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(Reuters) -BCE raised its 2028 cost-saving target by 50% to C$1.5 billion ($1.07 billion) as the telecom and media company simplifies operations and bets on its North America expansion to power its growth. The company unveiled the new target as part of a three-year plan at its investor day on Tuesday – its first in more than a decade. It also expects to achieve about 15% compounded annual growth in free cash flow after lease liabilities between 2025 and 2028. The company sees further cost savings in 2029 and beyond as it exits legacy services by decommissioning copper-based network infrastructure and moves to new technologies like fiber that require less maintenance. To fuel its growth, BCE will launch internet services in British Columbia and Alberta in the coming weeks, as it looks to take on Rogers Communications and Telus Corp. It completed a C$5 billion buyout of U.S. internet services provider Ziply Fiber to expand its fiber footprint in the country, and has invested nearly C$24 billion since 2020 to upgrade its high-speed fiber and wireless networks. Those investments are expected to help drive compounded annual revenue growth of 2% to 4% between 2025 and 2028. BCE is also doubling down on artificial intelligence, building a national AI compute project and integrating AI into customer service and network operations. ($1 = 1.4061 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

(Reuters) -BCE raised its 2028 cost-saving target by 50% to C$1.5 billion ($1.07 billion) as the telecom and media company simplifies operations and bets on its North America expansion to power its growth. The company unveiled the new target as part of a three-year plan at its investor day on Tuesday – its first in more than a decade. It also expects to achieve about 15% compounded annual growth in free cash flow after lease liabilities between 2025 and 2028. The company sees further cost savings in 2029 and beyond as it exits legacy services by decommissioning copper-based network infrastructure and moves to new technologies like fiber that require less maintenance. To fuel its growth, BCE will launch internet services in British Columbia and Alberta in the coming weeks, as it looks to take on Rogers Communications and Telus Corp. It completed a C$5 billion buyout of U.S. internet services provider Ziply Fiber to expand its fiber footprint in the country, and has invested nearly C$24 billion since 2020 to upgrade its high-speed fiber and wireless networks. Those investments are expected to help drive compounded annual revenue growth of 2% to 4% between 2025 and 2028. BCE is also doubling down on artificial intelligence, building a national AI compute project and integrating AI into customer service and network operations. ($1 = 1.4061 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

Berlin (dpa) – Unusual for animals from a biological point of view, female mountain gorillas often live many years after last giving birth – just like people. This may be to care for their young, according to scientists from the University of Turku in Finland and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig. They weighed three decades of life history and behavioural data from 25 wild mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda, for a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Seven of the females examined lived more than 10 years after their last birth – more than twice as long as the average interval between two births, the researchers found. Six of the animals were older than 35, the highest reproductive age observed in mountain gorillas to date. Wild female gorillas rarely reach the age of 50, so these post-reproductive years, meaning years after fertility, account for at least a quarter of their adult life, the researchers say. How is this possible? There are several possible explanations for why female gorillas continue to live so long without reproducing, even though this does not seem to offer any evolutionary advantage for the species. The grandmother hypothesis assumes that females live longer to help their grandchildren by protecting them or passing on knowledge – a theory also applied to whales and humans. The grandmother effect in humans is probably due to the fact that grandmothers took care of their grandchildren early on in human history, scientists say. Childhood lasts relatively long in humans because the nervous system needs a long time to mature. Under these conditions, the theory is that the chances of survival for offspring were better if grandmothers could care for their grandchildren for as long as possible, relieving their daughters. Grandmother or mother theory? But such intergenerational assistance is unlikely among gorillas, as both females and males often leave their birth groups before they reproduce and thus live with relatives less frequently, according to the researchers. The mother hypothesis seems more likely – in which older females stop reproducing in order to save energy and other resources and instead invest in their existing offspring. Observations show that mothers also play an important role for adult animals and that females that no longer reproduce are often in better physical condition than older, reproducing females. But the scientists also say the long lifespan after reproduction in gorillas may not be a targeted evolutionary trait, but a by-product of longer life expectancy. In the wild, many animals die early, meaning there is no selection against genes that only cause problems in old age. But with animals living longer, thanks to fewer predators or better conditions, such effects become apparent, such as continuing to live long after the end of reproduction. The following information is not intended for publication dpa ram xxde arw coh

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(Reuters) -Instagram will limit what users under 18 can see on the platform using filters inspired by the PG-13 movie rating system, in the latest step by its parent Meta to address criticism that it has not done enough to protect teenagers online. Modeled on the Motion Picture Association's ratings, the new system will restrict posts featuring strong language, risky stunts, drug references or other mature themes. The rules will also apply to Meta's generative AI tools, it said on Tuesday. The move follows criticism from advocacy groups and lawsuits alleging the company failed to protect young users from harmful content or misled them about the psychological harm from its platforms. A report in September showed numerous safety features Meta has implemented on Instagram over the years do not work well or exist. Reuters also reported in August that Meta allowed provocative chatbot behavior, including letting bots engage in "conversations that are romantic or sensual". Meta said on Tuesday its latest move automatically place teen accounts under the PG-13 settings, which parents can adjust to add stricter content and screen-time controls with a "limited content setting". Teen users will also be blocked from interacting with accounts sharing age-inappropriate material. "We hope this update reassures parents," Meta said in a blog post. "We know teens may try to avoid these restrictions, which is why we'll use age prediction technology to place teens into certain content protections — even if they claim to be adults." Meta in August added safeguards for teenagers across its AI products by training its systems to avoid flirty exchanges and discussions of self-harm or suicide with minors. That followed a broader overhaul last year that introduced enhanced privacy and parental controls for Instagram users under 18. The new settings will be released in the U.S., UK, Australia and Canada, with full launch expected by the year-end. Meta is also introducing more safeguards for teens on Facebook. The move comes as Meta, ByteDance's TikTok and YouTube face hundreds of lawsuits filed on behalf of children and school districts about the addictive nature of social media. U.S. regulators are increasingly scrutinizing AI companies over the potential negative impacts of chatbots. (Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Arun Koyyur)

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