Author: admin@primenews

The ‘akikiki, a small, gray bird native to Hawaii, may not look remarkable, but its rarity is. Only five are thought to remain in the wild and, according to the state’s Department of Land and Natural Resources, the species could go extinct within months. The biggest threat to the tiny birds is from malaria-carrying mosquitoes. Living in the cool and lush mountains of the island of Kauaʻi, for many years this honeycreeper species was out of the range of non-native mosquitoes, but rising temperatures from climate change have enabled the biting insects to find their way up to these peaks – with…

Oil and gas giant Shell has posted strong profits helped by oil prices rising again. The energy giant reported earnings of $6.2bn (£5.1bn) between July and September, up sharply on the previous quarter. Profits were down from $9.4bn in the same period last year, however, when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused a spike in oil and gas prices. Oil prices are currently lower than that period, but have risen recently. That is largely due to members of the Opec+ group of oil-producing nations cutting output to support the market. Earlier this week, the World Bank warned that the conflict in…

Indian opposition MP Mahua Moitra is appearing before a parliamentary ethics panel for questioning over her alleged misconduct in parliament. A fierce critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, Ms Moitra has been accused of asking questions in parliament in exchange for bribes. An MP from the Trinamool Congress party (TMC) of West Bengal state, Ms Moitra strongly denies the allegations. She has said she is willing to “face any kind of inquiry”. On Thursday, she appeared before an ethics committee of the Lok Sabha – the lower house of India’s parliament – which started hearing the case last week.…

He was a great leader who has remained in our hearts,” says a man who has come to pay his respects to Li Keqiang, China’s popular former premier who died last week. Flowers in hand, he and his son walk up to Li’s childhood home on Hongxing road in the city of Hefei. The footpaths are covered in a sea of flowers. Crowds of mourners have been gathering since the 68-year-old suddenly died in Shanghai of a heart attack. “He visited our textile factory and it left a deep impression,” says the man. Li was from the same province as him, Anhui,…

The San Antonio Spurs led the Phoenix Suns for a total of 1.2 seconds on Tuesday, but they were the most important 1.2 seconds of the game. Keldon Johnson stole the ball from Kevin Durant with less than seven seconds left and scored a layup at the death to give the Spurs a dramatic 115-114 victory at the Footprint Center in Arizona, after San Antonio had earlier trailed by 20 points in the third quarter. Durant, who had just become the 12th player in NBA history to hit 27,000 points, missed a buzzer-beater as the game came to a frenetic conclusion. Johnson ended the…

The small Persian Gulf state of Qatar is once again front and center in global diplomacy, this time for its efforts to mediate deals to free hostages taken by Hamas during its October 7 attacks in Israel, as well as evacuate foreign nationals from Gaza. On Wednesday, Qatar brokered a deal between Israel, Hamas and Egypt, in coordination with the United States, to release foreign nationals and critically injured Palestinian civilians from Gaza to Egypt, according to sources familiar with the talks. The agreement was separate from any hostage negotiations, the source added. At least 110 foreign passport holders left Gaza, according…

Israel bombed the densely-populated Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza for the second time in two days Wednesday, prompting warnings of war crimes as more nations took diplomatic measures and condemned Israel’s offensive in the besieged enclave. Israeli airstrikes also hit the vicinity of the Al Quds hospital in Gaza City where doctors say up to 14,000 displaced people are sheltering, according to the director of the hospital. The strikes that began Wednesday evening continued into Thursday morning and were “getting closer to the hospital,” Dr Bashar Mourad told CNN by phone. It also came as the first sanctioned exodus from the besieged enclave in weeks…

The sudden death of China’s former Premier Li Keqiang has spurred an outpouring of grief and mourning across the country. But for many, it also appears to offer a rare opening to air pent-up discontent with top leader Xi Jinping and the direction he has taken the country. Li, who served as Xi’s nominal second-in-command for a decade until March this year, died of a sudden heart attack at age 68 last week in Shanghai, according to state media. He was cremated in Beijing on Thursday after a brief farewell ceremony attended by top officials. His death, just months after his retirement, shocked the Chinese…

Australian police have brought murder charges against a woman who served a lunch earlier this year that led to the deaths of three people from suspected death cap mushroom poisoning. Victoria Police confirmed a 49-year-old woman was charged with three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder after being arrested in connection with the case Thursday morning. Local media, including CNN regional affiliates and national broadcaster ABC, identified the woman as Erin Patterson, 49, who police have previously identified as the person who cooked and served the meal that ended in the deaths. When asked to confirm the woman’s identity, Victoria…

Online dating giant Match Group has dropped a closely watched antitrust lawsuit against Google’s app store, the two companies said Tuesday, days before a trial set to begin in San Francisco federal court. The settlement between the search giant and the owner of sites such as Match, Tinder and Hinge resolves allegations that Google harmed competition through its app store terms. It permits Match Group to provide users alternative ways to pay for in-app content without requiring them to use Google’s proprietary payment channels. The agreement shows how Google has been able to winnow down the number of plaintiffs it…