Author: admin@primenews

Britain is ready to bring forward the moment when it formally recognises a Palestinian state, the foreign secretary has suggested. Lord Cameron said Palestinians had to be given a political horizon to encourage peace in the Middle East. He is beginning his fourth visit to the region since being appointed foreign secretary in November. The UK has a responsibility to set out what a Palestinian state would look like, he told a Westminster reception. The Palestinian people would have to be shown “irreversible progress” towards a two-state solution, Lord Cameron said. “As that happens, we – with allies – will look…

Indian naval forces have rescued 19 Pakistani sailors after their fishing vessel was hijacked by pirates off Somalia’s coast. This was the second rescue operation in 36 hours by Indian warship INS Sumitra. Hours earlier, the ship had rescued the 17-member Iranian crew of a vessel which was also hijacked by pirates, the navy said. India’s navy has responded to several distress calls from vessels and sailors over the past few weeks. Recent attacks on vessels off Somalia’s coast have triggered concerns that pirates could be becoming active again in the region. INS Sumitra has been deployed for maritime security…

Former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan has been sentenced to 10 years in jail in a case in which he was accused of leaking state secrets. Khan, who was ousted by his opponents as PM in 2022, is already serving a three-year jail term after being convicted of corruption. He has called all the charges against him politically motivated. The conviction under the secrets act comes the week before general elections in which is he barred from standing. Former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi – vice-chairman of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party – was also sentenced to 10 years…

Russia must provide clarity over the whereabouts of jailed opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza, UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron has demanded. Concern has grown since the Russian-British national, convicted of treason after criticising the war in Ukraine, was removed from a prison in Siberia. Russian prison transfers are shrouded in secrecy and can take weeks. Lord Cameron said Russia “must urgently” inform Kara-Murza’s lawyers of his whereabouts. Enquiries to the penal colony in Omsk where he was held received responses saying he was no longer there. “I’m deeply concerned for Mr Kara-Murza – a British national imprisoned in Russia for speaking…

A woman has suffered severe injuries after she was attacked by a shark during a sunset swim in Australia. Lauren O’Neill was bitten on the leg near a private wharf in Sydney Harbour on Monday evening. Local residents rushed to the scene and administered first aid after hearing her yell for help. Ms O’Neill, aged 29, was taken to hospital in a serious but stable condition. Authorities believe a bull shark is responsible for the attack, based on photographs of the bite marks. Michael Porter, who is Ms O’Neill’s neighbour, told the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) he heard a “soft…

Toyota has urged owners of 50,000 older vehicles in the US to get immediate repairs as airbag inflators made by Takata could explode and kill them. The “Do Not Drive” advisory covers some of the world’s biggest carmaker’s models from 2003 to 2005. Since 2009, more than 30 deaths have been linked to air bag inflators produced by Takata. Toyota says “if the airbag deploys, a part inside is more likely to explode and shoot sharp metal fragments”. The vehicles involved are the 2003-2004 model Corolla, 2003-2004 Corolla Matrix, and 2004-2005 RAV4. Serious issues with Takata airbag inflators have resulted in…

Police have arrested five people after several bodies were found shot dead in a remote area of southern California’s Mojave Desert. Six bodies were found after a gunshot victim called 911, sending a police helicopter to the grisly crime scene. Investigators for the San Bernardino Sherriff’s Office said on Monday that the dispute appears to be related to illicit marijuana production. Four of the six victims have been identified so far, police said. The bodies – all men – were found on 23 January off a highway near the town of El Mirage, located in San Bernardino County. All six…

As the Japanese Space Agency put it: “Operations resumed!” After the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) re-established contact with its Moon lander on Sunday night, the craft started to study its surroundings in detail and transmit new images to Earth. The lander is carrying out analysis that could inform future, much longer missions to the Moon. One lunar scientist told BBC News: “Now we’re really seeing the science.” The craft is at a very awkward angle. A picture, captured by the small baseball-sized robot called Sora-Q – which was ejected from Slim moments before touchdown – showed the lander face-down…

Tech billionaire Elon Musk says his Neuralink company has successfully implanted one of its wireless brain chips in a human for the first time. Initial results detected promising neuron spikes or nerve impulses and the patient is recovering well, he said. The company’s goal is to connect human brains to computers and it says it wants to help tackle complex neurological conditions. A number of rival companies have already implanted similar devices. BBC News has approached both Neuralink and the US’s medical regulator, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), for comment. Mr Musk’s company was given permission to test the chip…

An Australian news channel has come under fire after it doctored an image of a female state MP that enlarged her breasts and exposed her midriff. The photo of Georgie Purcell appeared in a Nine News bulletin after she criticised the Victorian government’s rejection of a duck hunting ban. Ms Purcell posted the original and altered images to social media, noting how her outfit had been edited. Nine News apologised and claimed “automation by Photoshop” was to blame. Ms Purcell is the youngest woman in the state’s parliament and has frequently called out the treatment of women in Australian politics.…