Author: admin@primenews

If you’re a music fan looking for tickets to see your favourite artists, you’ll recognise the desperate struggle of getting your hands on one. Harriet Hawkins wanted to go to the final night of Harry Styles’ tour at Wembley this year, knowing it would “be special”. After an unsuccessful hunt on Ticketmaster she searched elsewhere, eventually landing in a Facebook group chat. But what the 20-year-old thought was a ticket to a one-of-a-kind night ended up being a scam. Looking back, Harriet says she felt “kind of stupid, to be honest”. “It was definitely upsetting and I feel sorry for…

Bringing extinct species like beavers back to England is no longer a priority, the government said on Friday to criticism from wildlife groups. In recent years animals and plants have been reintroduced by charities as part of efforts to restore the country’s depleted biodiversity. A recent report shows that one in six UK species are at risk of extinction. The government said it was focused on habitat restoration and pollution. In September more than 60 conservation organisations reported a significant decline in species due to expansions in farming and the effects of climate change. Farmers and wildlife charities have take action…

A year ago, having just bought Twitter, Elon Musk walked into its HQ carrying a sink. “Let that sink in” he quipped – then fired a large swathe of staff. It was the first flavour of what has been a 12-month whirlwind of erratic change – not least the renaming of the company to X. In some ways, X has been remarkably resilient. Despite rivals old and new circling, it survives. However, with advertisers wary and user metrics shaky, what’s next for X? The challenge It is difficult to precisely quantify how many people use X because the company doesn’t…

Former crypto boss Sam Bankman-Fried has been testifying to a judge at his trial after the jury was sent home. The former entrepreneur was asked to speak to Judge Lewis Kaplan to determine which parts of his testimony can be put to the jury. The 31-year-old is accused of lying to investors and lenders and stealing money from customers of his now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, FTX. He put forward arguments that he was acting on legal advice in good faith. The judge sent the jury home so he could decide which portions of Mr Bankman-Fried’s testimony, if any, would be admissible…

Family members have identified some of the victims that were killed after a string of shootings in Maine on Wednesday. Among them are Bob Violette, a 76-year-old retiree and avid bowler, and bar manager Joseph Walker. Officials said at least 18 have died, and more than a dozen were injured. Eight of the deceased have been identified so far, police said, but their names have not been released. Some family members have since spoken to several media outlets about their loved ones. Bob Violette, 76 Violette was identified by his daughter-in-law Cassandra. She told the Lewiston Sun Journal that he…

The manhunt for a US Army reservist suspected of murdering 18 people and injuring 13 others in a mass shooting in Maine has entered its second day. Police say Robert Card is armed and dangerous and are asking people to shelter inside their homes for safety. On Thursday night, police converged on a home in Bowdoin, around a 20 minute drive from Lewiston where the shooting happened the night earlier. Police said they were executing several search warrants. Loud bangs were heard at the scene, and police yelling for him to surrender. Over a megaphone, FBI agents and local law…

The Chinese property developer Evergrande owes more than $325bn (£269bn). That’s more than Russia’s entire national debt. For two years, the company has been lurching from crisis to crisis, repeatedly failing to make payments on its multi-billion dollar loans. Now its founder is under police surveillance, its shares are practically worthless and more than a million people in China are still waiting for their homes to be completed. On Monday, a court in Hong Kong could open a new chapter in the crisis by ordering the liquidation of some of Evergrande assets to pay back frustrated foreign investors. Evergrande has…

India has said it is exploring all legal options after a court in Qatar sentenced eight former Indian naval officers to death on unspecified charges. Reports say the eight men, who worked with a private company in Qatar, were arrested on spying charges last year. Neither Qatar nor India have revealed the specific charges against them. On Thursday, the Indian government said it was “deeply shocked” and will take up the verdict with Qatari authorities. The country’s foreign ministry said it was awaiting the detailed judgment and attaches “high importance to this case” and “have been following it closely”. “We…

Former Chinese premier Li Keqiang has died of a heart attack aged 68. State media said he died 10 minutes past midnight on Friday despite “all-out” efforts to revive him. Li was once tipped to be the country’s future leader but was overtaken by President Xi Jinping. A trained economist, he held the second highest-ranked position in China, though in recent years, he was widely isolated amongst China’s top leadership. He was the only incumbent top official who didn’t belong to Mr Xi’s loyalists group. “Li was viewed as a pragmatic leader and encouraged economic reform… unfortunately his voice was…

Al Jazeera said its bureau chief in Gaza, Wael Al Dahdouh, lost his wife, son, daughter, and grandson in what it said was an Israeli airstrike on Wednesday. The blast hit a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza where the family was taking shelter after being displaced, according to the news organization. “Members of the family of our colleague Wael Al Dahdouh, including his wife, son, and daughter, were martyred in an Israeli bombing,” Al Jazeera wrote in an on-air message. Al-Jazeera reported Al Dahdouh’s grandson Adam was declared dead two hours later. An emotional Al Dahdouh was seen in a video crying as…