Author: admin@primenews

Australia has begun early voting in a landmark referendum on enacting an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. If approved, the reform would recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the country’s constitution and establish a permanent body for them to advise the government. The country has not had a successful referendum in almost 50 years. Opinion polls had long-shown support for the proposal, but as the vote nears the No side appears to be leading. While the majority of Australians will vote on 14 October, those who are unable to can vote at select polling centres right across the country…

The tragic death of an Indian schoolgirl has laid bare the consequences of “Eve-teasing” – a popular South Asian euphemism which many say trivialises the street harassment and assault of women. The short CCTV video of two Indian girls riding bicycles starts off quite innocuously. Dressed in their school uniform – tunics, salwar bottoms and scarves – the teenagers are riding side by side on a near-empty road. But within seconds, the calm of the scene is shattered. Two men on a motorbike overtake them and one of them pulls away the scarf of one of the girls. Immediately she…

The price of oil will continue to stay elevated as demand for energy increases, says the secretary general of Opec+. Opec+ is a group of 23 oil-exporting countries which decides how much crude oil to sell on the world market. “We see demand growing about 2.4 million barrels a day,” Haitham Al Ghais told the BBC. Saudi Arabia said it would be cutting its production of crude oil by a million barrels a day to boost prices. The International Energy Agency (IEA) said the decision by Saudi Arabia and Russia – two major oil producers and members of Opec+ – to cut…

Burger King remains open as usual in Russia despite the brand’s owner pledging to leave more than a year ago. Restaurant Brands International (RBI), which owns 15% of the fast-food’s franchise business in Russia, told the BBC it had “no new updates to share at this time” on its exit. The firm said in March 2022 that it had started the process to leave Russia. Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, Western companies have been under pressure to leave Russia. Critics accused RBI of “sustaining Putin’s regime” by failing to ditch its stake in its Russian business. RBI,…

Shares in crisis-hit Chinese real estate giant Evergrande have jumped as trading in the firm resumed after being suspended in Hong Kong. The company halted trading in its shares on Thursday as it confirmed that its billionaire founder was being investigated by authorities. Evergrande shares soared by more than 40% in early trading on Tuesday before settling at around 15% higher. It defaulted on its debts in 2021, triggering a property crisis in China. The latest share suspension came just a month after the firm’s previous 17-month trading halt was lifted. “There is currently no other inside information in relation to the…

US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy is fighting for his political life after a right-wing rebel filed a rarely used motion to oust him. Responding to Matt Gaetz’s move, Mr McCarthy posted on social media: “Bring it on.” Mr Gaetz retorted: “Just did.” Tensions between the two Republicans boiled over at the weekend after the Speaker passed a bill with the help of Democrats to fund government agencies. No US Speaker has ever been ousted by such a so-called motion to vacate. The leadership has two days to bring up the measure for a vote, though procedural tools could…

John Kelly, the longest-serving White House chief of staff for Donald Trump, offered his harshest criticism yet of the former president in an exclusive statement to CNN. Kelly set the record straight with on-the-record confirmation of a number of damning stories about statements Trump made behind closed doors attacking US service members and veterans, listing a number of objectionable comments Kelly witnessed Trump make firsthand. “What can I add that has not already been said?” Kelly said, when asked if he wanted to weigh in on his former boss in light of recent comments made by other former Trump officials. “A…

Apple’s chief executive Tim Cook said the firm wants to hire more staff in the UK, in contrast to redundancies seen across the tech sector. He said the company wants to take on more staff to work in artificial intelligence (AI). It comes a day after Fortnite-maker, Epic Games, announced it was cutting 16% of its workforce. Big firms including Amazon, Meta, Google and Microsoft have cut tens of thousands of jobs since 2022. Mr Cook has been critical of the trend of tech layoffs and in May, he called it a “last resort”. Instead, he told the PA news agency…

At least 170 people are now known to have died in a huge explosion at a fuel depot in Nagorno-Karabakh on Monday. The announcement marks a sharp rise from the authorities’ previous estimate of 68 deaths. Remains found at the scene of the blast will now be sent to Armenia to identify the victims through DNA analysis. Ethnic Armenians were queueing at overwhelmed petrol stations, desperate to leave the territory after it surrendered to Azerbaijan. The authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh said rescue teams were continuing to search the area. It is not yet clear what caused the explosion on the evening…

Firms have told the BBC they were not aware of a ban in England on single-use plastic cutlery, plates and polystyrene trays that comes into force on Sunday. The ban does not extend to plastic containers and trays used in takeaways or for pre-packaged food in shops. Environmental campaigners said the new rules do not go far enough, and called the government’s approach “piecemeal”. The government said it was the “next big step” in its “journey to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste by 2042”. Plastic pollution takes hundreds of years to break down, harms waterways and is a source of…