Author: admin@primenews

It’s Mickey, but not as you’ve ever seen him before. A trailer for a slasher film, featuring a masked killer dressed as Mickey Mouse, was released on 1 January, the day that Disney’s copyright on the earliest versions of the cartoon character expired in the US. “We wanted the polar opposite of what exists,” the movie’s producer said. A new Mickey-inspired horror game, showing the rodent covered with blood stains, also dropped on the same day. Steamboat Willie, a 1928 short film featuring early non-speaking versions of Mickey and Minnie, entered the public domain in the US on New Year’s…

People who know house music know exactly who Peggy Gou is. The Korean-born, Berlin-based DJ has been a mainstay of the club scene for years. But last summer, she had a mainstream breakthrough with the pinging, percussive pop banger It Goes Like (Nanana). “Even though I’ve been releasing music since 2015, last year really hit differently,” she says. “I did not expect this song was going to get so much love, but it really changed a lot of things for me.” Since the song hit the charts, she’s graced the cover of Vogue magazine, been named the best house DJ in the world and linked…

Rescue efforts continue in Japan after at least 62 people were killed in a powerful earthquake that hit the country on New Year’s Day. Homes collapsed, buildings caught fire and roads were extensively damaged, hindering the work of rescue services. The epicentre of the 7.6 quake was the Noto peninsula, in central Japan. The Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, said that emergency services were locked in a “race against time” to rescue survivors. He also said some 3,000 rescuers were trying to reach parts of the Noto peninsula. Helicopter surveys showed many fires and widespread damage to buildings and infrastructure. The…

Loud explosions have been heard in parts of south-west Russia and occupied Crimea overnight. Russian officials say the border city of Belgorod, where 25 people were killed on Saturday, came under attack again as well as Sevastopol in Crimea, where a Ukrainian missile was downed. In recent days the aerial war between Russia and Ukraine has intensified. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says Russia used some 300 missiles and 200 drones over five days. Russia launched its biggest aerial bombardment of the invasion late last week, killing more than 40 people. Ukrainian forces responded with the attack on Belgorod in which more than 100 people…

A severe cold wave has gripped parts of northern India, with temperatures falling below -5C (23F) in Indian-administered Kashmir. Several regions, including India’s capital, Delhi, get enveloped in a thick layer of fog in early mornings and at night. Poor visibility has also caused disruptions in flight and train services, making it difficult for people to travel. India’s weather department has said that the cold wave is likely to persist for the next couple of days. The famous Dal Lake and other water bodies in Kashmir have partially frozen, making it hard for boatmen to ferry passengers and tourists. The…

A Japan Airlines plane carrying hundreds of passengers burst into flames on landing at Tokyo’s Haneda airport on Tuesday after it was in collision with another aircraft involved in earthquake relief efforts. JAL flight 516 ignited after flying into Haneda from the northern Japanese city of Sapporo at 5:47 p.m. local time (3:47 a.m. ET) All crew members and passengers, including eight children under the age of two, were safely evacuated from the passenger plane, according to the airline. One person on the Coast Guard plane escaped, but five are unaccounted for. JAL is investigating the details and cause of…

An Australian man whose family argue he is being “held hostage” in Iraq has now spent 1,000 days in prison. Robert Pether was jailed in 2021 on fraud charges, but the UN has described it as an arbitrary detention. After three Christmases behind bars, his family says Mr Pether has hit “rock bottom” and that his health is rapidly deteriorating. His lawyer is calling on the Australian government to urgently secure the father of three’s release. Desree Pether worries that her husband – who has lost a third of his body weight since being arrested – may die in prison…

Thailand and China will permanently waive visa requirements for each other’s citizens from March, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said. Thailand waived visas for Chinese nationals in September in a bid to boost tourist arrivals. The programme saw strong response at a time when Thailand was starting to lose its appeal for Chinese travellers. More than 22,000 Chinese entered the Southeast Asian nation in the first two days of the waiver, authorities said. “Right now we’re ready to open the country and to take good care of tourists in both countries mutually. This is welcoming news,” Mr Srettha said at…

India’s space agency has successfully launched a rocket that is carrying an observatory which will study astronomical objects like black holes. It was launched from Sriharikota spaceport at 09:10 local time (03:40GMT) on Monday. This is only the second mission in the world of this nature after Nasa launched one in 2021. The space agency said it wanted to help scientists improve their “knowledge of black holes”. “We will have an exciting time ahead,” Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) chairperson S Somanath said after the launch. A black hole is a region of space where matter has collapsed in on…

The FBI is investigating after two vehicles collided and plowed into a crowd in a fiery crash, killing two people and injuring five others as a New Year’s concert was letting out in Rochester, New York. Thousands of people were pouring out of the Kodak Center after ringing in the new year when the fatal crash shrouded the night’s celebrations with tragedy, authorities said. Revelers were walking on a crosswalk outside the venue at around 12:50 a.m. Monday when a Ford SUV slammed into a Mitsubishi Outlander that was leaving a nearby parking lot, Rochester Police Chief David Smith said…