Author: admin@primenews

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 Friday in Shanghai, according to state media. He was 68. His death, just months after his retirement, shocked the Chinese public. Tributes have flooded the country’s tightly controlled internet, while a sea of yellow and white bouquets…

An Israeli strike targeting a Hamas commander in the densely populated Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza has left catastrophic damage and killed a large number of people, according to eyewitnesses and medics in the enclave. The devastation wrought by the strike triggered a fresh groundswell of grief over spiraling civilian casualties, as Gazans awoke to another communications blackout Wednesday morning. Survivors and eyewitness spoke of apocalyptic scenes in the aftermath of the strike, which tore a massive crater through the middle of the crowded camp. “I was waiting in line to buy bread when suddenly and without any prior warning seven…

Saudi Arabia is set to host the 2034 men’s FIFA World Cup after Australia withdrew its interest in hosting the global showpiece just hours before the bid deadline on Tuesday. “We have explored the opportunity to bid to host the FIFA World Cup and – having taken all factors into consideration – we have reached the conclusion not to do so for the 2034 competition,” Football Australia said in a statement. Instead the Australia football federation has opted to proceed with their bids for the Women’s Asian Cup in 2026 and the FIFA Club World Cup in 2029. Australia’s withdrawal leaves…

Bill Gates’ former assistant at Microsoft is now the fifth-richest person in the world, per Bloomberg’s tally, and only one spot behind Gates on the real-time list of the world’s richest people. Steve Ballmer, who joined Microsoft as its 24th-ever employee in 1980, has seen his wealth balloon over the past year to reach some $117 billion, per Bloomberg’s data on Tuesday. This figure is only some $5 billion shy of Gates’ estimated net worth of $122 billion. (Gates has notably been giving away large sums of cash as part of his philanthropic efforts since stepping away from Microsoft). Ballmer’s billions puts him…

Warren Buffett’s decision to invest billions of dollars into Japan was “a no-brainer” that felt like a gift from God, according to his business partner. “It was awfully easy money,” Charlie Munger, Buffett’s longtime lieutenant and vice chair of Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA), said in an interview with the Acquired podcast released this week. “It was like having God just opening a chest and just pouring money into it.” In the summer of 2020, Berkshire revealed it had bought stakes of about 5% in each of Japan’s top five trading companies. In total, the American industrial and insurance conglomerate invested $6.7 billion at the time,…

Toyota Motor reported a more than doubling of second-quarter profit on Wednesday, helped by a weak yen and strong sales, and raised its full-year forecast by 50%. The world’s top-selling automaker said operating profit for the three months to the end of September rose 155.6% from a year earlier to 1.44 trillion yen ($9.52 billion). The Japanese automaker said it sold more cars in all global regions — including the United States, Asia and its home market — over the six months to end-September compared to the same period a year earlier. Toyota lifted its full-year profit forecast to 4.5 trillion yen…

Amber severe weather warnings for wind have been issued by the Met Office ahead of Storm Ciarán moving in on Wednesday night. Damaging gusts of wind and stormy seas are expected in southern parts of the United Kingdom. Heavy rain will also spread northwards which may lead on to further flooding issues. Travel disruption is likely in some areas so the advice is to stay tuned to updates. Storm Ciarán (pronounced Keer-on) will be rapidly developing on its approach to the UK later on Wednesday. In a process called explosive cyclogenesis, the low pressure system will deepen by over 24…

How many hours should a person work in a week? That’s the question being asked in India over the past few days after software billionaire NR Narayana Murthy – the father-in-law of UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak – said that young people should be ready to work 70 hours a week to help the country’s development. “India’s work productivity is one of the lowest in the world,” he said on a podcast recently. “Unless we improve our work productivity… we will not be able to compete with those countries that have made tremendous progress.” “So, therefore, my request is that…

Pakistan has started to arrest Afghans as the country begins a nationwide crackdown on foreign nationals it says are in the country illegally. Thousands of Afghans in Pakistan have made their way back to Afghanistan in the last two months. But many of them, who have called Pakistan home for decades, say they have nothing to go back to, while others say they are terrified to be heading back to the Taliban government. You know you are getting closer to the border when the stream of trucks thickens. Faces old and young watch the road, sitting atop piles of furniture,…

Artificial intelligence is nearly twice as good at grading the aggressiveness of a rare form of cancer from scans as the current method, a study suggests. By recognising details invisible to the naked eye, AI was 82% accurate, compared with 44% for lab analysis. Researchers from the Royal Marsden Hospital and Institute of Cancer Research say it could improve treatment and benefit thousands every year. They are also excited by its potential for spotting other cancers early. AI is already showing huge promise for diagnosing breast cancers and reducing treatment times. Computers can be fed huge amounts of information and…