Author: admin@primenews

Some key members of Harvard’s faculty and the university’s top governing body held an extraordinary meeting last week to address the unprecedented problems at one of America’s most prestigious institutions of higher learning. Harvard faces many problems: rising antisemitism on campus and the university’s controversial response to it; President Claudine Gay’s ongoing plagiarism scandal; plunging applications and an Affirmative Action ruling from the Supreme Court that leaves the university with an uncertain future. The meeting, first reported by the New York Times, included Jeff Flier, a former dean of Harvard Medical School, and Steven Pinker, a professor of psychology at Harvard University, among two other faculty.…

Ukraine claimed on Tuesday to have carried out an airstrike in Crimea that destroyed a Russian Navy tank landing ship in what would be, if confirmed, the third instance of major losses of Russian military hardware in less than a week. In a post on Telegram, Ukrainian Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk thanked personnel involved in “the destruction of the Novocherkask large landing ship” while it was in the port of Feodosia in Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula illegally annexed by Russia in 2014. CNN cannot independently verify the claim, but videos posted on social media showed large explosions in the Feodosia…

Celebrities provide a vital public service throughout the year by keeping us all entertained – even if it isn’t always on purpose. In a world where the news is so often depressing, here’s a light-hearted look at some of the mishaps, blunders, flops and fails from 2023. 1. Match of the Day studio chaos Gary Lineker was hosting the BBC sports show in January as usual, when suddenly the studio erupted with the sounds of a woman who, by the sounds of it, was having a rather enjoyable time. It turned out that pranksters had taped a phone to the back of…

Novelist Hanif Kureishi sustained life-changing injuries when he collapsed and landed on his head on Boxing Day last year. Left without the use of his arms and legs, the award-winning writer of The Buddha of Suburbia and My Beautiful Laundrette has charted his experience in brutally-honest blog posts. He credits his sense of purpose to his relationship with his responsive readers. A year on, he joined BBC Radio 4’s Today programme as a guest editor and described the accident’s profound impact on his life. “I thought: “‘I’ve got a few more breaths and then I’m going to die.’ “Then I…

The Powerball jackpot climbed to an estimated $685 million after no ticket matched all six numbers to nab the grand prize during Monday night’s Christmas drawing. The top prize up for grabs during the next drawing on Wednesday has a lump-sum option of an estimated $344.7 million, according to Powerball’s website. No one has won the Powerball jackpot on Christmas Day since 2013, when a ticket in Missouri won a $71.5 million jackpot, according to a Powerball news release. The numbers drawn Monday were 5, 12, 20, 24, 29 and Powerball 4. While no one won the jackpot Monday, several tickets matched…

The radishes grown for La Noche de Rabanos (The Night of the Radishes) in Oaxaca, Mexico, are a world away from the small, thin, red and white sliced radishes that are commonly found alongside lime wedges and bowls of salsa on the tables of most taco restaurants in Mexico. In fact, most of the 20 tonnes of giant, overfertilized radishes harvested in the days leading up to Christmas aren’t edible. Instead, they’re used as artist’s canvases and hand-carved into the most intricate and elaborate festive scenes for a competition like no other in the world. For the event, which is held annually…

As people across the country prepare for holiday celebrations, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging anyone who hasn’t gotten the latest vaccines against respiratory viruses to do so now to avoid getting sick and spreading illness. For the first time, there are vaccines available to protect against Covid-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, known as RSV. But there is an “urgent need” to boost vaccination coverage amid increasing levels of respiratory disease, the CDC said in an official health advisory last week. Vaccination rates in children and adults remain low as virus activity increases. Dr. Peter Hotez, co-director of the Texas Children’s…

Doctor Who and Emmerdale star Richard Franklin has died at the age of 87, it has been confirmed. A statement announced the actor “passed away peacefully” on the morning of Christmas Day adding he was “fighting a long-term illness”. Franklin is best known for for portraying Captain Mike Yates of UNIT in Doctor Who from 1971 until 1974. He also appeared in Crossroads, ITV’s Emmerdale – when it was known as Emmerdale Farm – and Heartbeat. A spokesperson for Franklin told the PA news agency: “We are deeply saddened by his loss, we will fondly remember him for his generosity,…

The Amazon rainforest experienced its worst drought on record in 2023. Many villages became unreachable by river, wildfires raged and wildlife died. Some scientists worry events like these are a sign that the world’s biggest forest is fast approaching a point of no return. As the cracked and baking river bank towers up on either side of us, Oliveira Tikuna is starting to have doubts about this journey. He’s trying to get to his village, in a metal canoe built to navigate the smallest creeks of the Amazon. Bom Jesus de Igapo Grande is a community of 40 families in…

Christmas in Kupiansk is a celebration in name only. Most children have been evacuated and a fraction of its 26,000 population remains. There is a visceral tension which comes with living close to the front line. Within the first hour of us arriving there were two sirens and incoming artillery fire. This city was occupied for six months and then liberated last year. However as western support started to wane, the Russians began pushing back. “We all live on the edge, in fear of death,” explains Svitlana. She works in a kiosk at the local market. The strain feels most…