Author: admin@primenews

Christian groups in the Philippines are suing a drag queen who dressed as Jesus Christ and performed a rock rendition of the Biblical verse, Lord’s Prayer. The two criminal complaints accuse the performer, 33-year-old Pura Luka Vega, of “desecrating their religious faith and patron”. A video of a bearded Luka performing the verse in Filipino went viral last month, causing an uproar. Luka, who has dressed as Christ before, defended their performance as art. The latest performance seems to have drawn attention after Luka shared a video of it on X, formerly known as Twitter. It has angered the deeply…

China’s economy is in trouble. That’s bad news for US stocks, and potentially for your portfolio. What’s happening: Chinese consumer spending, factory production and investment in long-term assets (such as property, machinery or other goods) all slowed further in July from a year ago, according to the country’s National Bureau of Statistics. Youth unemployment in the world’s second largest economy has repeatedly hit record highs. Earlier this week Beijing decided to suspend the release of that monthly data altogether. Tensions between the US and China, meanwhile, have been on the rise as the world’s two largest economies clash over issues ranging from…

Retail sales volumes fell by 1.2% in July after the wet weather hit summer clothing sales and the cost of living weighed on food shoppers. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said it was a particularly bad month for supermarkets. “The summer washout combined with the increased cost of living meant sluggish sales for both clothing and food,” it said. Department stores also reported falling demand for household goods. Illustrating how much prices have risen, the ONS said that compared to February 2020 – the last full month before Covid struck – total retail sales were 16.4% higher by value but…

With the weather warming up, you might feel inspired to clean out your closets, wash your windows and give your house a deep scrub and reorganization. Not only is a clean environment good for your physical health, but research has shown that the good feelings you get from having a clean, uncluttered home reduce stress levels and ward off depression. Imagine how great you would feel if you took that same spring-cleaning approach to your body — your living, breathing home. Of course, you should already be subscribing to annual checkups with your primary care physician and eye doctor, and you may…

People with type 2 diabetes should exercise in the afternoon instead of the morning to manage their blood sugar, a new study has found. “In this study, we (have) shown that adults with type 2 diabetes had the greatest improvement in glucose control when they were most active in the afternoon,” co-corresponding author Dr. Jingyi Qian, from the Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders at Massachusetts’ Brigham and Women’s Hospital, said in a statement. “We’ve known that physical activity is beneficial, but what our study adds is a new understanding that timing of activity may be important too,” Qian added. A team…

Shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries tumbled more than 20% on Thursday following a report that the largest power provider in Hawaii could be considering restructuring as it faces an onslaught of costly lawsuits for the role it may have played in Maui’s devastating wildfires. The company’s stock is down more than 73% so far this year. Shares plummeted to 13-year lows on Monday after a class action suit was filed alleging that the wildfires ravaging Maui were caused by energized power lines that were knocked down by strong winds. The suit alleges that Hawaiian Electric Industries “chose not to deenergize their power…

Grocery shoppers in the Southeast can expect to see more Aldi stores starting 2024. The German supermarket giant is acquiring Winn-Dixie and other grocery stores in the Southeast in a move to increase its presence in the region, the company announced Wednesday. Some of the nearly 400 Winn-Dixie locations Aldi is acquiring will keep the familiar red-and-white Winn-Dixie branding and traditional store layout. Aldi will be converting a “significant amount” of Winn-Dixie and Harveys stores to its bare-bones store format over the coming years, CEO Jason Hart said to CNN. The acquisition – which includes Harveys Supermarket – will add…

Portable mobile hotspots have arrived in Maui to help bring internet service to the thousands of people who may have been unable to call for help since the wildfires started to rage out of control on the island. Verizon told CNN on Thursday its teams are currently deploying the first batch of satellite-based mobile hotspots at evacuation sites in areas of greatest need, particularly the west side of the island, west of Maalaea, Lahaina and Northern Kapalua. Verizon’s larger equipment, which is being barged over from Honolulu, is expected to arrive later in the day. This includes COLTs (Cells on Light Trucks) — a mobile…

Lyft and Uber threatened to stop doing business in Minneapolis after the city council adopted a new rule Thursday that would set a minimum wage for rideshare drivers. In a 7-5 vote, the Minneapolis City Council passed an ordinance that includes a number of rideshare worker protections, including a minimum wage for Uber and Lyft drivers. Mayor Jacob Frey has the opportunity to veto the ordinance and has until next Wednesday, August 23, to do so. The proposed ordinance mandates at least $1.40 per mile and $0.51 per minute within Minneapolis be paid to drivers. Minneapolis is debating the minimum wage as gig workers…

A photo of a bright orange fungus growing on deadwood, with its striking color resplendent against the darkness, has been crowned winner of this year’s BMC Ecology and Evolution image competition. Cornelia Sattler from Macquarie University, Australia, captured the winning image in the Australian rainforest and cautioned against merely appreciating the “innocent and beautiful appearance” of the orange pore fungus, which is “an invasive species that displaces other fungi and is spreading throughout the [country].” “It is important to closely monitor this fungus, whose spores are often transported by humans, in order to safeguard the biodiversity of Australia,” she added in…