Author: admin@primenews

A ruling from the Alabama Supreme Court that frozen embryos are considered children, and that a person could be held liable for accidentally destroying them, has opened up a new front in the US battle over reproductive medicine. The southern US state’s largest hospital has paused its in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) services in the wake of the decision, over fears it could expose them to criminal prosecution. The University of Alabama at Birmingham health system said it would continue retrieving eggs from women’s ovaries. But it said it would halt the next step in the IVF process, in which the eggs…

President Joe Biden’s dog Commander bit US Secret Service agents on at least 24 occasions, new documents show. US Secret Service records show the extent to which the German Shephard caused chaos for the presidential bodyguards. One senior agent noted the bites meant the Secret Service changed tactics, advising agents to “give lots of room”. The warning came months before Commander was removed from the White House. The documents were revealed through Freedom of Information requests and posted online. They are heavily redacted to protect the identity of Secret Service agents and secrecy of their security tactics. They show at…

The boss of the world’s most valuable chip maker Nvidia says artificial intelligence (AI) is at a “tipping point” as it announced record sales. Chief executive Jensen Huang’s comments came as the technology giant posted record figures for the most recent quarter, after revenues surged by 265% to $22bn (£17.4bn) from a year earlier. It also said revenues for the year as a whole had more than doubled to $60.9bn. Nvidia’s shares jumped by more than 9% in extended New York trading. “Accelerated computing and generative AI have hit the tipping point,” Mr Huang said in a statement. “Demand is surging…

Scientists have worked out how some of the largest whales in the ocean produce their haunting and complex songs. Humpbacks and other baleen whales have evolved a specialised “voice box” that enables them to sing underwater. The discovery, published in the journal Nature, has also revealed why the noise we make in the ocean is so disruptive for these ocean giants. Whale song is restricted to a narrow frequency that overlaps with the noise produced by ships. “Sound is absolutely crucial for their survival, because it’s the only way they can find each other to mate in the ocean,” explained Prof Coen…

A cargo ship rammed into a bridge in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou early Thursday, plunging five vehicles including a public bus into the river. The accident killed two people and injured one. Three are still missing, state media said. Images on broadcaster CCTV show a section of the bridge fractured, with the ship trapped under it. The vessel did not appear to be carrying cargo. The incident happened at 05:30 local time (21:30 GMT). The ship’s captain has been detained and people residing in the vicinity have been evacuated, according to Beijing News, citing district authorities. The bridge…

“How would you like it if we started sending official delegations to Honolulu to meet with separatist leaders who want Hawaiian independence from the United States? What would you do if we started selling them weapons?” It might seem like a false equivalence, but this is a line of argument often deployed by China’s legion of armchair warriors, who take to social media to condemn any visit to Taiwan by US government officials – and especially members of the US Congress. China sees self-ruled Taiwan as a breakaway province that will eventually be under Beijing’s control, and so, to these…

Australian bishop Christopher Saunders has been charged with rape and a string of historical sex offences – some against children. The 74-year-old was arrested in Broome on Wednesday, after parallel investigations ordered by Western Australian police and the Pope. Mr Saunders, who has denied allegations in the past, was refused bail and will appear in court on Thursday. He is one of the most senior Catholic clerics to face charges of this nature. Mr Saunders is accused of two counts of rape, 14 counts of unlawful and indecent assault, and three counts of indecently dealing with a child as a…

The prime minister will announce a package of measures on Tuesday to help farmers – but many say more is needed to support an industry “in crisis”. Rishi Sunak will use a speech at Tuesday’s National Farmers Union annual conference to outline government plans to boost the UK’s food security. The NFU broadly welcomed the plans but said they included no actual new money. Farming protest groups say more needs to be done to protect UK farmers from competition posed by cheaper imports. The conference, in Birmingham, comes as farmers are struggling with rising costs, low supermarket prices and a…

The most luminous object ever detected has been spied in the distant Universe. It’s a quasar – the bright core of a galaxy that is powered by a gargantuan black hole some 17 billion times the mass of our Sun. Known as J0529-4351, the object’s power was confirmed in observations by the Very Large Telescope in Chile. Scientists, reporting in the journal Nature Astronomy, say the black hole has a voracious appetite, consuming the mass equivalent to one Sun every day. J0529-4351 was actually recorded in data many years ago but its true glory has only just been recognised. “It is…

Taiwan has accused China’s coast guard of triggering “panic”, after six Chinese officials briefly boarded a Taiwanese tourist boat. They checked the ship’s route plan, certificate and crew licenses, and left half an hour later. It comes less than a week after a Chinese fishing boat was pursued by Taiwan’s coast guard in the same area. The boat later capsized, killing two. Beijing later said it would step up patrols in the Kinmen archipelago. Kinmen lies just 3km(1.86 mi) away from China’s south-eastern coast, placing it on the frontline of tensions between China and Taiwan. China sees self-ruled Taiwan as…