Author: admin@primenews

“Welcome back to Kyrgyzstan,” says Shukur Shermatov, addressing a class of 20 women. He is wearing a traditional felt cap, but there is nothing traditional about this school. It sits inside two rings of military security and the students are women who have been brought home from camps in Syria, where they ended up after living with the Islamic State group. The rehabilitation centre is woven into the mountains of northern Kyrgyzstan, and it is where wives and children of suspected IS recruits spend their first six weeks after being repatriated. Our BBC World Service team are among the first…

Houthi rebels have hit a US-owned cargo ship with a ballistic missile off the coast of Yemen, the US says. The vessel, Gibraltar Eagle, reported “no injuries or significant damage”, according to the United States military command for the Middle East (Centcom). The Marshall Islands-flagged vessel is continuing on its journey in the Gulf of Aden. Iranian-backed Houthis have been attacking ships since November, in protest at Israel’s war against Hamas. Shipping company Eagle Bulk Shipping said the bulk carrier was carrying steel products and was about 160km (100 miles) offshore in the Gulf of Aden when it was hit.…

On a brutally cold morning, Yogendra Guru looked adrift in a maze of traffic after visiting the heavily secured makeshift shrine where Hindus believe Lord Ram was born. Frenzied construction work provided the backdrop in the northern Indian city of Ayodhya – a vast centre to welcome pilgrims, arched sandstone gates, a broad corridor leading to a grand new $217m (£170m) temple for the Hindu deity. A multi-billion dollar makeover has seen swathes of the city bulldozed to turn it into what some Hindu nationalist leaders are calling a “Hindu Vatican”. Mr Guru had endured a gruelling 14-hour bus journey…

Hamas has issued a new video purporting to show the bodies of two Israeli hostages, with the militants claiming that they died in air strikes on Gaza. It comes a day after Hamas released another video of the hostages when they were alive, but warning they could die if Israel continued its bombardment. Israel denied they were killed by strikes. Its defence minister accused the militants of “psychological abuse”. He added that military pressure was essential to release more hostages. The video released on Monday shows a woman named as Noa Argamani, speaking under duress and saying that two men…

It’s the white gold that gives ski resorts their essence, but these days, snow is an increasingly precious commodity. Whether it’s falling from the sky in silent, fluffy flakes or being pumped out of the now ubiquitous snow cannons lining the ski runs, resorts rely on the white stuff to maintain a viable business. But with climate change affecting snow reliability in the mountains, particularly in lower altitude resorts, more and more venues are employing a third method to supplement coverage and attract enough visitors to open the lifts at the start of the season. Snow farming is the practice…

Rishi Sunak is to address MPs for the first time since the UK joined US strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen. Mr Sunak said Thursday’s strikes had been “limited” and “necessary” to protect lives and commercial shipping. The PM authorised the action without consulting Parliament, prompting criticism from some in opposition. Following the strikes, the US said it shot down a missile fired at one of its warships from a Houthi area of Yemen on Sunday, with no injuries reported. It is the latest in weeks of attacks in the Red Sea by the pro-Hamas Houthis, who say they target ships linked…

The British Library’s main catalogue, with more than 36 million records, is returning online on Monday after last year’s cyber attack. It is the first significant step in the complete restoration of services for those using the UK’s largest library. But the catalogue will just be available in a “read-only” format. “Full recovery of all our services will be a gradual process,” its chief executive has warned. The hack on 31 October resulted in the British Library’s website being down for almost a month. The Rhysida ransomware group claimed to be behind the attack. And in November, the library confirmed…

The Detroit Lions held on for a 24-23 win over the Los Angeles Rams to celebrate their first play-off victory in 32 years. Some of the long-suffering Lions fans, who included rapper Eminem, were in tears as Dan Campbell’s team won the first post-season game to be played in Motor City for 30 years. That also brought an end to the NFL’s longest-ever losing streak in the play-offs, with Detroit having suffered defeat in their previous nine. Earlier on Sunday, the Green Bay Packers pulled off the first shock of this season’s play-offs, claiming a stunning 48-32 win at the Dallas Cowboys. As…

The first new version of cult video game Prince of Persia in 14 years has been released, called The Lost Crown, and it is the first edition in the series to be fully voiced in Farsi. The franchise draws heavily on Persian mythology and Iranian culture, but until now has always been in English. The developers say they want to “depict and respect Persia and Iran”. Game fan Sam Mandi-Gohmi said it was “brilliant” that representation was being taken more seriously. “When I saw the tweet announcing Farsi would be a full game audio option for The Lost Crown, I…

Killing Eve star Jodie Comer may look pretty invincible when she’s acting, but she is surprisingly candid about her latest role, saying: “I started this process quite literally terrified.” In survival film The End We Start From, Comer plays a mother who navigates flooding and civil unrest – while trying to nurture her newborn baby. It sounds like an impossible combination, but Comer evidently likes a challenge – she’s already garnered a slew of awards, including two Baftas, for her vastly different acting roles. This film starts in London, where environmental disaster means Comer’s character and her partner flee their…