Author: admin@primenews

Writer and poet Benjamin Zephaniah has been remembered as a “titan of British literature” after his death aged 65. He died early on Thursday with his wife by his side after being diagnosed with a brain tumour eight weeks ago, a statement on his Instagram said. “We shared him with the world and we know many will be shocked and saddened by this news,” it added. Tributes poured in for the “beautiful human being” and “proud Brummie” who “had a lot more to give”. Zephaniah was born and raised in Handsworth, Birmingham, the son of a Barbadian postman and a…

Yael Noy doesn’t wear military fatigues, but she describes herself as being in battle right now, after the Hamas assault on 7 October. “I’m fighting to be good,” she tells me. “I’m fighting to stay moral when both sides are in such terrible pain. I’m fighting to be the same person I was before.” Yael heads a charity called Road to Recovery, a group of Israeli volunteers who drive sick Palestinians – mostly children – from checkpoints in the occupied West Bank and Gaza to hospital appointments in Israel. Or did. The 1,000 or so volunteers can no longer take…

US President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, is facing a nine-count criminal indictment for alleged tax evasion. The 56-page charge sheet accuses him of evading $1.4m in taxes from 2016-19 and funding an “extravagant lifestyle”. Much of the recovering crack cocaine addict’s alleged illicit activities occurred while his father was US vice-president under Barack Obama. But the current US president is not accused of wrongdoing, or even mentioned in the latest indictment. The Yale-educated lawyer faces up to 17 years in prison if convicted. Hunter Biden was separately hit with a federal indictment on gun charges in September. How Hunter Biden…

Activists say up to 600 North Korean defectors, believed to be mostly women, have not been heard from since their deportation from China. In October, China carried out the largest repatriation of North Korean detainees in years, after Pyongyang ended its Covid border lockdown. This put the detainees’ lives at risk, human rights groups said at that time. Viewed as traitors, they can face torture, sexual violence and execution in the isolated state, advocates said. On Thursday, a Seoul-based human rights group tracking the detainees said they believed up to about 600 North Koreans had “vanished” after being forcibly returned.…

India’s ambassador to Qatar has met eight former naval officers who have been sentenced to death in Qatar on unspecified charges. An Indian foreign ministry spokesperson said that the diplomat met the men in prison on 3 December. He added that a court in Qatar has held two hearings on an appeal filed by India against the verdict and a third hearing will be held soon. The Court of First Instance of Qatar sentenced the men to death in October. India had said then that it was “deeply shocked” and would explore all legal options. The court order has not been made public and…

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by bad news about climate change. Even for those of us used to covering it every day as journalists, it can sometimes seem relentless. Of course we are right to worry. This year will be the warmest twelve months in 125,000 years, scientists say, as its impacts hit home in every corner of the Earth. But as delegates try to reach a deal at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai, there are some real reasons to be optimistic too. Here’s a look at some of them: 1 – The secret solar revolution On streets and…

Italy will pull out of China’s flagship Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the government has confirmed. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s administration notified Beijing that it would cease participating in the BRI ahead of a deadline at the year’s end. Italy was the only major Western nation to sign up to the BRI, one of China’s most ambitious trade and infrastructure projects, in 2019. The move was heavily criticised by the US and others at the time. Launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, the BRI aims to invest an estimated $1tn (£794bn; €925bn) across Asia and Europe. Projects including…

The massively popular video game Fortnite has launched a high-profile collaboration with Lego. Crafting has always been a key part of the online shooter, which has more than 400 million registered players. Now it has released an entirely new survival game mode, where players will do their crafting with Lego bricks. And it seems to have drawn inspiration from Minecraft – a Lego-style block-building and crafting game – which is the best-selling game of all time. The new game mode can be accessed by launching Fortnite – which is free-to-play on PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Switch. Fortnite technically has multiple game…

Millions of UK consumers could receive payouts after a legal claim was launched against mobile phone networks. Consumer champion Justin Gutmann alleges Vodafone, EE, Three and O2 overcharged customers for phones beyond the end of their contract.  He is seeking damages of more than £3bn on behalf of 4.8 million people. Responding, EE called the claim “speculative”, while O2 said it hadn’t been contacted. Vodafone said it didn’t have sufficient detail for its legal team to assess, and Three declined to comment. The “Loyalty Penalty Claim” – which is being filed with the Competition Appeal Tribunal – is being brought…

Armenia and Azerbaijan say they will move towards normalising relations, and will exchange prisoners captured during the fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh. The two neighbours have been involved in a decades-long conflict over the disputed territory. In a joint statement released on Thursday night, the two countries said they saw a “historical chance” for “long-awaited peace”. Both countries said they hoped to sign a peace treaty by the end of the year. European Council President Charles Michel welcomed the move, calling it a “major breakthrough in Armenia-Azerbaijan relations”. The countries say they will work towards signing a full peace treaty based on…