Author: admin@primenews

Oil and gas giant Shell has reported lower annual profits due to energy prices falling last year. Profits were $28.2bn (£22.3bn) in 2023, down from $39.9bn in 2022 which was the company’s highest earnings in its 115-year history. Energy firms made record earnings when oil and gas prices soared in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine amid fears of supply problems. Households bills have eased since 2022, but remain at a high level. Shell said its profit figure for last year was a result of lower oil and gas prices, as well as lower volumes being traded and lower…

The Houthi movement in Yemen says it has struck a US merchant ship in the Red Sea in a fresh attack targeting commercial shipping. It named the ship as the KOI, which it said was US-operated. But industry journal Trade Winds quoted a source familiar with the situation as saying there was no such attack. Maritime security firm Ambrey said a vessel operating south of Yemen’s port of Aden had reported an explosion on board but it did not name the ship. Meanwhile, the US has launched new air strikes in Yemen, targeting 10 drones reportedly being set up to…

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has presented its last budget before the country heads for general elections in the coming months. The interim budget – or a stop-gap financial plan – will come into effect from 1 April until a new government presents a full-fledged budget after coming to power. Not surprisingly, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has continued to fund infrastructure building – which has been a major driver of India’s economic growth. Over $130b has been allocated to build physical assets like roads and ports this year – a 11% jump from last year – but below the…

Sri Lanka’s draconian law to regulate online content has come into force, in a move rights groups say is aimed at stifling freedom of speech. The Online Safety Act gives a government commission broad powers to assess and remove “prohibited” content. Authorities said it would help fight cybercrime, but critics say it suppresses dissent ahead of elections. Social media had a key role in protests during an economic crisis in 2022, which ousted the then president. The act was passed on 24 January by 108-62 votes – sparking protests outside parliament – and came into effect on Thursday after the…

Concern is mounting for thousands of sheep and cattle stranded off the coast of Australia after authorities ordered the Israeli-owned ship transporting the live cargo to turn around over fears it could be targeted by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea. More than 16,000 animals are aboard the MV Bahijah anchored off Western Australia, where sweltering heat is adding to pressure on the Australian government to decide whether to re-export or offload the animals following more than three weeks at sea. The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry said on Thursday it was still considering a request from the exporter to allow the…

Liverpool singer Jamie Webster is a superstar in his home city, with a 40,000-capacity headline show coming up this summer. But his outspoken political and footballing allegiances have proved divisive elsewhere. When Webster played the biggest gigs of his career so far – two sold-out shows for 24,000 people on Liverpool’s waterfront last summer – one intrepid fan spotted an opportunity to sneak in. The open-air concerts took place between two of the city’s historic docks. “There was a canal running right down the middle,” the singer explains. “Someone actually swam in. He didn’t have a ticket, and he swam.…

European leaders are meeting on Thursday in Brussels in the hope of ending a standoff over financial aid for Ukraine. Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban vetoed a €50bn ($55bn; £43bn) aid package for Kyiv last December. Many pinned his decision on the EU’s withholding of €20bn of funds for Hungary because of concerns about human rights and corruption in the country. Rumours have swirled recently over potential punitive action by the EU. Leaders are growing impatient with Hungary’s stance, which is preventing funding from reaching Ukraine as the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion approaches. At the last EU summit in…

Elon Musk says Tesla will move immediately to hold a shareholder vote on shifting the firm’s legal home from the US state of Delaware to Texas. It comes after a judge in Delaware annulled Mr Musk’s $55.8bn (£44bn) Tesla pay package. After the ruling, Mr Musk posted on social media: “Never incorporate your company in the state of Delaware.” Many big firms, including Amazon, are registered in Delaware which is known for having light taxation. This week, Judge Kathaleen McCormick found Tesla directors, who negotiated the pay package in 2018, were “perhaps starry eyed” due to Mr Musk’s “superstar appeal”…

India’s financial crimes agency has arrested a top opposition leader, hours after he resigned from the position of the chief minister of Jharkhand state. Hemant Soren, of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) party, has been accused of corruption. He denies the allegations. He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday evening after seven hours of questioning. His party has named transport minister Champai Soren as the next chief minister of the eastern state. Mr Soren has challenged his arrest in India’s Supreme Court, calling it politically motivated. The matter will be heard on Friday. He is the latest…

It started with a magazine cutting. Appearing in Surfer, the article was titled ‘Africa – Home of Surfing?’ and illustrated with a heavy-handed caricature of a tribesman dragging a board out of the surf. Written in the 1960s and forwarded to Ben Lalande by colleague Sarah Hughen over Instagram nearly 60 years later, it set the filmmakers thinking. A few months later in Busua, a small Ghanaian fishing town, they focused their camera on some surfers bobbing in the Atlantic and the blue morning light. As the article had explained, it is a centuries-old scene. But there was also something…