Author: admin@primenews

JK Rowling has challenged Scotland’s new hate crime law in a series of social media posts – inviting police to arrest her if they believe she has committed an offence. The Harry Potter author, who lives in Edinburgh, described several transgender women as men, including convicted prisoners, trans activists and other public figures. She said “freedom of speech and belief” was at an end if accurate description of biological sex was outlawed. Earlier, Scotland’s first minister Humza Yousaf said the new law would deal with a “rising tide of hatred”. The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 creates a new…

The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s criminal hush money case has expanded a gag order on the former president after his online attacks against his daughter. Justice Juan Merchan has banned Mr Trump from criticising his family members or those of Manhattan prosecutor Alvin Bragg. The Trump campaign has called the gag order unconstitutional. In the case, Mr Trump denies concealing hush money payments to an adult film actress ahead of the 2016 election. The original order last week barred Mr Trump from attacking court staff, potential jurors and witnesses. But Mr Bragg, the district attorney, argued on Monday that the restriction should…

A K-pop star who had to issue a grovelling apology to fans for having a boyfriend is single again. Karina and actor Lee Jae-wook rocked the K-pop world when they went public with their relationship in February, with some angry fans accusing her of “betrayal”. Lee’s agency C-JeS Studio confirmed the break up, saying he wanted to “focus on his filming projects”. They added that the duo would “continue to support each other as colleagues”. The couple rocked the K-pop world when they went public with their relationship in February, with some fans accusing her of “betrayal”. Other fans had…

Microsoft has said it is splitting the Teams business messaging and video app from its Office software globally. The firm separated the two products in Europe last year as it faced a possible fine from competition watchdogs. Teams was added to Office in 2017. The European Commission has been investigating the move after a complaint from rival Slack in 2020. A Microsoft spokesperson told the BBC that the move is to “ensure clarity for our customers”. It “also addresses feedback from the European Commission by providing multinational companies more flexibility when they want to standardise their purchasing across geographies,” they…

Google has agreed to delete billions of records and submit to some restrictions on its power to track users, under the terms of a proposed legal settlement. The deal aims to resolve a class action lawsuit brought in the US in 2020, which had accused the tech giant of invading people’s privacy by collecting user data even when they were browsing in “private mode”. The suit had sought $5bn in damages. Google is supporting the deal, though it disputes the claims. It has already made changes in response to the lawsuit. The data deletion will also apply outside of the United…

Five plastic-wrapped packages believed to contain cocaine have washed up on beaches in Sydney, deepening a long-running drug mystery. Found by beachgoers at Freshwater and Curl Curl on Monday, the parcels – 5kg in total – were seized by police. They say it is part of a massive shipment of cocaine which has been washing up in bits since December. Australians are the highest per capita users of cocaine in the world, followed by Britain, according to the OECD. “As inquiries continue, the public are reminded to report any suspicious package to authorities,” NSW Police said in a statement on…

Nearly a week after Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed, almost two dozen sailors remain stranded on-board the vessel involved in the accident. Most of the crew of the Dali, a 948ft (289m) container ship, are from India. One was slightly injured when the ship collided with the bridge. Six people were killed in the collapse. Investigators are working to determine exactly what caused the collision, and it is unclear when the crew will be able to leave the vessel. Here’s what we know about the men on-board the Dali and their current situation. What do we know about the…

An Australian politician accused of murdering his stepfather has failed in his attempt to be re-elected as a city councillor, officials say. Ryan Bayldon-Lumsden faced heavy criticism for standing given the serious criminal charge against him. Ahead of the vote, he had defiantly told the BBC that it was for the public to decide if he served again. Despite his unusual situation he was still the first choice for almost 22% of voters, the official count shows. But he only came third in a ballot for the City of Gold Coast council seat that he had won convincingly four years…

Former US President Donald Trump has posted a $175m (£140m) bond in his New York civil fraud case, staving off asset seizures by the state. Mr Trump was originally ordered to pay the full $464m judgement against him, but an appeals court said he could pay the smaller sum within 10 days. He was found in February to have fraudulently inflated property values. The Republican denies wrongdoing and says the case is a political witch hunt by the Democratic prosecutor. If he loses his appeal, Mr Trump will have to come up with the $464m. His lawyers had argued before…

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards say seven officers have been killed in an Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate building in Syria’s capital, Damascus. Brig-Gen Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander of the elite Quds Force, and Brig-Gen Mohammad Hadi Haji-Rahimi, his deputy, were named among the dead. Iran and Syria’s governments condemned the attack, which destroyed a building next door to the Iranian embassy. The Israeli military said it did not comment on foreign media reports. However, it has acknowledged carrying out hundreds of strikes in recent years on targets in Syria that it says are linked to Iran and allied…