Author: admin@primenews

Hollywood star Kirsten Dunst has said she grew up at a time when there was “major pay disparity” between herself and her male co-stars. She said she was paid less than male co-stars, even though she had more box office success, with films such as Jumanji (1995) and Bring It On (2000). “I was very young and it just felt like at the time, what do you do?” she said. “I was 17, I was still learning my taste in film. I didn’t even think to ask,” she added. Dunst has previously referred to the pay gap between her and…

Flags have been flying at half-mast across Finland after a child was killed and two others seriously wounded in a shooting at a school on Tuesday. The shooting took place in a classroom at Viertola school in Vantaa, to the north of the capital, Helsinki. Police said all three victims were 12 and that a suspect, also aged 12, had fled after the shooting but was later detained. One of the injured children is Kosovan, its foreign ministry said. All public buildings lowered their flags from 8:00 (05:00 GMT) on Wednesday to mark a day of mourning, the interior ministry said.…

India’s Supreme Court has granted bail to an opposition MP and leader of Delhi’s governing Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in a money laundering case. Sanjay Singh was arrested in October in an investigation into the city’s now-scrapped policies over alcohol sales. Mr Singh, who denies the corruption allegations, had challenged his arrest in court. On Tuesday, the court observed that India’s financial crimes agency did not recover any illegal funds from him. “Fact of the matter is that money has not been recovered,” it said and granted Mr Singh bail. The court, however, dismissed a second plea by Mr Singh…

The president of Botswana has threatened to send 20,000 elephants to Germany in a dispute over conservation. Earlier this year, Germany’s environment ministry suggested there should be stricter limits on importing hunting trophies. Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi told German media this would only impoverish people in his country. He said elephant numbers had exploded as a result of conservation efforts, and hunting helped keep them in check. Germans should “live together with the animals, in the way you are trying to tell us to”, Mr Masisi told German newspaper Bild. “This is no joke.” Botswana is home to about a…

Monday night’s Elite Eight showdown between Caitlin Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes and Angel Reese’s LSU Tigers set the all-time ratings record for a women’s college basketball game, according to ESPN. More than 12 million people tuned in to watch the much-hyped rematch of 2023’s national championship game, which saw Iowa avenge last year’s loss and advance to its second straight Final Four. The audience peaked at 16.1 million viewers, according to ESPN. ESPN also boasted Monday’s audience of 12.3 million made it the “most-watched college basketball game EVER on ESPN platforms.” Iowa, led by Clark’s 41 points, downed LSU 94-87 to advance to the next…

US pop star Lizzo is not leaving the limelight anytime soon, she has assured her fans in a social media post. The Grammy winner said last week she was “quitting” because she was fed up of being targeted for her looks and character online. But she has clarified in a new video: “When I say I quit, I mean I quit giving any negative energy attention.” The pop star built her reputation on body positivity, but has been accused of fat-shaming one of her dancers. The singer – real name Melissa Viviane Jefferson – has rejected that allegation, as well…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed into law a bill lowering the military mobilisation age by two years from 27 to 25. Kyiv has faced heavy losses on the battlefield after two years of war, whereas Russia has benefited from a sizeable advantage in manpower. The move will allow Ukraine to call up more people to replenish its reserves, after volunteer numbers dropped. Mr Zelensky said in December that 500,000 more soldiers were needed. Although the bill was voted through by MPs in May 2023, it did not come into force because Mr Zelensky did not sign it. It was not immediately…

Ask 72-year-old farmer Huanchun Cao about his pension and he reacts with a throaty cackle. He sucks on his home-rolled cigarette, narrows his brow and tilts his head – as if the very question is absurd. “No, no, we don’t have a pension,” he says looking at his wife of more than 45 years. Mr Cao belongs to a generation that witnessed the birth of Communist China. Like his country, he has become old before he has become rich. Like many rural and migrant workers, he has no choice but to keep working and to keep earning, as he’s fallen…

A powerful earthquake struck off Taiwan’s east coast on Wednesday, killing at least four people. The 7.4 magnitude quake caused multiple buildings to collapse in Hualien, the city closest to the epicentre, where rescue efforts are taking place. The strongest tremor to hit the island in 25 years was also felt as far as Taiwan’s mountainous interior, which was rocked by huge landslides. In the capital Taipei, footage showed buildings seen shakily violently. “The earthquake is close to land and it’s shallow. It’s felt all over Taiwan and offshore islands… It’s the strongest in 25 years,” said Wu Chien Fu,…

Jon Stewart on “The Daily Show” Monday revealed what led to his abrupt exit from Apple and the cancellation of his short-lived show on its streaming TV platform. Stewart said that the tech giant prohibited from discussing artificial intelligence or interviewing Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan. Khan was a guest on Stewart’s Comedy Central program, which he returned to in February and hosts on Mondays. Stewart and Khan discussed Big Tech monopolies, after the US Justice Department and more than a dozen states sued Apple last week in a blockbuster antitrust lawsuit that accused Apple of illegally monopolizing the smartphone market. Stewart said he…