torridge in Devon, Rossendale in Lancashire, Woking in Surrey and Castle Point in Essex were named as the areas most likely to benefit from the new £7.20 an hour wage from 1 April.

Employers in these areas will see significant increases in their wage bills, according to the study by the Resolution Foundation.

London and the South East will see a smaller impact than other parts of the country - with just 3% of workers in the City set to benefit.

The biggest city for employees to see a gain is Sheffield, where a fifth will be in a line for a pay rise under the policy, announced last year by Chancellor George Osborne - which introduced a national living wage that is set to rise to £9 an hour by 2020.

Across Britain, one in six workers will be affected by the national living wage, with a total of 4.5 million seeing an increase.

Torsten Bell, director of the Resolution Foundation, said: "The national living wage is a hugely ambitious policy with the potential to transform Britain's low pay landscape.

"Up to a third of workers will get a pay rise in national living wage hotspots, ranging from Canvey Island to Eastern Lancashire.

"Of course pay rises don't come free so employers in some sectors and parts of the country will feel the pressure more than others.

"That's why it's vital that businesses and national, regional and local government make the successful implementation of the new legal minimum a priority."