HELLO

The RCMP say preliminary results from autopsies performed on two boys who were killed by an African rock python in Campbellton, N.B., show they died from asphyxiation. This comes only hours before a vigil is held for Noah and Connor Barthe, aged four-and-a-half and six. The boys were found dead Monday in an apartment above Reptile Ocean, an exotic pet store in Campbellton, N.B. Police said the 45-kilogram (100-pound), 4.3-metre African rock python escaped its enclosure at the pet store, slithered through a ventilation system above and fell through a ceiling into the living room where they slept. Meanwhile a reptile expert said the python may have been lured by the scent of the children because they had been playing with farm animals hours earlier. RCMP say the snake has been euthanized. The Canadian Press is reporting a reptile expert from Ontario is heading to New Brunswick to help remove animals from the exotic pet store holding the python. The team from Indian River Re...

Smartphone manufacturers Samsung and BlackBerry have teamed up to announce a new marketing partnership across Africa. As part of the arrangement, Samsung has said that it will include the BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) for Android app in its curated app store for Galaxy handsets, alongside its own ChatOn service. BBM will form part of the Samsung Messaging Hub that comes preinstalled on all of the South Korean firm's Android smartphones. The BBM for Android app is still in a closed beta testing stage, but BlackBerry says that it will be available in the Samsung Apps store on launch day. "We believe that BBM has the potential to become the number one messaging client around the globe," BlackBerry's managing director for South and Southern Africa, Alexandra Zagury, told ZDNet, "and Samsung is the leading Android manufacturer in Africa. We think we've found a great partner to grow the BBM family. "Android is absolutely a key platform for us to grow BBM...