Author: admin@primenews

In 2023, the effects of climate change were so pronounced that scientists confirmed it would be the warmest year in recorded history before December even began. Released on Nov. 30, a report by the Word Meteorological Organization confirmed that, thanks to months of record-breaking heat, there was virtually no chance that the final month of the year could prevent 2023 from taking its place as the warmest year since humans began keeping records. “Greenhouse gas levels are record high. Global temperatures are record high. Sea level rise is record high. Antarctic sea ice is record low. It’s a deafening cacophony of broken…

Kicking off a sky-lighting launch doubleheader, a powerful SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket vaulted away from the Kennedy Space Center on Thursday atop a torrent of flaming exhaust to put an unpiloted X-37B spaceplane into orbit for a classified, long-duration military mission. At the nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, another team of SpaceX engineers launched a workhorse single-core Falcon 9 rocket just two hours and 54 minutes later, thought to be the shortest span between two U.S. orbit-class missions since the mid 1960s. The two flights were SpaceX’s 95th and 96th so far this year. The Falcon Heavy got off…

Virat Kohli’s defiant 76 failed to save India from being thrashed by an innings and 32 runs by South Africa in the first Test at Centurion. India lost seven second-innings wickets in the evening session as they were bowled out for just 131 in 34.1 overs. Kohli and Shubman Gill (26) were the only India batters into double figures as Nandre Burger (4-33) and Marco Jansen (3-36) did the damage. The second and final Test starts on 3 January at Newlands in Cape Town. India captain Rohit Sharma said his side’s performance after a defeat inside three days was “not…

The former leader of a Hong Kong pro-independence group said Thursday he had fled to Britain to seek asylum in breach of a police supervision order, joining a growing list of pro-democracy activists living in self-imposed exile overseas following Beijing’s crackdown on the city. In a Facebook post, Tony Chung, 22, said he had faced “stringent surveillance” by national security police following his release from prison in June after serving a sentence for secession under a tough security law. He also claimed officers had exploited his poor financial situation in an attempt to induce him to become a paid informant. “I feared stepping out of my…

Russian strikes have hit Ukraine’s north-eastern city of Kharkiv and Lviv in the country’s west, the mayors of the two cities say. The mayor of Kharkiv reported a “massive missile attack” on the city, while his counterpart in Lviv reported two strikes. There were no immediate reports of casualties. There are also reports of Russian drone strikes in the port city of Odesa earlier. Kharkiv’s regional military administration said Russia had “made about 10 strikes on the city”. Kharkiv is less than 40km (25 miles) from the border with Russia, while Lviv lies in the far west of Ukraine, just…

Regulators have issued a recall for high-powered magnetic balls after the US Consumer Product Safety Commission issued several warnings for the toy kits, citing the risk of injury or even death. Walmart recalled the “Relax 5mm Science Kit, Large Hematite Magnets Magnetic Stones Building Blocks,” sold exclusively on the site through Joybuy. Earlier in December, CPSC said these magnets, often marketed for children, are small enough to fit into the CPSC’s small parts cylinder (which simulates the width of a child’s throat), and are also magnetically stronger than permitted. If swallowed, the high-powered magnets can attract to each other or to other metals inside…

A plane crash in Nepal that killed 72 people, including two infants, was most probably the result of its pilots mistakenly cutting the power, said a report by government-appointed investigators. This caused a loss of thrust that led to an “aerodynamic stall”. The Yeti Airlines flight was flying from the capital Kathmandu to the tourist town of Pokhara on 15 January. It is the country’s deadliest plane crash in 30 years. The flight on 15 January, which involved an ATR 72, was the flight crew’s third sector of the day, shuttling between Kathmandu and Pokhara. The privately owned plane crashed…

A detention camp on the Isle of Mull and breaking international law were among measures on migration presented to Tony Blair when he was prime minister, according to newly released files. Papers from 2003 released by the National Archives show Mr Blair was increasingly frustrated by the failure to deter people from coming to the UK and called for more “radical” ideas. Other suggestions presented to him included safe havens overseas for those whose asylum claims were rejected. In a paper entitled “Asylum: the nuclear option”, advisers even questioned whether the UK needed an asylum system at all, because refugees…

China has denied media reports that its investigation into alleged lip syncing by a popular Taiwanese rock band is politically motivated. The reports alleged that Beijing asked Mayday to make pro-China comments and that when the band refused, the inquiry was started to put pressure on them. Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office has dismissed the reports as “fake news” and a “complete fabrication”. Taiwan says it is looking into the claims. China’s National Radio and Television Administration asked Mayday to publicly declare its support for Beijing’s position that self-ruled Taiwan is part of China, Reuters news agency reported on Thursday, citing an internal…

US National Park Service rangers have charged former James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan with trespassing in Yellowstone National Park. Mr Brosnan, 70, was charged with going off trail near the Mammoth Hot Springs and has been ordered to appear in court in Wyoming on 23 January. The hot springs are part of the park’s thermal features that include geysers, steam vents and scalding mud pools. More than 20 people have been killed after falling into the park’s springs. The Irish actor, who played James Bond from 1995 to 2002, had entered an off-limits area near the Mammoth Terraces on 1…