Author: admin@primenews

Former chief operating officer of Meta Sheryl Sandberg is leaving the company’s board of directors. Ms Sandberg, one of the most high-profile women in the tech industry, said that “this feels like the right time to step away” as Meta is “well-positioned for the future”. She will serve as an informal advisor to the company going forward. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg thanked her for the “extraordinary contributions” to the company. Ms Sandberg joined the firm when it was a small startup named Facebook. A veteran of Google, she helped turn its advertising business into a profit powerhouse, as the company…

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Indian archipelago Lakshadweep triggered an unexpected row that soured ties with neighbouring Maldives. It also set off a surge in tourist interest in the small island chain that has worried ecological experts and many locals. On his visit to Lakshadweep – a federally administered territory that lies in the Arabian Sea, to the north of Maldives – Mr Modi had announced a slew of development projects and shared photos of himself snorkelling and enjoying its beaches. Three Maldivian deputy ministers made derogatory comments about him, sparking outrage on Indian social media and prompting…

A Singapore cabinet minister has been charged with corruption, in a rare case that has shocked a nation which prides itself on squeaky-clean governance. Subramaniam Iswaran pleaded not guilty to 27 charges including “obtaining gratification as a public servant”. He is known for overseeing Singapore’s tourism industry around the time when the Formula One Grand Prix made its glitzy debut in the city-state. Mr Iswaran quit his post in government on Thursday. He also said he would return his salaries and allowances since investigations into his case started in July 2023. Mr Iswaran was put on a leave of absence…

A Singapore cabinet minister has been charged with corruption, in a rare case that has shocked a nation which prides itself on squeaky-clean governance. Subramaniam Iswaran pleaded not guilty to 27 charges including “obtaining gratification as a public servant”. He is known for overseeing Singapore’s tourism industry around the time when the Formula One Grand Prix made its glitzy debut in the city-state. Mr Iswaran quit his post in government on Thursday. He also said he would return his salaries and allowances since investigations into his case started in July 2023. Mr Iswaran was put on a leave of absence…

An American woman who helped kill her mother and stuff her body in a suitcase during a 2014 holiday in Bali has been sentenced to 26 years in prison. Heather Mack was convicted in Indonesia in 2015 and sentenced to 10 years in prison, but was released in 2021. She was then arrested upon arriving in the US and charged with conspiracy to kill a US national. Mack has spent the last two years in a Chicago prison as she awaited sentencing. On Wednesday, Judge Matthew Kennelly ruled that Mack, 28, will receive credit for the time she has served…

“I shouted his [William Lai’s] name so much on the night of the election, I lost my voice the next day,” says Nancy Yang, who flies home to Taiwan from San Francisco every four years so she can vote. William Lai Ching-te won Taiwan’s presidential election on Saturday, giving his ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) a third, unprecedented term. And Ms Yang is one of a few thousand Taiwanese living overseas who returned last week to vote in an election that China had framed as a choice between war and peace. In Taiwan, where voters must cast their ballots in person,…

The US has carried out a fourth round of strikes on Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen, Pentagon officials confirmed on Wednesday night. Some 14 Houthi missiles, which the US says may have been intended for attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, were targeted by American forces. Centcom – the US Middle East command – said the sites were struck by Tomahawk missiles fired from US Navy vessels. The strikes come as the US designated the Houthis as “global terrorists”. US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the move, which reversed a decision to remove the designation in the early days…

If you’ve been on YouTube lately, you might have come across someone claiming wind and solar energy don’t work, that rising sea levels will help coral reefs flourish, or that climate scientists are corrupt and alarmist. These are all false and misleading statements taken from a handful of thousands of YouTube videos analyzed by the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), which has identified a stark change in the tactics of climate deniers over the past few years. Where once climate deniers would outright reject climate change as a hoax or scam, or claim that humans were not responsible for…

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Wednesday said it is proposing a rule that would curb excessive overdraft fees charged to customers of large banks and credit unions, potentially saving consumers as much as $3.5 billion a year. The rule would only apply to banks and credit unions with at least $10 billion in assets, which account for the largest share of deposit account customers in the United States. Too often, the consumer watchdog agency has noted, bank customers are surprised by overdraft fees and those who can least afford them are charged the most frequently. “Today, we are proposing…

President Zelensky has called for some of the Russian billions seized by world banks to be sent to rebuild Ukraine. The G7 group is considering taking only the rise in value and interest due since the assets were frozen in 2020. But the Ukrainian president told the BBC all of the money should be used. “If the world has $300bn – why not use it?”, he said. The BBC understands central bankers in Europe have concerns over undermining banks’ safe haven status. Despite some enthusiasm from the US and UK governments, Europe’s central bankers have been far more sceptical about…