Author: admin@primenews

A 19-year-old pianist who has been called “classical music’s answer to K-pop” has signed an exclusive deal with the UK’s Decca Records. Yunchan Lim stunned the music world last year when he became the youngest ever winner of the prestigious Van Cliburn Piano Competition in Texas. His performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 has since been watched more than 12 million times on YouTube. Decca snapped up the musician after a prolonged bidding war. Yunchan was courted by record company executives in Tokyo, Paris, Amsterdam, Rome, London, New York and Seoul before he finally decided to sign with the…

Moscow has pledged its “complete support” for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, says Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Mr Lavrov, who is on an official trip to North Korea, also thanked the country for its support in Ukraine. His ongoing trip sets the stage for a possible visit to North Korea by President Vladimir Putin. Last week, the US said North Korea had begun sending large shipments of arms to Russia for use in Ukraine. Mr Lavrov’s two-day visit follows on the heels of Mr Kim’s days-long visit to Russia in September – his first trip abroad since the pandemic -…

An ancient farming village in the Portuguese mountains is fighting plans for an opencast lithium mine right on its doorstep. The lithium would be used for electric car batteries and is described by the mining company as critical for Europe’s transition to green energy. Portugal’s lithium reserves are considered central to Europe’s increasing demand for electric cars, but the villagers say it doesn’t justify ruining their way of life. “It would destroy everything,” says Aida Fernandes, as she looks across the valley where four opencast pits would border the village of Covas do Barroso in northern Portugal. Aida, like generations…

Netflix is raising prices for some of its subscription plans, despite the success of its recent crackdown on password sharing. The streaming giant said monthly charges for some of its advert-free options would increase in the US, UK and France by up to $3. The move reflects the company’s growing confidence, after it added 8.8 million subscribers from July to September. That was the most in more than two years, sending Netflix shares surging. Netflix increased the US price of its premium ad-free plan by $3 per month to $22.99. The cost for premium rose by £2 to £17.99 ($21.84)…

UFC fighter Conor McGregor won’t face charges over a claim of sexual assault at an NBA finals game in Florida in June, prosecutors have told the BBC. Mr McGregor was accused of “violently” forcing himself on a woman in a VIP bathroom in the Kaseya Center in Miami. The unnamed accuser also said arena security aided the attack by trapping her in the toilet. The 35-year-old Irishman denied the allegation and his lawyer said the fighter was “pleased” it was now over. On Wednesday, a spokesperson for the state attorney’s office confirmed to the BBC that the case had been…

A ChatGPT-style AI assistant, developed by Microsoft and embedded into its office apps, will become available to all from 1 November, following trials. Microsoft 365 Copilot can summarise meetings held in Teams for anyone who chooses not to attend. It can also draft emails, create word documents, spreadsheet graphs, and Powerpoint presentations in moments. Microsoft says it hopes the tool will eliminate “drudgery” but some worry tech like this will replace workers. There are also concerns it could leave businesses dangerously reliant on AI-powered assistance. In its current form, it could also fall foul of new rules governing AI, for…

Republican lawmakers say they have been targeted by intimidation tactics, including death threats, from allies of Jim Jordan as his bid for the US House of Representatives speakership falters. Several Republicans told reporters they had been subject to a pressure campaign by supporters of Mr Jordan, who lost a second vote for the gavel on Wednesday. Mr Jordan, a right-wing Republican from Ohio, disavowed the harassment. A hardline conservative revolt ousted the last Speaker on 3 October. Marianne Miller-Meeks, an Iowa Republican, wrote in a statement on Wednesday that she had “received credible death threats and a barrage of threatening…

The United States is easing sanctions on Venezuela after the South American country’s government and opposition agreed to have next year’s election monitored by international observers. Sanctions will be eased on Venezuela’s oil, gas and gold sectors. The next election in Venezuela has been scheduled for the second half of next year. Other sanctions imposed over the suppression of protests and the erosion of democracy remain in place. Washington has cautioned that the relaxation could be reversed if the electoral pact collapses. A new general license issued by the US treasury department authorised Venezuela, which had been under hefty sanctions…

The world’s most valuable chip company Nvidia and iPhone maker Foxconn are joining forces to build so-called “AI factories”. The firms say it is a new kind of data centre that uses Nvidia chips to power a “wide range” of applications. They include training autonomous vehicles, robotics platforms and large language models. It comes as the US announced plans to cut off more exports of advanced chips to China, in a blow to Nvidia. The latest export restrictions announced by Washington this week will block sales of two high-end artificial intelligence chips Nvidia created for the Chinese market – A800 and…

Electric car maker Tesla has a Chinese rival in its rear-view mirror. Shares in BYD, or Build Your Dreams, jumped this week after it said it expected third-quarter profits to more than double compared with last year. BYD is now ahead of Tesla in quarterly production – and second to the US car maker in global sales. Its success is also a sign of just how much China’s auto industry is growing – China overtook Japan this year to become the world’s biggest exporter. It’s a bright spot in a sluggish Chinese economy that is reeling from a severe property crisis and record…