Author: admin@primenews

Craig Phillips, former winner of the reality TV show Big Brother, has described his fear when the brakes failed on his Jaguar I-Pace electric vehicle while he was driving. It is the second report of the brakes failing on this particular model while in motion. Mr Phillips said it was “terrifying” to feel “out of control” of the vehicle while his family were also inside. Jaguar said it was investigating and took both claims seriously. Earlier this week, another I-Pace driver claimed to have found himself unable to brake on a motorway as the car accelerated and had to be…

Ukraine has strongly rejected a call by Pope Francis for Kyiv to negotiate an end to its war with Russia and have “the courage to raise the white flag”. Ukraine’s foreign minister says it will “never raise any other flags” than the country’s blue and yellow colours. And the country’s President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed the comments as “virtual mediation”. A Vatican spokesman later said the Pope was speaking of stopping the fighting through negotiation, not capitulation. The interview with Swiss broadcaster RSI, recorded in February, is scheduled to air on 20 March as part of a cultural programme. According to…

Portugal’s centre right has claimed a narrow election victory, but has little chance of forming a majority government. Democratic Alliance leader Luís Montenegro told supporters that the Portuguese had voted for change, although the margin of victory was less than convincing. Both main parties polled about 29% of the vote. Only the far-right Chega could claim a clear-cut success. Five years after it broke into Portuguese politics, the party led by former football pundit André Ventura has secured 18% of the vote and 48 seats in the 230-seat parliament. Political commentators say Portugal is facing its most fragmented parliament since…

This year’s Oscars brought more than three hours of glamour, tears, and full-frontal nudity. Here are some of the best moments from the biggest night in Hollywood. It was Kenough We all knew it was coming but Ryan Gosling’s full-throated rendition of the Barbie movie’s hit I’m Just Ken was even better than we could have hoped for. He started out the Oscar-nominated original song sitting just behind Barbie co-star Margot Robbie, who could not seem to control her laughter as Gosling crooned into her ear. Carrying on in his all-pink tuxedo, Gosling made his way to the stage where…

Japan has avoided falling into a technical recession after its official economic growth figures were revised. The revised data shows gross domestic product (GDP) was 0.4% higher in the last three months of 2023 compared to a year earlier. Provisional figures released last month indicated the second consecutive quarter of economic contraction. Two quarters in a row of an economy shrinking is typically considered the definition of a technical recession. But the revised figures still came below expectations, as some economists had forecast an upward revision to fourth quarter GDP of around 1%. Hopes that the country had skirted a…

India has signed a free trade agreement (FTA) with a group of four European countries that are not members of the European Union. The deal with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) will see investments in India of $100bn (£77.8bn), the country’s trade minister says. The EFTA is made up of Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Liechtenstein. The announcement comes as the UK and India have been holding negotiations over an FTA for the last two years. “This landmark pact underlines our commitment to boosting economic progress and creating opportunities for our youth,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a statement. “The…

Four photo agencies have retracted a picture of the Princess of Wales over concerns it has been “manipulated”. The image, taken by Prince William and issued by Kensington Palace for Mother’s Day, showed Catherine with their three children. But Associated Press was the first to pull the image as it “did not meet” the agency’s photo standards. The agency noted an “inconsistency in alignment of Princess Charlotte’s left hand”. Kensington Palace declined to comment. The photo shows the princess sitting down, surrounded by Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis and Prince George, the latter wrapping his arms around her. It was the…

In 2018, Byju Raveendran was the toast of India’s start-up world as his eponymous edtech company, Byju’s, was crowned a unicorn. Through the pandemic, as schools shut, Byju’s kept growing and expanding – until it all started to unravel. Once India’s leading privately-held company valued at $22bn (£17.38bn), it is now regarded by some as a cautionary tale for domestic start-ups, as investment company BlackRock recently slashed its valuation to $1bn. On 23 February, a majority of shareholders in Byju’s parent company Think & Learn (T&L) voted to remove Mr Raveendran as CEO during an extraordinary general meeting (EGM), citing…

More than two decades after winning his first Oscar, Japan’s revered animator Hayao Miyazaki has done it again. The Boy and the Heron beat Disney’s Elemental and Spider-Man Across the Spider-verse to win the Best Animated Feature Film prize. The 83-year-old also won the Golden Globe for the same film last January. Set during World War Two, the semi-autobiographical film is about a boy who meets a mysterious speaking heron after losing his mother. Mr Miyazaki’s family was displaced by the war, like Mahito’s. His mother was also a strong influence on his work, as seen in the strong female…

Indonesia’s transport ministry will launch an investigation into local carrier Batik Air after both pilots onboard were found to have fallen asleep mid-flight. The duo – who have both been temporarily suspended – fell asleep for around 28 minutes during a flight from Sulawesi to the capital Jakarta. The Airbus A320 briefly veered off course but was able to land safely. All 153 passengers and crew members were unharmed. The incident, which happened on 25 January this year, saw the plane on-route to the capital Jakarta from southeast Sulawesi. The 32-year-old pilot had told his co-pilot to take control of…