Strange thing found in student's meal is rat's head, Chinese officials rule after food scare anger
A foreign object found in a school meal in China was the head of a rat, Chinese authorities have concluded, overturning previous official reassurances that it was duck neck in the latest twist to a food safety scandal that gripped the nation for weeks.
2023-06-21 16:23
Japan sees 1.9 million visitors in May, down from cherry blossom rush
TOKYO Japan saw a slight decline in visitors in May from the previous month, when a rush of
2023-06-21 15:51
Pharrell Williams makes his Louis Vuitton debut in star-studded Paris show
Pharrell Williams showcased his debut collection for Louis Vuitton Spring-Summer 2024 at Paris’s Pont Neuf bridge on Tuesday (20 June). The star-studded show kicked off the 50-year-old record producer’s tenure as Louis Vuitton’s men’s creative director. The show – themed “lovers” – consisted of “printed leather jerseys and rugbys, quilted denim, Mao-neck blazers and ghillie camo with LV logo cutouts.” In an interview before the show, Williams spoke about his role, which he has held since February 2023. “I’m the second Black man to ever experience this on the planet, the biggest fashion house in the world,” he said. “My brother Virgil [Abloh] was the first. “He made so many strides for the house and did so many things. He brought skate culture into this world – while being an American Black man. It’s unreal the fact that I get to do this as well.” Pharrell’s show was attended a number of celebrities, including music power couple Beyoncé and Jay-Z, rapper and actor Jaden Smith, his sister and fellow artist Willow Smith, supermodel Naomi Campbell, Spider-Man star Zendaya, rapper Megan Thee Stallion, Kim Kardashian, rappers Tyler, the Creator and A$AP Rocky, and pop star and business mogul Rihanna. During the show, Williams also premiered new songs, including an unreleased track with longtime collaborator Clipse. Footage of a song featuring Pusha-T and No Malice has since gone viral on social media. To celebrate Williams’s achievement, Jay-Z also delivered a surprise performance consisting of hit tracks such as “N***as in Paris,” “Frontin’,” “Public Service Announcement (Interlude),” “Change Clothes,” “F***WithMeYouKnowIGotIt,” and so on. Speaking to The New York Times about his post at LV, Williams said: “I am a creative designer from the perspective of the consumer. “I didn’t go to Central Saint Martins, but I definitely went in the stores and purchased, and I know what I like.” Williams said he wants to give the consumers “that same experience that you get when you go to Canal Street, a place that has appropriated the house for decades, right? “Let’s reverse it. Let’s get inspired by the fact that they’ll make some colourways that the house has never made. But then let’s actually make it the finest of leather.” Williams initially teased his menswear collection with a billboard featuring a pregnant Rihanna. Louis Vuitton confirmed the appointment of Williams as the late Virgil Abloh’s successor in February 2023. “Louis Vuitton is delighted to welcome Pharrell Williams as its new men’s creative director,” the fashion house said in a statement at the time. “His first collection for Louis Vuitton will be revealed next June during Men’s Fashion Week in Paris. The brand described Williams as a “visionary whose creative universes expand from music to art, and to fashion”. Read More I couldn’t climax, so I let ‘big testosterone’ take me for a ride ‘What in the wingardium leviosa?’: Emma Watson stuns fans with ‘levitating’ dress John Goodman reveals he’s lost 200 pounds as he makes red carpet appearance Oscars 2023: Why was Morgan Freeman wearing a single glove? Kim Kardashian reveals why she didn’t speak out on Balenciaga backlash Shania Twain rocks 1990’s music video look at People’s Choice Awards
2023-06-21 15:21
In the West Bank, UNESCO site Battir could face a water shortage from a planned Israeli settlement
Generations of Palestinians have worked the terraced hillsides of the West Bank farming village of Battir, southwest of Jerusalem
2023-06-21 14:45
John Goodman reveals he’s lost 200 pounds as he makes red carpet appearance
John Goodman stunned fans as his weight loss was made apparent over the weekend, but his journey didn’t “happen overnight”. The Big Lebowski star, who turned 71 on 20 June, recently attended the 2023 Monte-Carlo Television Festival in Monaco on Sunday (18 June) where he debuted his slimmed-down figure on the red carpet. In photos from the event, Goodman looked sharp in a navy blue double-breasted suit and khaki pants, which he paired with a yellow tie, brown loafers, and round-framed sunglasses. The actor’s transformation is the result of more than a decade of hard work, after he reportedly started working on his health back in 2007. In a new interview with Rolling Stone published on 17 June, Goodman revealed that he has lost a total of 200 pounds, ever since he first revealed to David Letterman in 2011 that he was “pushing 400” pounds when he was at his heaviest. “I’d get off of Roseanne every spring. I’d lose 60 pounds every spring [but] I’d gain it back and then some, every year,” he told the late-night host at the time. At the start of his journey, Goodman hired health coach Mackie Shilstone who helped him to give up sugar and work out six days a week. The actor, who’s been open about his struggles with alcoholism in the past, also stopped drinking after checking into a rehabilitation center in 2007. “It takes a lot of creative energy to sit on your a** and figure out what you’re going to eat next,” he said in an interview with People in 2010. “I wanted to live life better.” Five years later, Goodman’s health coach revealed to the New York Post that the Roseanne star had lost 100 pounds through a combination of diet and exercise. Goodman unveiled his 100-pound weight loss transformation at the premiere of his film Trumbo in 2015. “This didn’t happen overnight – it’s been an ongoing process,” Shilstone told the Post. He introduced Goodman to a “Mediterranean-style eating plan,” which heavily leaned on a diet of fish, nuts, olive oil, vegetables, and fruit. The Monsters, Inc actor also racked up 10,000 to 12,000 steps a day, along with getting in some miles on the elliptical bicycle and treadmill. At the time, Goodman’s then-100 pound weight loss took around two years. In an interview with ABC News, Goodman revealed that he decided to make a change to his habits after he would look in the mirror and not like what he saw in his reflection. “I just got tired, sick and tired of looking at myself. You’re shaving in the mirror and you don’t want to look at yourself. It gets dangerous,” he told ABC’s Peter Travers in 2016. Goodman also explained that his weight loss journey was made easier after he “just stopped eating all the time”. “I’d have a handful of food and it’d go to my mouth,” he said. “In the old days, I would take three months out, lose 60 or 70 pounds, and then reward myself with a six-pack of Bud or whatever and just go back to my old habits.” “Then this time I wanted to do it slowly, move, exercise. I’m getting to the age where I can’t afford to sit still anymore. And it gives me the energy to work, ‘cause work is very draining.” These days, John Goodman has been busy balancing his ongoing health journey with his many roles in television – reprising his role from Roseanne as beloved father Dan Conner in ABC’s The Conners, and televangelist patriarch Eli Gemstone in the HBO comedy, The Righteous Gemstones. Speaking to Rolling Stone, Goodman detailed that he stays active by “getting out and walking the dogs” amidst his busy schedule. Before production began on The Conners in 2018, Goodman said he spent much of his time boxing too. “I was boxing up until then and I haven’t been able to do that since Covid because I’m lazy,” he shared. “I haven’t been exercising, but I’m going to start a routine again this summer where I can get some stuff done. I’ve just let everything go just because I haven’t had the energy because of the jobs.” The iconic Hollywood actor also opened up about his past struggles with alcohol and “anger as a younger man,” which he admitted was “fuelled by fear”. “But I was probably born an alcoholic,” he joked. “But most of the anger’s gone. If I don’t watch the news, I’m cool.” Read More Glastonbury 2023: Gates at Worthy Farm to open today as new ‘secret set’ announced Extraction 2 viewers spot ‘ridiculous’ blunder in Chris Hemsworth sequel ‘What in the wingardium leviosa?’: Emma Watson shocks fans with ‘levitating’ dress What are the symptoms of laryngitis and how long does it take to recover? What is egg freezing and how does it work? Regular napping could be good for brain health, research suggests
2023-06-21 14:28
Cooks shouldn’t get ‘too hung up on authenticity – there’s no way of achieving it’
Sanjay Aggarwal’s now-booming business was based around a family heirloom: a 100-year-old spice mill. He started selling spice blends with his mother in 2012 almost by accident. “It wasn’t meant to be a business,” the 40-year-old admits. “It was only started as a retirement hobby for my mum. What started off as a silly little idea, so to speak, just grew. We started online and moved after a few years to selling in shops.” Spice Kitchen has been wildly successful, and now Aggarwal is adding another string his company’s bow by writing a cookbook. Above all the success, he’s really just appreciated spending time with his 72-year-old mother, Shashi. “She’s incredible – she’s a whirlwind. She was born in Kenya and raised in India, so she’s got a really eclectic mix of culture. And she’s a real spice expert – we’ve got a 100-year-old spice mill in our family that’s travelled the world and I’ve got it here now; we started the business using that.” Aggarwal says it felt “natural” to work with his mother, after helping his parents run their Birmingham shop when growing up. But he’s “learned loads” from her during their new venture. “It’s certainly made me realise how entrepreneurial my mum is, how creative she is… I’ve been really impressed by how similarly we think.” He says: “We’re certainly closer for it. It’s got the ups and downs and challenges that everything has, but we’re still talking!” While there are plenty of flavour-packed Indian dishes in the new cookbook – including coriander and tandoori fishcakes, chickpea curry and tarka dal – the recipes have a decidedly global outlook. Think fish tacos, jerk-inspired pork, crispy duck with pancakes – and Aggarwal credits this to growing up in the diverse city of Birmingham. “I was born and brought up there, so for me, that was all I knew. But for my mum, it was very much a big influence on her,” he explains. When she came to the UK as a young married woman, “her cuisine and culture was all very Indian” – something that soon changed. “My mum has really seen that development of food and culture, and that cosmopolitan nature of Birmingham. It’s had tidal waves of immigration – my mum being one of them from India – and from West Africa and Asia and all different places. She’s witnessed that, when she came to the UK.” Aggarwal recounts how in the early days of living in Birmingham, Shashi would grind her own spices – you couldn’t buy blends at the time – which “reminded her of home and made her less homesick”, but then her palate expanded. “She’s vegetarian, but got to try all these amazing different sorts of vegetarian food from all around the world, be it Middle Eastern, Chinese or Japanese or whatever. Some of those things weren’t accessible when she first came, but were as time went on – and my mum’s very experimental. “She’s a real foodie. She loves trying new things and experimenting – probably more than anyone else I know. I think she’s quite unique, because I think a lot of people from cultures where they’ve got a really strong food culture – certainly like Indian culture – a lot of my aunts and uncles, they don’t really eat or experiment outside of Indian food. They find it quite scary, not very flavoursome, or quite bland. But my mum really gets it – she’s got a really deep palate, and she can really appreciate different cultures.” This love of different cuisines means both mother and son are quite free with the way they cook– and they want other people to be the same. For example, if you’re making a frittata and you don’t have any Italian seasoning, Aggarwal says: “Try it with Mexican [spice blends], try it with jerk and you could still create something amazing. Don’t be afraid to experiment.” One of the more unusual combinations he’s tried? Mexican spices in a shepherd’s pie: “It actually tastes amazing in there. We’re just trying to get people to be a bit more free thinking and adventurous. What’s the worst that can happen?” Aggarwal says he’s often asked how to make an “authentic” dish – a question he struggles to answer. “It’s very difficult to understand what they mean by that – what is the meaning of authenticity? I’m a second-generation British-born person… Food has evolved over time. We wanted to make sure the dishes [in the cookbook] were authentic in terms of linking back to the original recipes and what they’re all about, and especially the blends being as authentic as possible – trying to respect the tradition. “But we’re also trying to say, we can only take our take on things. I can take my take on things and my mum can take her take on things – and things have changed over time.” That’s why Aggarwal advises against getting “too hung up on authenticity, because there is no way of achieving it”. Instead, he recommends taking a dish you like and “play with the flavours a little bit” to “make it your own”. ‘Spice Kitchen’ by Sanjay Aggarwal (Quadrille, £22).
2023-06-21 13:51
Planned Israeli settlement threatens West Bank UNESCO site ecosystem
Generations of Palestinians have worked the terraced hillsides of the West Bank farming village of Battir, southwest of Jerusalem
2023-06-21 13:23
Wisconsin lawmakers poised to approve liquor law overhaul
Wisconsin lawmakers are poised to approve a massive overhaul of the laws governing the state’s multibillion-dollar liquor industry, changes that are supported by small craft brewers, like the makers of Spotted Cow beer, bar owners and alcohol distributors
2023-06-21 13:20
Parents take on struggle for trans rights for their kids and others in conservative Poland
Parents of trans children are mobilizing in Poland seeking acceptance after the country’s leader mocked trans people last year during Pride season
2023-06-21 11:15
China to Be World’s Top Wheat Buyer With Australia Key Supplier
Add wheat to the extensive list of commodities markets dominated by Chinese buyers. Already the world’s top importer
2023-06-21 10:54
Gambia tightens rules for Indian drugs after cough syrup deaths - letter
By Krishna N. Das and Edward McAllister NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Gambia will make it mandatory for all pharmaceutical products from
2023-06-21 10:18
Thousands gather at Stonehenge for annual ritual marking the summer solstice
Druids, pagans, hippies, local residents, tourists and costumed witches and wizards are gathering around a prehistoric stone circle on a plain in southern England to express their devotion to the sun, or to have some communal fun
2023-06-21 09:24