Author: admin@primenews

China seems to have backtracked on strict rules to combat what the regulator deemed “obsessive” gaming. The National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA) had proposed regulations limiting the amount of money and time people spent playing video games. However, on Tuesday the draft rules were no longer on the NPPA website. China is the world’s biggest online gaming market, but the industry has had frequent run-ins with the authorities. The new rules would have limited in-game purchases. Incentives such as daily log-in rewards for gamers would also have come under fire, while the introduction of a pop-up warning players of “irrational” behaviour was proposed.…

The US says its forces have carried out strikes in Iraq on three facilities used by Iran-backed militia. The “proportionate” strikes targeted “Kataib Hezbollah militia group and other Iran-affiliated groups”, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said. He said the precision strikes were “in direct response” to attacks against US and coalition allies in Iraq and Syria. A number of US military personnel were injured in a missile attack on an airbase in western Iraq last week. Officials said they were “undergoing evaluation for traumatic brain injuries”. The US military’s Central Command (CentCom) said at the time that an Iran-backed militia targeted…

Actor Ryan Gosling has said he is “disappointed” that Barbie’s Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie were snubbed in major Oscar nomination categories. Gosling said he was “honoured” to be nominated for best supporting actor for “portraying a plastic doll named Ken”. “But there is no Ken without Barbie, and there is no Barbie movie without Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie.” Many had expected Gerwig and Robbie to be nominated in the best director and best actress categories respectively. But there were nods for the two elsewhere: actor Robbie was recognised as a producer in the best picture line-up, while Gerwig…

Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley has vowed to press on with her campaign in the wake of a second consecutive loss to Donald Trump. Ms Haley toured much of New Hampshire ahead of Tuesday’s primary, courting both independent and moderate Republican voters. But she was unable to catch Mr Trump, who had a comfortable 10-point lead with most ballots counted. The former president last week won a landslide in Iowa’s caucuses. Days later, Ms Haley became the last remaining rival to Mr Trump, with the sudden departure of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis from the Republican field. At an election night…

Procter & Gamble has said sales of high-end SK-II skincare brand fell 34% between October and December. In addition to China’s slow recovery, the firm’s executives blamed anti-Japanese sentiment. Last year, Japan started releasing treated radioactive water from its Fukushima nuclear power plant which was hit by a huge tsunami in 2011. China opposed the move and banned all seafood imports from Japan, despite the UN’s assurance of its safety. Scientists also largely agree that the environmental impact of the treated water will be negligible but as disinformation fuelled fear and suspicion in China, consumers boycotted Japanese brands, including P&G’s SK-II. Rocks were also…

Netflix sign-ups boomed at the end of last year as customers prodded by the firm’s crackdown on password-sharing created their own accounts. The streaming giant added more than 13.1 million subscriptions in the three months ended in December. That was the most for any quarter since 2020, extending a streak of growth that started last year. Netflix said it was confident in its growth path and was planning to raise prices. “We largely put price increases on hold as we rolled out paid sharing. Now that we’re through that, we’re able to resume our standard approach,” co-chief executive Greg Peters said…

Box office smash Barbie has received eight Oscar nominations – but its star Margot Robbie and director Greta Gerwig were snubbed in some major categories. Gerwig missed out on being recognised in best director, but a nomination for Anatomy of a Fall’s Justine Triet meant the line-up was not entirely male. This is also the first year women have directed three best picture nominees. Oppenheimer scored the most nominations overall, followed by Poor Things and Killers of the Flower Moon. There were nods for Barbie’s star and director elsewhere – Robbie was recognised as a producer in the best picture…

Thousands of villagers in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu are fighting a proposal to expand a port owned by billionaire Gautam Adani, one of the world’s richest men. The villagers, most of whom make a living through fishing, say the port expansion in Kattupalli – a small village located in Tiruvallur district along the Bay of Bengal coast – would submerge their lands and wreak havoc on their livelihoods. Adani Ports denies this. The 330-acre multi-purpose port – originally built by Indian conglomerate Larson & Toubro (L&T) – was acquired by Adani Ports in 2018. The company later…

Last Tuesday, a noisy crowd of several hundred people stood in the small main square of Pyin Oo Lwin, a popular Myanmar hill town, to hear a bespectacled monk make a startling suggestion. Min Aung Hlaing, the country’s military ruler, should step aside, he said, and let his deputy General Soe Win take over. The man who led the 2021 coup against the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, provoking a catastrophic civil war, has faced plenty of international censure, and is loathed by much of Myanmar’s population. This though was criticism from an unusual quarter. The monk, Pauk…

Venmo, Cash App, PayPal, Zelle and other payment apps may be convenient ways to send cash with a few taps of your smartphone, but they’re a breeding grounds for theft, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg tells CNN. Culprits range from savvy swindlers, who trick their way into victims’ locked cell phones, to violent offenders who either drug their targets and then take advantage or bark out commands while threatening physical harm, Bragg said in an interview. The issue has gotten so out of hand in New York that Bragg has sent a letter to the popular apps demanding that they put in…