Author: admin@primenews

US highway safety regulators are investigating an apparent hidden feature in Tesla’s Autopilot software that can reportedly disable the safety prompts Tesla gives to drivers to keep their hands on the steering wheel. The regulators are demanding information from the automaker about whether consumers could try to circumvent the safety controls on Tesla’s driver-assist technology. In a letter to Tesla dated July 26 and made public by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration this week, US authorities expressed concern that the recent discovery of the setting — which has since been widely and unofficially dubbed “Elon mode” — could encourage unsafe…

Summer is coming to a close, but Hollywood is still stuck in strike Hell. In the nearly four months since the Writers Guild of America, West, went on strike, television schedules have been shaken up, movies and shows have been bumped, once-glamorous red carpets have gone dark, and the laughter of late-night has died. A few weeks ago, when the pain of the enduring stalemate began to cause a wince, studios moved to reinitiate talks with the writers, eliciting a sense of cautious optimism in Tinseltown. It seemed that after an exhausting summer, rife with endless hours of picketing and…

China just made it easier for people to buy homes, in a move that could affect $3.5 trillion in mortgage loans as Beijing seeks to bail out a property market mired in a record slump and worsening cash crunch. Down payments will be set at a minimum of 20% for first-time buyers and a minimum of 30% for second-time buyers nationwide, according to a joint statement by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and the National Administration of Financial Regulation (NAFR) released late Thursday. That’s a big cut from the existing requirements of minimums of 30% and 40% for first-time and second-time buyers in…

There’s no sign of “Messi mania” abating anytime soon. Ticket prices for this Sunday’s match between Inter Miami and Los Angeles FC are the most expensive for a Major League Soccer game ever, according to TickPick, an online marketplace. Average prices are around $690 — a 527% increase over the average ticket price of an MLS game, which used to cost $110 before soccer superstar Leo Messi joined the league. Currently, just days from the game, the cheapest ticket to see Messi take on last year’s MLS Cup winners will cost $785. Without Messi, prices fall sharply, with the cheapest ticket for the…

The Philippines has become the latest of China’s neighbors to object to its new national map, joining Malaysia and India in releasing strongly worded statements accusing Beijing of claiming their territory. China published a new version of its national map on Monday, as it has regularly done since at least 2006, to correct what Beijing has in the past referred to as “problematic maps” that it claims misrepresent its territorial borders. The Philippines said Thursday it “rejected” the map because of its inclusion of a dashed line around contested areas of the South China Sea that was subject to an international…

Ukrainian forces said they had penetrated the “first line” of Russian strongholds in the Zaporizhzhia region, in a sign that Kyiv is edging closer to Moscow’s sprawling network of fortified trenches along the southern front. The Ukrainian military claimed on Thursday that its units had advanced towards two villages to the south and east of Robotyne, a village in Zaporizhzhia that Kyiv secured last week amid a grueling counteroffensive that is yielding incremental gains. “In the Novodanylivka-Novoprokopivka direction, they have been successful, are consolidating their positions, inflicting artillery fire on the identified enemy targets, and conducting counter-battery operations,” the military’s general staff said…

At least 73 people have died and dozens more were injured after a fire tore through a five-story building in central Johannesburg which had been turned into informal housing. Authorities said they have moved through the building floor by floor, searching for survivors and pulling out charred bodies and laying them on the streets. Children are believed to have been killed, according to local media. The fire has now been extinguished, rescue officials said. In addition to the dead, more than 50 other people were injured, according to Robert Mulaudzi, a spokesperson for the city’s emergency services. Wiseman Mpepa, who survived…

Russia’s imperial past looms large over Moscow. The Kremlin walls and towers make visitors feel like tiny specks on Red Square. Five miles away, I get a similar feeling when I go to Victory Park. It is a sprawling complex of museums and memorials built to commemorate the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany. The centrepiece – a massive square with an obelisk 141.8m (465ft) high – 10cm for each day of the Great Patriotic War, as the Soviets called their part in World War Two after the Nazi invasion. When I visit, it is National Day of the Russian…

Military officers in Gabon have declared they were seizing power from President Ali Bongo Ondimba in a stunning coup, threatening the family’s half-century rule over the central African nation. Men in army uniform appeared on national television Wednesday to announce the president’s house arrest during the military takeover, prompting celebrations and reports of gunfire on the streets of the capital – but condemnation overseas. “It is brought to the attention of the national and international community that Ali Bongo Ondimba is being kept under house arrest,” an unnamed junta spokesperson said on state TV on Wednesday morning, adding that the…

China has told India to “stay calm” over a new Chinese map that Delhi says lays claim to its territory. India protested after Beijing released the map showing north-eastern Arunachal Pradesh state and the disputed Aksai Chin plateau as China’s territory. Beijing responded by saying its neighbours should refrain from “over-interpreting” the issue. Meanwhile, media reports say Chinese President Xi Jinping is likely to skip next week’s G20 leaders talks in Delhi. Unconfirmed reports suggest Premier Li Quang will attend instead. Mr Xi had earlier confirmed he would travel to Delhi for the meeting from 9-10 September – but China’s…