Author: admin@primenews

A plane carrying hundreds of Indian nationals who were held for days at an airport in France over human trafficking fears has arrived in India. The chartered Airbus A340, which had been flying from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Nicaragua, aroused suspicion during a refuelling stop. It left with 276 passengers but 25 people including two minors remained in France after applying for asylum. Two suspected traffickers also remain in France for further investigation. However the two were set free by the courts. The Legend Airlines flight landed in Mumbai early on Tuesday local time. It had initially been…

The Chinese capital, Beijing, has experienced its coldest December since records began in 1951. Temperatures in the city have frequently fallen below -10C this month. It has been a year of extremes in the capital: six months ago, Beijing recorded its hottest ever June day, at just over 40C. China has been hit by several waves of extremely cold weather already this winter. A Beijing weather observatory recently recorded more than 300 hours of below-freezing temperatures in under two weeks, according to the state-backed China Daily news agency. The cold snap has affected provinces across China, with schools in some…

A senior Iranian commander was killed in a suspected Israeli strike in Syria. Iranian media say. Seyyed Razi Mousavi was “an experienced military adviser” to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, the semi-official Tasnim news agency said. It says he was killed in an air strike on the Sayyida Zeinab area south-east of Damascus. Israel has carried out military strikes in Syria for years, against what it says are Iran-linked targets. The strikes have increased in frequency over the past months following Hamas’ attack on 7 October. Iranian forces have been present in Syria since the early stages of the Syrian…

A little girl who has spent most of her life on chemotherapy was invited to Windsor Castle for tea with the Queen. Olivia Taylor has a brain tumour which has left her blind but she leapt up to say “Hello, your Majesty!” as she met Queen Camilla. The seven-year-old tried her first cup of tea as part of her visit to Windsor. She was invited after the Queen learned Olivia had performed with a choir at Buckingham Palace as part of the pre-recorded King’s Christmas broadcast. Olivia, part of the Bexley Music Primary Choir, gave the Queen a preview during…

The United Nations says Gaza is at risk of famine if the war between Israel and Hamas continues. A quarter of households – roughly 500,000 people – are facing “catastrophic conditions”, a UN food security agency found. It says the territory’s entire population of roughly 2.2m people is suffering acute food shortages. “No-one in Gaza is safe from starvation,” said Cindy McCain from the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP). “Humanitarian access is needed now for supplies to flow into and throughout Gaza and for civilians to safely receive life-saving aid”. The report was published on Thursday by the Integrated Food…

Some of China’s most prominent analysts have been subjected to social media restrictions that appear designed to restrict their ability to comment on the country’s ailing stock markets and struggling economy. At least six analysts are unable to upload new posts or gain new followers on popular social networking platforms, according to their account pages reviewed by CNN. One of them is Liu Jipeng, an advisor to the Chinese government, who recently asked retail investors in the country to refrain from investing in the stock market. He has not posted on social media since early December and users can no longer follow…

It’s no surprise that Titouan Bernicot is so deeply passionate about his work. Growing up on his family’s pearl farm on the French Polynesian atoll of Ahe, the ocean is so much a part of who he is that he describes it as his best friend. At just 18 years old, Bernicot set up Coral Gardeners, an organization focused on restoring local reefs, and in the seven years since he has gathered a team to restore and plant more than 100,000 resilient corals at atolls across the Pacific Ocean. Bernicot, now 25, has also recruited global stars as Coral Gardeners ambassadors,…

Chinese authorities are investigating a hospital over an incident where a surgeon allegedly punched the patient he was operating on at the time. It was captured in a clip that went viral on Chinese social media this week, sparking outrage online. The hospital’s parent group, Aier China, has suspended the surgeon and dismissed the CEO of the hospital where the incident took place in 2019. The BBC has contacted Aier China for comment. The video appears to show the surgeon punching a patient in the head at least three times while operating on their eyes. Aier China, which operates a…

India’s top wrestler, Sakshi Malik, has quit the sport in protest over her federation’s new president. Sanjay Singh was elected the chief of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) on Thursday after a landslide victory. Mr Singh is reportedly a close aide of WFI’s former chief, Brij Bhushan Singh, who has been accused of sexually harassing female wrestlers. Mr Singh denies the allegations. Wrestlers had held massive protests against his alleged misconduct. In January, wrestlers paused protests as Brij Bhushan Singh lost administrative powers, pending a government investigation. In April, they resumed protests because the government didn’t reveal the panel’s findings on Mr Singh,…

The eco-ethics of Christmas trees is a subject close to the hearts of many in the Morvan Natural Park. These remote Burgundy uplands produce more than a million baby firs for the market every year, making the region France’s top producer. But for every local who is happy about the money and jobs created by Christmas trees, there is another who bemoans their impact on the natural environment. Here, as elsewhere, only a tiny percentage of Christmas tree plantations are run on organic lines. The vast majority depend on the application of chemical treatments. And if efforts are certainly being…