Author: admin@primenews

Australia opener Usman Khawaja has been charged by the International Cricket Council for wearing a black armband in support of civilians in Gaza during the first Test against Pakistan. Khawaja, 37, did not wear shoes bearing the words “all lives are equal” and “freedom is a human right” in Perth, as he had in training. The ICC deemed him in breach of its clothing and equipment regulations. Khawaja is free to play in the second Test, starting on 26 December. However, he faces further sanctions if he wears an armband again or makes an on-field statement in support of Palestinians…

This affectionate television portrait of King Charles III, in a behind-the-scenes BBC documentary, reveals a playful and warm relationship with his son Prince William. “You haven’t got sausage fingers like mine,” jokes the King, when his son struggles with fastening a Coronation robe during a rehearsal. The documentary follows the build-up to the elaborate ceremony in May. It shows the Archbishop of Canterbury forgetting his lines in a rehearsal. “I have a memory that is probably about as good as our spaniel – in other words zero,” says Archbishop Justin Welby, about not knowing the words during one of numerous…

British teenager Alex Batty has revealed he lied about the details of his escape to protect his mother and grandfather from police. In an interview with The Sun, Alex said doubts about the nomadic lifestyle they kept began when he was “14 or 15 years old”. The teen said future ambitions led him to abandon the nomadic lifestyle in the French Pyrenees. He was found walking along a road in France six years after going missing. Back in the care of his legal guardian, his grandmother in Oldham, Alex has spoken extensively about the night of his escape and what drove…

US actor Vin Diesel’s former personal assistant is suing the Fast & Furious star, accusing him of sexual assault during the 2010 filming of Fast Five. A lawyer for the actor, real name Mark Sinclair, said his client “denies this claim in its entirety”. Asta Jonasson claims in the lawsuit that the actor pinned her to a wall as he performed a sex act on himself. She is further suing for wrongful termination, claiming his company fired her hours after the alleged attack. Ms Jonasson’s lawsuit, which was filed in Los Angeles on Thursday, alleges that the sexual battery took…

The White House says Nippon Steel’s plan to buy US Steel should be probed on national security grounds,even though Japan is a “close ally”. It also expressed concern about the deal’s potential impact on supply chain reliability in a Thursday statement. The $15bn (£12bn) purchase of the 122-year-old steelmaker would create one of the world’s biggest steel companies. But the powerful United Steelworkers (USW) union also criticised the deal as “shortsighted”. In a statement, Joe Biden’s national economic adviser, Lael Brainard, said the US president believed that “the purchase of this iconic American-owned company by a foreign entity—even one from a close…

Scientists have discovered five new species of soft-furred hedgehogs from South East Asia. The revelation required several scientific missions to the animals’ tropical forest home to study them. Researchers also re-evaluated specimens of the mammals which had been in museum collections for decades.  This detailed, biological spot-the-difference study revealed that two of the animals in the museums were new species to science. Three others – that had been categorised as subtypes of one species – were confirmed to be sufficiently distinct from each other to be formally recognised as individual species.  One of the lead researchers, Dr Melissa Hawkins, from…

The wife of Jamal Khashoggi, the journalist who was murdered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, has been granted political asylum in the US. Mr Khashoggi died in October 2018, and US intelligence has said it believes Saudi Arabia was behind the killing. Hanan Elatr, Mr Khashoggi’s wife, feared for her safety and came to the US in August 2020 to apply for asylum. The BBC reviewed documents showing she was granted indefinite asylum status on 28 November. “We did win,” Ms Elatr told the BBC, emotion catching in her throat. “Yes, they took Jamal’s life and they destroyed my…

An 18-year-old hacker who leaked clips of a forthcoming Grand Theft Auto (GTA) game has been sentenced to an indefinite hospital order. Arion Kurtaj from Oxford, who is autistic, was a key member of international gang Lapsus$. The gang’s attacks on tech giants including Uber, Nvidia and Rockstar Games cost the firms nearly $10m. The judge said Kurtaj’s skills and desire to commit cyber-crime meant he remained a high risk to the public. He will remain at a secure hospital for life unless doctors deem him no longer a danger. The court heard that Kurtaj had been violent while in…

Hamas, the group which controls the Gaza Strip, has ruled out any more hostage releases until Israel agrees to a “full cessation of aggression”. Israel says it has killed more than 2,000 Hamas fighters in Gaza since a truce earlier this month when more than 100 hostages were freed. Around 120 people abducted from Israel on 7 October are believed to be still in captivity in Gaza. Efforts continue at the United Nations to pass a resolution on the war. The US has said it still has serious concerns over the draft UN Security Council resolution, with voting now postponed to…

The United States has accused Delhi of plotting to assassinate an American citizen who advocates for Khalistan – an independent Sikh state carved out of India. Washington said an Indian national, working with an Indian government official, had attempted to hire a hitman for $100,000 (£79,000) to carry out the murder on American soil – but the plot unravelled as the hitman was actually an undercover federal agent. The target was identified as Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a dual US-Canadian citizen. The New York-based lawyer, believed to be in his early 50s, is the legal counsel and spokesman for Sikhs for…