Author: admin@primenews

Russia has held a “final successful test” of a nuclear-powered cruise missile, Vladimir Putin has claimed. The president’s comments came after his spokesman rejected a New York Times report that testing of the weapon, known as the Burevestnik, was imminent. The experimental weapon, first announced in 2018, has been hailed as having a potentially unlimited range. But little is officially known of its capabilities and there are reports that previous tests have failed. President Putin’s account has not been independently confirmed and there has been no word so far from the Russian defence ministry. However, satellite images circulated last month…

A drone attack on a Syrian military academy in the city of Homs has killed at least 100 people and left dozens injured. The explosive-laden drones targeted a graduation ceremony attended by cadets’ families, and women and children were among the dead. The army blamed “terrorist groups backed by known international forces”. There was no immediate claim from the rebels and jihadists battling the government in the country’s civil war. The drone attack is believed to have been launched from opposition-held areas north-west of Homs. Later, first responders from the White Helmets reported that five civilians had been killed in…

Scientists have unveiled a sprawling burial site in India belonging to one of the world’s earliest urban civilisations. The BBC’s Soutik Biswas delves into the clues the graves might give us about how the early Indians lived and died. In 2019, as scientists embarked on excavating a mound of sandy soil near a remote village in the sparsely populated Kutch region, situated not far from Pakistan in India’s western state of Gujarat, they had no inkling of the surprise that lay in store for them. “When we began digging, we thought it was an ancient settlement. Within a week, we…

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour concert film has become a box office blockbuster a week before hitting cinemas. Its distributor AMC says global advance ticket sales have topped $100m (£82m), adding demand “has been incredible from the moment it was first announced.” The firm says it took less than 24 hours for the movie to beat its record for the highest one-day sales. Swift’s global tour, which is scheduled to continue until late 2024, is on track to become the biggest in history. Stadium ticket sales could reach $1.4bn which would break the record currently held by Elton John for his farewell tour. The…

Ex-President Donald Trump has asked a federal court to dismiss the election interference case against him, arguing his role entitled him to “absolute immunity”. Mr Trump’s lawyers say his attempts to cast doubt on the 2020 election fell within his duties as president and are not subject to criminal prosecution. The claims were “at the heart of his official responsibilities”, they argue. Separately, Mr Trump has asked for a delay in his classified documents case. Mr Trump’s attorneys have asked for that trial, in which the former president is accused of improperly handling sensitive files, to be held after the…

A Philippines drag queen was arrested on Wednesday over their performance as Jesus Christ reciting the Lord’s Prayer. A video of the performance by Pura Luka Vega had sparked criminal complaints by Christian groups in July. The 33-year-old, whose real name is Amadeus Fernando Pagente, faces up to 12 years in jail under the Catholic-majority country’s obscenity laws. Nearly 80% of the Philippines identifies as Roman Catholic. Pagente has been charged with the offence of “immoral doctrines, obscene publications and exhibitions and indecent shows”, according to a copy of the arrest warrant shared by Manila police. The video features a bearded…

President Joe Biden is coming under fire from both sides of the political spectrum after his administration announced new border wall construction in Texas. Mr Biden has claimed he “can’t stop” construction because funding for it was appropriated in 2019. The Department of Homeland Security, however, has said there is an “acute” need for the barriers. Over 2.2 million migrants have been detained this fiscal year alone. The growing number of migrants in US cities such as New York have increasingly become a challenge for Mr Biden, who has faced intense criticism over his handling of the border. According to…

People from “every family” in the Ukrainian village of Hroza have been affected by a missile attack that killed 51 people, Ukraine’s interior minister has said. At least 51 people were killed when the strike hit a wake for a local resident in the village, south-east of Kharkiv. “From every household there were people present”, Ihor Klymenko said. Ukraine’s defence ministry blamed Russia for the attack, and said there were no military targets in the area. Russia has not directly commented on the strike. But on Friday Russian state news agency Ria Novosti reported that the Russian military had carried…

When Boubacar Touré and his flatmates heard a sudden, thundering crash beside their apartment, they thought it was an earthquake. But then they opened the windows of their kitchen, where they were cooking dinner, and one shouted: “A bus has fallen.” “We ran down to the spot where the bus was on fire and I heard a woman screaming, ‘My baby, my baby,'” 27-year-old Boubacar, who is from The Gambia says, his eyes heavy with exhaustion. “I managed to pull her through the window and then pulled out her son, who was badly burnt but still alive.” The bus, carrying…

Last month, popular Punjabi rapper Shubhneet Singh’s forthcoming India tour was cancelled after tensions erupted between India and Canada. The reason was a controversy that broke out over an old social media post where he had shared an incorrect map of India. The Canada-based singer (known to fans as Shubh) was accused of supporting the demand for Khalistan, or a separate Sikh homeland – a sensitive topic in India, which saw a violent insurgency over the movement in the 1980s. Canada has the largest population of Sikhs outside India’s Punjab state, and is home to popular Punjabi diaspora musicians who divide their…