Author: admin@primenews

From its origins in 1980s Taiwan to today’s global craze, bubble tea or boba, has come a long way. Ask people under the age of 40 anywhere in the world whether they have ever tried the milky tea and tapioca ball concoction and there’s a pretty good chance that they have. Bubble tea has certainly hit a sweet spot with its many fans but it has left some investors with a bitter taste. Stock market debuts of two China-based chains have alreadyflopped. And there are at least two more share sales in the pipeline. Despite these hiccups, it’s undeniable that…

Ten years after becoming prime minister, Narendra Modi is aiming for a historic third term – what makes him India’s most prominent leader in decades? Many voters feel things have got better since he took office in 2014, but will people who are struggling back him in the country’s general election? In Mr Modi’s constituency in the northern city of Varanasi, saree weaver Shiv Johri Patel says he’s got many worries – but he’s clear who’s getting his vote. “Mr Modi has done great work. We haven’t seen poor people getting so many welfare benefits under any other government,” he says. Mr…

Sharon Stone, Stephen Fry and Liam Neeson have called for Kevin Spacey to be allowed to return to acting. He has not appeared on screen or in the theatre since 2017, after he was accused of sexual misconduct. The actor was found not guilty last year of all charges of sexual assault against four men between 2001 and 2013, and in 2022 a US court dismissed a sexual assault lawsuit against him. Statements of support were made by fellow actors to The Telegraph, prompted by the release of a Channel 4 documentary. Spacey Unmasked, which was broadcast earlier this month, featured testimony from several…

Fighting around the city of Kharkiv which has seen Russia make its largest territorial gains in Ukraine in 18 months has been described as “very difficult” but “under control” by Volodymyr Zelensky. Ukraine’s president made the comments while speaking to military leaders in the city on Thursday, just 18 miles (30km) from the Russian border. Moscow launched a major ground assault across the border into the Kharkiv region last week. The surprise move has further stretched Ukraine’s outgunned and outmanned forces. Writing on Telegram, Mr Zelensky said Ukrainian soldiers were “inflicting significant losses on the occupier”. “However, the area remains…

Israel’s military says five soldiers have been killed by Israeli tank fire in northern Gaza, in one of the deadliest incidents of its kind since the war against Hamas began in October. An initial probe found that two tanks fired at a building in Jabalia refugee camp where the troops had gathered. Troops went back into the area this week after previously pulling out, saying Hamas had regrouped there. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have fled the fighting and bombardment. Both the Israeli military and Hamas’s military wing said on Wednesday that battles in Jabalia camp and the surrounding town of…

Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker Nio has unveiled the first car from its new lower-priced brand Onvo, in a direct challenge to Tesla’s best-selling car. With prices starting at 219,900 yuan ($30,465, £23,990), the L60 SUV is more than 10% cheaper than the world’s most popular EV, Tesla’s Model Y, which has a price tag of 249,900 yuan. It comes in the same week that US President Joe Biden announced he would quadruple the import tax on electric cars from China. Like other EV makers, Tesla has been struggling with falling sales in the face of intense competition from Chinese…

Indian football icon and captain of the national team, Sunil Chhetri, has announced his decision to retire from international football on 6 June. In a video posted on X, he said that India’s World Cup qualification match against Kuwait would be his last game. “One last game… for all our sakes…let’s win the game and we can depart, happily,” he said in the video. Chhetri, 39, has played for the country for 19 years, having scored his first goal during his debut match in 2005. He is among the country’s most celebrated players, credited with shining a spotlight on Indian…

In November last year, Muralikrishnan Chinnadurai was watching a livestream of a Tamil-language event in the UK when he noticed something odd. A woman introduced as Duwaraka, daughter of ​​Velupillai Prabhakaran, the Tamil Tiger militant chief, was giving a speech. The problem was that Duwaraka had died more than a decade earlier, in an airstrike in 2009 during the closing days of the Sri Lankan civil war. The then-23-year-old’s body was never found. And now, here she was – seemingly a middle-aged woman – exhorting Tamilians across the world to take forward the political struggle for their freedom. Mr Chinnadurai,…

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour will boost UK spending by almost £1bn this year, with more than a million fans gearing up to see the pop sensation perform live, new data suggests. Spanning six continents, the tour will hit the UK for 15 dates in June and August, with fans expected to spend an average of £848 on tickets, travel, accommodation and outfits, according to Barclays. The bank’s report is the latest example of so-called “Swiftonomics” – highlighting the singer’s economic influence. When tickets for the Eras Tour went on sale last year, it crashed websites and led to sold-out hotels…

The Scottish government will declare a national housing emergency later. The announcement will come from the Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville during a Labour-led debate at Holyrood. Ms Somerville is expected to blame UK government austerity and Brexit for the decision. But UK ministers said that the Scottish government receives about 25% more funding from Whitehall than other parts of the UK. Scottish Labour have also accused the Scottish government of making “brutal” cuts to the housing budget. Last year Argyll and Bute, City of Edinburgh and Glasgow City councils all declared housing emergencies. Fife Council made the same move…