Zuckerberg: I am still the man to run Facebook

Despite the turmoil that continues to surround his company, Mark Zuckerberg has insisted he is still the best person to lead Facebook.

"When you're building something like Facebook which is unprecedented in the world," he said on Wednesday, "there are things that you're going to mess up.

"What I think people should hold us accountable for is if we are learning from our mistakes."

As well as being Facebook's chief executive, Mr Zuckerberg is chairman of the company's board. When asked if his position had been discussed, he replied: "Not that I know of!"

The mere possibility that his leadership is in question is a scenario few would have predicted even a month ago.

But recent reports around improper data gathering by third parties - as well as fake news and propaganda - have prompted some to question Mr Zuckerberg's ability to lead a company that some think has grown beyond his control.

'By design, he can’t be fired - he can only resign'

Scott Stringer, head of New York City's pension fund, said this week that Mr Zuckerberg should step aside. The fund owns approximately $1bn-worth of the social network.

"They have two billion users," Mr Stringer told CNBC.

"They are in uncharted waters, and they have not comported themselves in a way that makes people feel good about Facebook and secure about their own data."

A piece in technology magazine Wired called for Mr Zuckerberg to step down in order to let Facebook start a "reputation-enhancing second chapter".

"He doesn’t just lead an institution that touches almost every person on the planet," wrote Felix Salmon.

"He also, thanks to financial engineering, has a majority of shareholder votes and controls the board, and is therefore answerable to no one.

"By design, he can’t be fired - he can only resign. Which is exactly what he should now do."

'A man often criticised as lacking empathy'

Mr Zuckerberg's conference call went as well as the 33-year-old could have expected.

Indeed, at one point he encouraged more time to take more questions.

From his answers we learned a little more about the real toll of the negative publicity and the "deleteFacebook" movement. And so far the answer is: not much.

There has been "no meaningful impact that we’ve observed" he said, before quickly adding: "But look, it's not good!"

What we couldn't tell during the call, of course, was to what extent Mr Zuckerberg was being quietly guided by his team in the room.

But for a man often criticised as lacking empathy, it was a strong display lasting almost an hour. Investors certainly thought so - shares were up 3% once the call ended.

Next week he will face a potentially tougher prospect, this time in front of the cameras, when he heads to Washington to testify before Congress.

Indeed, this session with the press was perhaps the ideal dress rehearsal.

The dynamic around Mr Zuckerberg's leadership could change dramatically in the coming months, as investigations - most notably from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) - begin to probe deeper into how Facebook handled the public's data.

If the company is seen to have fallen short of its responsibility, and is hit with a potentially enormous fine, it could increase pressure on Facebook to make serious personnel changes.

So far, despite all of the apologies and admissions of poor judgement, Mr Zuckerberg told reporters that not a single person at the company had been fired over the Cambridge Analytica fiasco.

The buck stops with him, he said - and indeed it might.

Winnie Mandela: Anti-apartheid campaigner's life in pictures

A look back at the life of the anti-apartheid campaigner, Winnie Mandela, who has died aged 81.

Winnie Madikizela Mandela was dubbed the "Mother of the Nation" for her anti-apartheid work.

She was a symbol of the anti-apartheid struggle with her then-husband, Nelson Mandela, for nearly three decades.

She was also detained various times during the apartheid era.

She met with international dignitaries - such as US Senator Edward Kennedy - to try to secure Mr Mandela's release from prison.

She was accused of involvement in the killing of a 14-year-old township militant, Stompie Seipei (pictured) - allegations that she denied.

Winnie and Nelson Mandela divorced in 1996, six years after he was freed.

Winnie Mandela became a senior politician after the ANC party took power, but often courted controversy.

She remained a prominent public figure - here supporting athlete Caster Semenya - even after Mr Mandela left office.

Black Panther passes Titanic at the box office

"Black Panther" moved past "Titanic" on the all-time list of highest grossing films.

But "A Quiet Place" took the top spot at this weekend's box office.

"Black Panther" has now made $665.4 million domestically, which makes the Disney and Marvel Studios film starring Chadwick Boseman the third-highest grossing film in North American history. The superhero film has now officially passed "Titanic" and is only behind "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" and "Avatar."

That's not accounting for inflation, however. When accounting for inflation, the superhero film clocks in at No. 34 on the all-time domestic list, according to industry data site Box Office Mojo.

"Black Panther" has been a phenomenon for Disney shattering box office records and cultural barriers in Hollywood. The film has made nearly $1.3 billion globally since opening in mid-February.

As for the film that won this weekend, Paramount's "A Quiet Place" opened to a stellar $50 million in North America.

The near silent horror film starring John Krasinski and Emily Blunt nabbed the second biggest opening of the year and nearly tripled its budget of $17 million. The big weekend for the horror film was likely thanks to strong word of mouth and critical acclaim. The film currently holds a near perfect 97% score on review site Rotten Tomatoes.

Coming in second place was Warner Bros.' "Ready Player One," which turned in a solid second weekend total of $25 million domestically. The Steven Spielberg film has so far made $391.3 million worldwide.

And rounding out the top three was the Universal comedy "Blockers." The film starring John Cena and Leslie Mann also had a good weekend in a crowded field opening to an estimated $21.4 million in the US.

Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma: I absolutely believe I can win the Masters

It's even harder if you're a golfer from a country with a population of 1.3 billion people.

India has only ever had a handful of individuals on the PGA Tour, and has never looked likely to produce a first major winner.

That, though, could be about to change.

With two wins on the European Tour already this season, Shubhankar Sharma leads a new generation of young Indian golfers with the game's biggest prizes in their sights.

Outside the top 500 as recently as last November, the 21-year-old has triumphed twice in quick succession in recent months, winning both South Africa's Joburg Open and, more recently, Malaysia's Maybank Championship.

Those victories have placed him on the fringes of the top 50 in the official world golf rankings, made him his country's youngest golfer to win on the European Tour by six years, and put him in pole position in the season-long Race to Dubai.

But the best could be yet to come.

While the headlines will naturally focus on a resurgent Tiger Woods, Sharma has received a special invitation to play in this year's Masters, crowning a remarkable rise from the Asian Development Tour to the game's most prestigious event.

"I always knew that I would get here and I've always believed in my ability, but I never knew I was going to get here so fast," Sharma tells CNN Sport ahead of the tournament, which takes place from 5-8 April.

"Things have changed for me so much; I would never have thought in my wildest dreams I'd be playing the Masters this year."

"I absolutely believe I can win," he says. "Obviously there's a lot of pressure and a lot of people, but at the end of the day you're just playing golf.

"I'll just try to play the course; that's my objective for the tournament. I'm playing well and I know if I play well I can challenge anybody."

The obstacles

Fewer than 150,000 people play golf at any level in the entirety of India, compared to 500 million budding cricketers.

There are only 270 golf courses in the whole country -- that's 4.9 million people per course -- and only two are completely open to the general public.

"Nowadays it is expensive to get a membership of a club," says Uttam Singh Mundy, CEO of the Professional Golf Tour of India.

"There is no dearth of youngsters with a wish to take up the sport, but they need a place to go out and play."

According to Indian journalist V Krishnaswamy many of the courses are in "sensitive" areas where civilians are not allowed to play, restricting the number that have access.

Meanwhile the secretary general of the Women's Golf Association of India, Champika Nanda Sayal, believes there's "a fear" that the game is too difficult and has too many rules.

A seismic shift

In a land mainly in thrall to bat and ball, Sharma is the first to acknowledge most people "didn't really know what golf was" a decade ago.

But, as the young man from Chandigarh contends, things are changing ... fast.

"If you'd seen about 15, 20 years ago, things were a lot different," says Sharma. "Sport was pretty much cricket. Everyone would want to play cricket, otherwise nobody would even consider sport as a career.

"But things have really changed in the past decade, and especially for golf. A lot of kids are taking it up now that they know what the game is."

Sharma greets fans and journalists at the Hero Indian Open in New Delhi in March 2018.

Fellow Indian golfers Anirban Lahiri and SSP Chawrasia are in agreement.

"When we were kids, it was practically non-existent," says the 30-year-old Lahiri, who's also a two-time winner on the European Tour. "Tiger definitely popularized the sport in our country, just like pretty much everywhere else in the world. But over the last few years there has definitely been a rise in awareness."

"Every year the Indian Tour is growing," says the 39-year-old Chawrasia, who grew up in the servants' quarter at Calcutta Golf Club, initially earning money as a caddie.

"In the next few years you'll see more numbers on the European and PGA Tours."

Sustained growth

Should Sharma maintain his swift ascension through the ranks, the number trading cricket whites for greens will surely continue to rise.

Sharma poses with the Joburg Open trophy at Randpark Golf Club in December 2017.

As recently as March 2018, the Indian youngster stood shoulder to shoulder with golfing giants at the WGC Mexico Championship, leading an elite field that included major winners Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Bubba Watson and Justin Thomas through 54 holes.

Other Indians that have played at the Masters

Jeev Milkha Singh (2007, 2008, 2009)

Arjun Atwal (2011)

Anirban Lahiri (2015, 2016)

"A lot of kids, a lot of my friends and a lot of people came up to me and said they woke up in the middle of the night just to watch me in Mexico," says Sharma.

The experienced Phil Mickelson eventually went on to triumph, ending the longest drought of his professorial career, but not before mistaking his inexperienced rival for a member of the press.

Sharma ultimately fell back to 10-under-par, tying for seventh position in what was his PGA Tour debut, but "Lefty" will certainly know all about him now.

Asked about what Sharma could mean for Indian golf ahead of the Masters, Mickelson told reporters: "I think the growth potential in that country is enormous, and what he's doing to help grow the game could well be similar to what Tiger has done to grow the game in the US and world."

And he's not the only one already looking to the future.

"Seeing players like Shubhankar come out and play so well has motivated a lot of kids to come out and pursue careers in golf," Shubhan Jaglan, a junior world champion from the Northern Indian state of Haryana, tells CNN.

"I want to see many more players on the PGA Tour, and I do see myself among them for sure!"

Idols

Sharma's father, a former colonel, has been there every step of the way, once saying "every penny has gone into our passion."

"Obviously with dad being in the army, discipline has been instilled in me since i was a kid," says Sharma, crediting his military background for his noted mental strength on the course.

"Dad's had a big impact. He's been with me all along — and not only him, dad and mum both. I've learned so much and I am the person that I am today just because of them."

Sharma's father once said his son's success could be a "Sachin Tendulkar moment" for Indian golf.

Obviously with dad being in the army, discipline has been instilled in me since i was a kid.

Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma

And the player himself believes it's "absolutely possible" that India can become a force to be reckoned with in the decades to come, following in the footsteps of South Korea, a now dominant nation on the LPGA Tour.

Sharma shakes hands with reigning Masters champion Sergio Garcia after losing to the Spaniard in March's WGC Match Play.

"In any sport, you need idols," he says. "You need players who kids can look up to, so they can say: 'We have players from India that have done it, so nothing stops us from doing it.'

Indian golf a decade on

"We might have a bunch of players on the PGA Tour. I'm sure if we have a major winner -- which will be fantastic for the game -- there will be more and more kids taking up golf."

"It should be right up there, by way of popularity, prize money and number of events. I think we should be one of the top tours in the world."

"I am quite sure that India will have a major champion in ten years' time, and there will be a bunch of winners on the PGA Tour."

"I want to see many more players on the PGA Tour, and I do see myself among them for sure!"

"The youngsters need to follow a hero; we have to produce more heroes in golf. If we can I think this game will be here forever."

"That is what is going to motivate them. It's just like a cycle. You need more and more players coming out, more and more icons doing well; you need a major winner.

"Things like that are totally going to change the landscape of golf in India."

Sharma grew up idolizing Woods.

Still starstruck to be sharing a locker room with the likes of Rory McIlroy, Henrik Stenson and Jordan Spieth in recent months, he will play alongside the 14-time major winner for the first time at Augusta.

"It's great for the game of golf that Tiger is back," says Sharma. "He's hungry for a win and you can see that in the past few tournaments.

"The Masters is something like Wimbledon for tennis; it's what every player dreams of. There is sure to be a lot of excitement and it's great to be a part of it."

Inside the world's quietest room

If you stand in it for long enough, you start to hear your heartbeat. A ringing in your ears becomes deafening. When you move, your bones make a grinding noise. Eventually you lose your balance, because the absolute lack of reverberation sabotages your spatial awareness.

In this room at Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond, Washington, all sound from the outside world is locked out and any sound produced inside is stopped cold. It's called an 'anechoic' chamber, because it creates no echo at all -- which makes the sound of clapping hands downright eerie.

The background noise in the room is so low that it approaches the lowest threshold theorized by mathematicians, the absolute zero of sound -- the next step down is a vacuum, or the absence of sound.

This is the world's quietest place.

Deafening silence

The room offers a very rare sensorial experience.

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"As soon as one enters the room, one immediately feels a strange and unique sensation which is hard to describe," wrote Hundraj Gopal, a speech and hearing scientist and the principal designer of the anechoic chamber at Microsoft, in an email.

"Most people find the absence of sound deafening, feel a sense of fullness in the ears, or some ringing. Very faint sounds become clearly audible because the ambient noise is exceptionally low. When you turn your head, you can hear that motion. You can hear yourself breathing and it sounds somewhat loud," he said.

In the real world, Gopal explained, our ears are constantly subject to some level of sound, so there is always some air pressure on the ear drums. But upon entering the anechoic room this constant air pressure is gone, since there are no sound reflections from the surrounding walls.

"This is a novel experience," he wrote.

A concrete onion

To achieve extreme silence, the room is designed with an onion-like structure that isolates it from the rest of the building and the outside world.

It's made of six layers of concrete and steel and it is somewhat disconnected from the surrounding building, because it sits atop an array of vibration damping springs. Inside, fiberglass wedges are mounted on the floor, ceiling and walls to break up sound waves before they have a chance to bounce back into the room. The floor itself is simply a grid of sound-absorbing suspended cables.

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"The design, planning and construction took a little over one and a half years," confirmed Gopal.

"I needed a good location on campus where the measured noise levels inside the building were adequately low. (...) I needed to plan the inside of the building so that I could nest the chamber six levels deep. We had to build a special 12" concrete wall encasing the chamber to block out further ambient sound. Careful attention was paid to every detail that could conduct sound from outside to inside the chamber, such as isolating the sprinkler supply pipes and the fire-alarm sensor, or lining the air-supply and return ducts with additional sound absorbing material."

The final result? "The noise level measured inside is -20.3dBA. This means that the ambient noise in the chamber is 20.3dB below the threshold of human hearing."

By comparison, one of the quietest sounds that can be heard in a quiet room, calm breathing, clocks in at 10dB.

Lights off

Microsoft's chamber is currently registered in the Guinness World Record as the world's quietest place, a title it claimed in 2015 at the expense of a similar chamber at Orfield Labs in Minneapolis. But unlike Microsoft's, that chamber is open to the public, which has turned it into a small tourist attraction.

"We get thousands of requests. Members of the public visit from around the world almost every week, and they are just about always excited by the experience. There is no skeptical reaction, as this is simply a bodily experience, and there's nothing to learn or believe," wrote Steve Orfield, who constructed his own lab and anechoic chamber in a building that was once home to Studio 80 -- a renowned recording studio where Bob Dylan, Prince and Cat Stevens have recorded songs.

According to Orfield, the experience is somewhat influenced by the place where one was immediately before entering the chamber, because coming from a loud environment will make it harder to fully perceive the quietness. The quality of one's hearing also counts: the older you are, the harder it is to adapt and fully appreciate the quietness.

He also recommends turning off the lights. "Most of the experiences of sensory deprivation include turning off all lighting, so that you are in aural and visual quiet, with no sensory noise. Under this circumstance, walking around the interior will make most people lose their balance after a short while."

Orfield, who has done research on the impact of noise in people with degenerative diseases such as dementia, also noted that visitors who suffer from autism, ADHD and other disabilities of anxiety and hyper-sensitivity tend to find the chamber calming and peaceful.

What are they used for?

Anechoic chambers are generally used to test noises and sounds coming from a variety of products with a high degree of scientific reliability.

Microsoft uses it for audio equipment such as microphones, receivers, headphones and speakers, or to analyze clicks and hums from computing devices like keyboards, mice, fans and backlight modules on touch panels and displays. Among the products that have benefited from the chamber are the Surface line of tablets, the Xbox gaming console and the HoloLens VR goggles, but also software where the audio component is dominant, like Skype and the Cortana virtual assistant.

Since the chamber at Orfield Labs is the only accredited one in an independent lab in the United States, it attracts an even wider range of businesses and products: medical defibrillators, sleep-apnea machines, hearing aids, heart valves, appliances, automotive parts, computers and hard drives.

Despite rumors to the contrary, there is no "world record" for time spent in the chamber consecutively by a person, and such challenges are not encouraged, although according to Orfield he receives many requests from people who want to "beat the record."

"I've spent about 45 minutes in the chamber, and since I have a mechanical heart valve, I can always hear it clearly," wrote Orfield.

"The longest continuous time anyone has spent inside the chamber is about 55 minutes," confirmed Gopal at Microsoft.

"I have noticed that there are several folks who can stay inside for 30 minutes or so. But others have asked to go out within the first few seconds."

Decision to name bridge after Prince Charles irks some in UK

The decision to rename a major road bridge linking England and Wales after Prince Charles has drawn a royal storm of opposition from anti-monarchists and Welsh nationalists.

The government announced this week that the Second Severn Crossing is to be rebranded the Prince of Wales Bridge. Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns said the change was a fitting tribute to the heir to the throne for his "decades of continued, dedicated service to our nation."

But the news annoyed some in Wales, who said they weren't consulted. Leanne Wood, leader of the Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru, tweeted: "Is this a late April fool joke?"

Graham Smith of anti-monarchy group Republic accused the government of making "a unilateral decision that will irritate people in England and Wales for years to come."

Ayesha Curry opens up about difficult pregnancy with 5 hospital stays

After Ayesha Curry announced she was expecting her third child with her husband, NBA player Stephen Curry, she's now opening up about the difficult pregnancy.

The host of "Ayesha’s Home Kitchen" wrote in a caption on Instagram that she's now entering her third trimester and it hasn't been easy.

"6 down 3 to go!" she began, referencing how many months until she gives birth. "Praising God because I can finally eat and cook a little bit again! Pray that it sticks for me y’all!"

Curry, 29, continued, "I've had 5 hospital stays since the New Year and have pretty much been sucking at life (at least that’s how it’s felt.) I think I’m starting to turn a corner though!!!! Woot woot."

The chef concluded her pregnancy update by giving props to her husband for taking the photo.

"He was being petty earlier about not getting his photo cred[it]," she wrote to her more than five million followers, adding a laugh.

The Currys, who wed in 2011, announced they were expecting again back in February.

This baby will be the couple's third child; they're already parents to two daughters, 5-year-old Riley and 2-year-old Ryan.

Gladiator armor sells for big auction

One of the costumes from the film Gladiator owned by actor Russell Crowe is on display to be auctioned by Sotheby's auction house as part of the 'Russell Crowe: The Art of Divorce Auction' at Carriageworks, Sydney, Australia Saturday, April 7, 2018.

The torso armor Russell Crowe wore for his Oscar-winning role in "Gladiator" eclipsed expectations at a Sydney auction on Saturday, selling for 125,000 Australian dollars ($96,000).

Sotheby's Australia had estimated the stunt cuirass worn in the 2000 blockbuster would fetch between AU$20,000 and AU$30,000. But much of the movie memorabilia auctioned by the Australia-based New Zealander as part of his divorce settlement exceeded expectations.

A replica Roman chariot from the same movie in which Crowe played the general-turned-gladiator Maximus, thought to be worth up to AU$10,000, was sold for AU$65,000.

Fayemi joins Ekiti gov race

 

Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr Kayode Fayemi, on Sunday says he will contest the July 14 governorship election in Ekiti state.

He made this known at a news conference at his Isan-Ekiti country home in Oye Local Government Area of the state.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Fayemi had hosted leaders and scores of members of the party from all the 16 Local Government Areas and the 177 wards of the state.

He said he was driven by his past records of positive achievements, especially for workers, retirees and pensioners while in office in the state.

He explained that his decision to seek re-election was to deliver the state from incompetent and dubious hands and take her to where its supposed to be.

NAN reports that the former governor becomes the 35th person to formally indicate interest in the governorship poll in the APC alone, aside from dozen others whose campaign posters and billboards are already out on the streets without formal declaration.

Fayemi said he would formally submit his letter of intent to the state secretariat of the APC as soon as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) lifts the ban on campaigns on April 15.

On the issue of a White Paper, indicting him for corruption and consequently banned him from seeking public office for 10 years, Fayemi said he was not bothered.

He declared that the said White Paper cannot stop his ambition, describing the document as a final result of several months of political witchhunt launched against him by the Ayo Fayose-led administration that cannot stand the test of time.

“Regardless of whatever anybody may think, I know I am eminently qualified to contest the election, if I am not qualified, I would never have come to tell you I want to contest.

“Most of the negative things Fayose and his government said or alleged of me were deliberately concocted out of malice to either malign my character or score cheap political goal; but the truth will always prevail