Author: admin@primenews

Hirotake Yano, the billionaire founder of Japanese discount retailer Daiso, has died of heart failure, aged 80. In a statement released on Monday, the firm said he passed away on 12 February and a private funeral had already been held by close family members. Daiso is a so-called 100 yen ($0.67; £0.53) store, similar to pound shops. Mr Yano opened his first discount retailer in 1972 and was seen as a pioneer of the dollar shop business model. “It’s with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Founder and Former President of Daiso Industries Company Limited, Mr Hirotake Yano,…

As a child, Vinay Sastha R found his imagination fired by films like The Lord of the Rings and the Harry Potter series. But unlike most other people, he now works on movies. Based in Trichy in southern India, Mr Sastha R works as a technical director creating visual effects (VFX) for DNEG, one of India’s leading VFX studios. Aged 26, he only has a couple of years in the industry, but still gets to work on fun projects. “A technical director mainly deals with creating elements that could not be made while filming… like creating a lava rain in…

A Chinese man is being held in Australia over his alleged role in a tobacco smuggling scheme that generated $700m (£570m) for North Korea. Jin Guanghua now awaits extradition to the US, where he faces prosecution. He is accused of supplying tobacco to Pyongyang for roughly a decade. It is unclear whether he contests the claim. US authorities allege the tobacco trade allowed Kim Jong Un’s regime to make and sell counterfeit cigarettes to help fund its weapons programme. Australia’s Attorney-General’s Department confirmed that Mr Jin had been detained in Melbourne in March last year, and that his “extradition matter”…

Of the nine bowlers who have claimed 500 Test wickets, India’s Ravichandran Ashwin – who has joined the club now – is by far the best batter with five centuries. Had Ashwin, 37, chosen to focus on batting to the exclusion of bowling, it is possible he might have finished with over 10,000 Test runs. On Friday, he became only the ninth man to reach the 500-milestone. On the same day, the off-spinner pulled out of the third Test against England because of a family emergency but now he is back with the squad. There is a silken touch to…

South Korea’s government has ordered more than 1,000 junior doctors to return to work after many staged walk-outs in protest of plans to increase the number of doctors in the system. More than 6,000 interns and residents had resigned on Monday, said officials. South Korea has one of the lowest doctor-per-patient ratios among OECD countries so the government wants to add more medical school placements. But doctors oppose the prospect of greater competition, observers say. South Korea has a highly privatised healthcare system where most procedures are tied to insurance payments, and more than 90% of hospitals are private. Its…

Last week, Ukrainian forces surrendered the eastern city of Avdiivka, which they had for months been desperately defending against a brutal Russian onslaught. The conquest of Avdiivka represents a strategic and symbolic victory for Russia, strengthening its defence of the regional capital, Donetsk, and potentially opening up avenues for further offensives against Ukrainian-held territory. Ukrainian commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi says he ordered a retreat from the city in order to save soldiers’ lives. Now evidence of possible war crimes has emerged, as relatives of six soldiers found dead following the takeover of the city say they were executed after surrendering. Ukrainian authorities…

The family of Alexei Navalny, the Putin critic who died in a Russian prison, have reportedly been told his body will not be released for two weeks. His mother was informed it was being held for “chemical analysis”, a representative for Navalny said. There has been no confirmation of the whereabouts of the body from Russian authorities, while efforts to locate it have been repeatedly shut down. The wife of the late Russian opposition leader has accused them of hiding it. In a video on Monday vowing to continue his work to fight for a “free Russia”, Yulia Navalnaya directly…

Patients are facing delays stuck on hidden waiting lists that do not show up in the official figures in England, a BBC News investigation reveals. The published waiting list stands at 7.6 million – but the true scale of the backlog is thought to be much higher. This is because patients needing ongoing care are not automatically included in those figures – even if they face major delays. NHS England said hospitals should be monitoring and counting such cases. But BBC News found evidence suggesting this is not always the case. The problem affects patients receiving ongoing care, as well…

Actor Jeremy Renner received a rapturous reception at the People’s Choice Awards, more than a year after a horrific snow plough accident. The Hawkeye star broke more than 30 bones after being accidentally run over by his own snow plough last January. Arriving on stage at Sunday’s ceremony, Renner told the audience: “I’ve got to say, it feels good to be back.” Renner’s fellow Marvel star Tom Hiddleston was among the audience members to give him a standing ovation. “The fans rock, I’ll tell you what,” Renner said, appearing visibly moved by the crowd’s reaction. “This year’s been a heck of a…

Animal welfare charities have welcomed an Africa-wide ban on the controversial donkey skin trade. It will make it illegal to slaughter donkeys for their skin in 55 countries across the continent. Demand for the animals’ skins is fuelled by the popularity of an ancient Chinese medicine called Ejiao, traditionally made from donkey hides. African state leaders approved the ban at the conclusion of the African Union summit in Ethiopia on Sunday. The charity, the Donkey Sanctuary, called the the trade “brutal and unsustainable” and said it had decimated donkey populations around the world, particularly in Africa and South America. Ejiao…