Author: admin@primenews

The UK economy grew slightly in February increasing hopes it is on its way out of recession. The economy grew by 0.1%, official figures show, boosted by production and manufacturing in areas such as the car industry. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that construction was dampened by wet weather though. This is an early estimate, but signals how the UK, which entered recession at the end of 2023, is faring. Liz McKeown, director of economic statistics at the ONS, said that looking across the three months to February as a whole, the economy grew for the first time…

President Joe Biden has been urged to ban imports of Chinese-made electric cars to the US. The chair of the Senate Banking Committee, Senator Sherrod Brown, wrote “Chinese electric vehicles are an existential threat to the American auto industry”. His comments are the strongest yet by any US lawmaker on the issue, while others have called for steep tariffs to keep Chinese electric vehicles (EV) out of the country. In February, the White House said the US was opening an investigation into whether Chinese cars pose a national security risk. “We cannot allow China to bring its government-backed cheating to…

On 8 April, the total eclipse was only visible from a handful of ski resorts across the world – including two in Maine. Sometimes you can’t help but feel lucky to be alive. The recent total eclipse was only visible from a handful of ski resorts across the world – all of them in the north-eastern US and Canada – and on 8 April I got a perfectly clear 55F (13C) bluebird ski day on top of a mountain in the US state of Maine. The icing on the cake was a 2ft surprise snowstorm a few days earlier, frosting the mountain…

Instagram will start testing new tools within weeks to fight “sextortion”, a form of blackmail involving intimate pictures sent online. The tools include “nudity protection”, which blurs naked images in direct messages. It will be turned on by default for under-18s. Pop-ups directing potential victims to support will also be trialled. Governments around the world have warned of the increasing threat to young people from sextortion. It often involves victims being sent a nude picture, before being invited to send their own in return – only to then be threatened that the image will be shared publicly unless they give in to…

Big tech’s dominance of the rapidly developing artificial intelligence (AI) market is a matter of “real concern”, the competition regulator has warned. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is looking into the new breed of powerful AI tools – foundation models. They include text and image generators, such as ChatGPT. The CMA found an “interconnected web” of AI partnerships involving the same firms: Google, Apple, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, and chip-maker Nvidia. “When we started this work, we were curious. Now, with a deeper understanding and having watched developments very closely, we have real concerns,” Sarah Cardell, the chief executive of…

Children as young as nine have been added to malicious WhatsApp groups promoting self-harm, sexual violence and racism, a BBC investigation has found. Thousands of parents with children at schools across Tyneside have been sent a warning issued by Northumbria Police. One parent, who we are calling Mandy to protect her child’s identity, said her 12-year-old daughter had viewed sexual images, racism and swearing that “no child should be seeing”. WhatsApp owner Meta said all users had “options to control who can add them to groups”, and the ability to block and report unknown numbers. Schools said pupils in Years…

Holidaymakers who were evacuated from Rhodes last year due to wildfires will be offered vouchers for money off hotel stays, the Greek government has said. The Rodos Week scheme is for holidaymakers who were evacuated from hotels in July 2023, but will not cover those who stayed in AirBnBs. The vouchers will be worth up to €500 (£430) and the stay must be for seven nights. Thousands of UK holidaymakers were flown home due to the fires last year. Holidaymakers are being offered vouchers for two periods: in the spring between 10 April and 31 May, and in the autumn between 1…

I was halfway through my morning run when I heard it. The sound of the apocalypse. An air raid-style siren, slowly wailing up and down in pitch, was blaring over Belfast at 0830 GMT. I glanced at the sky. But nobody else nearby seemed to be taking any notice. My wife, who had her earphones in, hadn’t heard the noise at all until I pointed it out. It was the same at the supermarket on the way home. The din of the siren was audible across East Belfast, and yet, life continued as normal. The bizarre Belfast siren was, the…

The White House is to close a loophole that allows thousands of firearms to be sold at gun shows and on the internet without federal background checks. It will classify around 23,000 vendors as licensed firearms dealers, making their gun sales subject to the checks. Attorney General Merrick Garland said: “If you sell guns predominantly to earn a profit, you must be licensed.” The Biden administration said it expected a court challenge by pro-gun groups, but was confident it would win. “All of the major actions that the president has taken to reduce gun violence have been challenged,” an administration…

Baldur’s Gate 3 led the pack at the 20th Bafta Game Awards, with five wins including the coveted best game title. The role-playing game based on Dungeons & Dragons also scooped prizes for music and narrative, with an acting award for Andrew Wincott as fan-favourite devil Raphael. Super Mario Bros. Wonder won two, while Star Wars Jedi: Survivor missed out despite having six nominations. Meanwhile, photography-based puzzler Viewfinder won best British game. Last year gaming sales accounted for £4.7bn in the UK, more than double that of the music industry, according to the digital entertainment and retail association (ERA). There was…