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☆ Meet the Enigmatic Man Who Oversees Larry Page's Google Fortune
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-16 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +22 min

His success has also helped fuel a boom in family offices, a financial structure pioneered by J.P. Morgan and popularized by the Rockefellers. Today there are thousands of family offices globally, with the total number tripling between 2019 and 2023, according to the data provider Preqin. To protect Page, Osborne has long remained hidden, the man behind the megabillionaire's curtain. AdvertisementThe small staff at Koop, Page's family office in Palo Alto, are fiercely committed to Page's privacy. Through his investment in Way2B1, Page is seeking to make money by monetizing the techniques he uses to make money.

Persons: Thomas, Larry Page, Wayne Osborne, Osborne, Koop, —, Wayne, Jeffrey Epstein, Gmail, Page, he's, Larry, Morgan, Morgan Stanley, hasn't, Justin Sullivan, hawking, Sergey Brin, George Pavlov, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Melinda Lewison, Natasha Pearl, Aston Pearl, James Estrin, Helen Frankenthaler, Minerva, Joseph E, Brooks, Taylor, Mortimer Zuckerman, Zuckerman, he'd, who'd, Koop's, Ken Goldman, Eric Schmidt, Hugh Langley, Michael Floyd, Floyd, Page's, Lucy Southworth, Southworth, It's, Way2B1, it's, Gilles Martin, Hal Bailey Organizations: QS, Osborne, J.P, Google, Harvard Business School, Princeton Theological Seminary, Presbyterian Church, New York Times, Minerva, U.S . News, Boston Properties, Shell, CIA, Energy Technologies, Oceankind, Forbes, Business, Fiji Locations: New York, Caribbean, St, Palo Alto , California, Wayne, Mississippi, Connecticut, Silicon Valley, U.S, Silicon, Palo Alto, Koop, Nola, margarita, Way2B1, Fijian, superyachts, New Zealand, Fiji

The Food and Drug Administration’s “hands-off approach” to food additives, including those found in ultraprocessed foods and energy drinks, may allow unsafe ingredients to enter the nation’s food supply, according to the authors of an editorial published Thursday. While food manufacturers can request an FDA review of new ingredients before they are added to products — and they sometimes do — they are not required to do so. From 1990 to 2010, an estimated 1,000 substances were labeled GRAS by manufacturers and were used without notifying the agency, Pomeranz said, citing earlier research. Since then, she added, there have likely been many more ingredients added to the nation’s food supply without the FDA’s oversight. “We have no idea how many substances are in the food supply based on this self-GRAS mechanism,” Pomeranz said.

Persons: ”, Jennifer Pomeranz, “, Pomeranz, ” Pomeranz, Xaq, ” Frohlich, Richard Mattes, ” Mattes, “ It’s Organizations: American, of Public Health, FDA, European Union, NYU School of Global Public Health, Auburn University, Purdue University Locations: India, Japan, GRAS, Alabama, Indiana

☆ Erythritol: Sweetener in stevia linked to blood clots, study says
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-08 | by ( Sandee Lamotte | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Clots can break off blood vessels and travel to the heart, triggering a heart attack, or to the brain, triggering a stroke. Previous research has linked erythritol to a higher risk of stroke, heart attack and death. Artificially manufactured in massive quantities, erythritol has no lingering aftertaste, doesn’t spike blood sugar and has less of a laxative effect than some other sugar alcohols. That’s especially true for anyone at highest risk for clotting, heart attack and stroke — such as those with existing cardiac disease or diabetes. “Cardiovascular disease builds over time, and heart disease is the leading cause of death globally,” he said.

Persons: erythritol, ”, Stanley Hazen, Hazen, Bleeksma, ” Hazen, Andrew Freeman, “ I’m, Freeman, Carla Saunders, Wai Hong, Wai Hong Wilson Tang, “ Organizations: CNN, Center for Cardiovascular Diagnostics, Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Jewish Health, US Food and Drug Administration, Biology Locations: Denver, United States, Wai Hong Wilson, Europe, America

☆ I spent $135 to have dinner in a cave in Bali. The food was delicious, but there are better ways to experience the island.
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-23 | by ( Amanda Goh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Clift told me when we met earlier this year in Singapore. Advertisement"The Cave is arguably the most distinctive fine dining experience in Bali," Widyasari said. Amanda Goh/Business InsiderThe restaurant has 22 seats, so I made a dinner reservation a few weeks before my trip. Amanda Goh/Business InsiderGetting ready for dinnerOn the night of my visit, it was a full house. Amanda Goh/Business InsiderThe first course was a bite-sized crispy pancake topped with bechamel, truffle, and egg-yolk gel.

Persons: —, Ryan Clift, Caroline Usher, Clift, Amanda Goh, It's, it's, Gita Widyasari, Widyasari, amberjack tartare, Mille, Feuille, Turbot, Manjari, Tay Chan Yong, Tay Organizations: Service, Tippling Club, Business, Jacada, Michelin Locations: Singapore, Bali, Asia Pacific, TikTok, Uluwatu, Italian, Australian

Master chef and restaurateur Paul Liebrandt rates 11 fine-dining scenes in movies and television, such as "The Bear," for realism. He also explains cooking and plating techniques, along with the evolution of French cuisine, via the molecular gastronomy scene in "The Hundred-Foot Journey," with Helen Mirren; the use of foie gras in "Cook Up a Storm"; the cooking competition scene "Food Wars! : Shokugeki no Soma," and the omelet-making scene at Le Cordon Bleu in "Julie & Julia," starring Meryl Streep as Julia Child. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.

Persons: Paul Liebrandt, Jeremy Allen White, Jon Favreau, Bradley Cooper, Anya Taylor, Joy, Ralph Fiennes, Helen Mirren, Cook, Julie, Julia, Meryl Streep, Julia Child Organizations: Michelin, Business

☆ Tiana's Bayou Adventure is the next step in Disney's $60 billion theme park investment
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-10 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

In this article DIS Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNTTiana's Bayou Adventure opens June 28 at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida! Tiana's Bayou Adventure, the rethemed Splash Mountain, is set to reopen June 28 at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. Featuring characters from Disney Animation's "Princess and the Frog," Tiana's Bayou Adventure takes guests through the swamps of New Orleans as Tiana preps a massive Mardi Gras celebration. The revamp of Splash Mountain into Tiana's Bayou Adventure is part of a bigger strategy for Disney to infuse relevant, fan-favorite intellectual properties into its existing rides and theme parks. A preview of Walt Disney Imagineering's audio-animatronics for the upcoming refresh of Splash Mountain, Tiana's Bayou Adventure.

Persons: Prince Naveen, Mama Odie, Olga Thompson We're, Tiana, Louis, hasn't, Disney, Walt Disney Organizations: Walt Disney World, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Disney, Guardians, California, Epcot Locations: Florida, Orlando , Florida, California, New Orleans, Norway, Tokyo

☆ Low-calorie sweetener xylitol linked to heart attack and stroke, study says
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-06 | by ( Sandee Lamotte | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Additional lab and animal research presented in both papers revealed erythritol and xylitol may cause blood platelets to clot more readily. Clots can break off and travel to the heart, triggering a heart attack, or to the brain, triggering a stroke. “It’s sold as a so-called natural sweetener, and because xylitol doesn’t spike blood sugar levels, it’s also marketed as low carb and keto friendly,” Hazen said. The February 2023 erythritol in study found the risk of heart attack and stroke nearly doubled within three years when people had the highest levels of erythritol in their blood. For the new study on xylitol, the results were basically the same — people with the highest levels of xylitol compared to those with the lowest levels had nearly twice the risk of heart attack, stroke and death, Hazen said.

Persons: “, ”, Stanley Hazen, Hazen, erythritol, Matthew Tomey, Tomey, Andrew Freeman, Freeman, xylitol, It’s, ” Hazen, you’re, Erythritol, Sinai’s Tomey Organizations: CNN, Center for Cardiovascular Diagnostics, Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic’s Center, Human, Icahn School of Medicine, American Heart Association, Jewish Health, Getty, Food and Drug Administration, Heart Journal, World Health Organization Locations: stevia, Mount, New York City, Mount Sinai, Denver

☆ Read Your Way Through New Orleans
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-05 | by ( Maurice Carlos Ruffin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Read Your Way Around the World is a series exploring the globe through books. By some counts, it’s one of the most festive cities in America, with a party or two happening almost every week. The literature of New Orleans is an important supplement to your experience of the city. What should I read before I pack my bags? Using primary documents that her father rescued from a trash hauler’s pickup truck, Shaik builds a nonfiction narrative that’s both illuminating and compulsively readable.

Persons: Jon Batiste, ”, Fatima Shaik Organizations: Gras, Brotherhood Locations: . New Orleans, America, New Orleans

☆ Krasota: This fine-dining restaurant is bringing artificial intelligence to the dinner table
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-30 | by ( Rebecca Cairns | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

But at Krasota, a fine-dining restaurant in Dubai, nothing is what it seems. This dish, from the recipe to the wall projection to the deep fake video of Bocuse, was designed by artificial intelligence (AI). It’s one of eight courses in “Imaginary Futures,” a multisensory dining experience at Krasota. For its AI scenario, Krasota’s co-founders — digital artist Anton Nenashev, chef Vladimir Mukhin, and entrepreneur Boris Zarkov — ceded control to technology. “Any technology that interferes with the social aspects of dining will not succeed,” such as headsets or goggles, says Spence.

Persons: Paul Bocuse, Bocuse, he’s, —, Anton Nenashev, Vladimir Mukhin, Boris Zarkov —, ”, it’s, Zarkov, Rebecca Cairns, “, Boris Zarkov, Krasota, Heston Blumenthal, Charles Spence, He’s, Spence, Zenon, ” Zarkov, “ Alice Organizations: CNN, Dubai CNN —, CNN Krasota Dubai, University of Oxford, “ Locations: Dubai, Krasota, Moscow, Tokyo, Hong Kong, California, Wonderland

☆ Hold the French Fries! Paris Olympics Chart a New Gastronomic Course.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-29 | by ( Roger Cohen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

There will be no French fries for the 15,000 athletes at the Olympic Games that open in France in July. Yes, you read that right. In what is being called the biggest restaurant in the world — a 700-foot-long former electrical power plant at the heart of the Olympic Village — there will be no foie gras, either, but vegetarian hot dogs and quinoa muesli will abound. This is a far cry from the classic French cuisine of elaborate sauces and “enough melted butter to thrombose a regiment,” as A.J. Liebling once described a dish.

Persons: Stéphane Chicheri, Charles Guilloy, Liebling Organizations: Olympic Games, Olympics Locations: France

☆ Royal Caribbean and Norwegian have serious sustainable-food-supply-chain goals — here's how they compare
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Brittany Chang | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Royal Caribbean Group and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings aim to source their foods more sustainably. In 2023, the cruise giants Royal Caribbean Group and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings accommodated more than 10.3 million travelers. Both companies have been increasingly shopping localBoth Norwegian and Royal Caribbean want to be net zero emissions by 2050. Royal Caribbean did not respond to an inquiry about its beef initiatives or plans to expand its plant-based offerings. That's not to mention all the heat that cruise companies already take for operating ships that are bad for the environment.

Persons: —, Brittany Chang, Linken D'Souza, Royal Caribbean's, Bambi Semroc, it's, Ravi Anupindi, Anupindi, Royal, Semroc Organizations: Royal Caribbean Group, Cruise Line Holdings, Chain Management, Service, Norwegian, Royal, Business, Royal Caribbean's, Conservation, University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, Marine Stewardship Council, Aquaculture, Council, Global Animal Partnership, Regent Seven Locations: buffets, Royal Caribbean, Europe, Seattle, Vancouver, Florida, California, New York City, Norwegian, Oceania

☆ Cicadas 2024: What to expect from the Brood XIII and Brood XIX emergence of cicadas
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-10 | by ( Kate Golembiewski | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The 13-year group, known as Brood XIX, or the Great Southern Brood, is the largest periodical cicada brood, stretching across the southeastern United States. The Northern Illinois Brood, or Brood XIII, emerges every 17 years. Periodical cicadas are smaller and mostly black, with bright red eyes and orange-tinged wings and legs. Billions of cicadas are expected this spring as two different broods — Broods XIX and XIII — emerge simultaneously. However, predictions of a cicadapocalypse — in which Brood XIII and Brood XIX show up at the same place at the same time — are probably an exaggeration.

Persons: hasn’t, Thomas Jefferson, —, “, ”, Jonathan Larson, don’t, XIII —, Jason Bergman, ” Larson, We’re, Chris Simon, XIII haven't, Chip Somodevilla, Larson, Cheney Orr, ” Simon, Kate Golembiewski Organizations: CNN, Southern, Northern Illinois, University of Kentucky, Midwest, University of Connecticut, Reuters Locations: United States, Indianapolis, Northern Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky , Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina , Georgia, Alabama , Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Columbia , Maryland, America, Chicago

But a new report from Consumer Reports said it recently compared the nutritional profiles of two Lunchables kits served in schools and found they have even higher levels of sodium than the Lunchables kits consumers can buy in stores. The non-profit consumer group said it has petitioned the US Department of Agriculture, which oversees the federally assisted school meal program, to remove Lunchables food kits from school cafeterias, as a result. The introduction of Lunchables in schools came amid proposed changes to school food guidelines by the USDA, which oversees the federally assisted school meal program. The proposed changes aimed to reduce added sugars and sodium levels in school-provided lunches. Food additives are considered “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS) by the US Food and Drug Administration, but not everyone agrees.

Persons: Lunchables, Armour LunchMakers, Oscar Mayer, can’t, “, Brian Ronholm, Kraft Heinz, ” Kraft Heinz, Carlos Monteiro, Monteiro, ” Monteiro, Heinz “ Organizations: New, New York CNN, Consumer, Natural Meat, World Health Organization, US Centers for Disease Control, US Department of Agriculture, CNN, USDA, University of Sao, NOVA, US Food and Drug Administration, Center for Science, Environmental, Kraft Locations: New York, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Dallas Seavey overcame killing a moose and receiving a time penalty to win the Iditarod on Tuesday, a record-breaking sixth championship in the world’s most famous sled dog race. However, he was ultimately given a two-hour time penalty because he only spent 10 minutes gutting the moose, officials said. Race officials disqualified Burke on Feb. 19. But the state of Alaska then dropped charges alleging he choked his then-girlfriend in 2022, and the Iditarod Trail Committee reinstated him. The committee also disqualified Sass without explanation, other than pointing to a rule governing personal and professional conduct, and race officials refused to discuss it during a media briefing ahead of the race.

Persons: — Dallas Seavey, Seavey, Faloo, Rick Swenson, Swenson, Dan Seavey, Mitch Seavey, Dallas Seavey, Mushers Issac Teaford, Hunter Keefe, Henry, Calvin Daugherty’s, Daugherty, Tracy Reiman, Eddie Burke Jr, Brent Sass, Burke, Sass, ” Organizations: Iditarod, Dallas, USA, U.S, Olympic Training, PETA Locations: ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Nome, Bering, Mardi Gras, New Orleans, mushing, Salt Lake City, Knik, Shaktoolik, Anchorage

☆ Why this snowy Japanese island is a food lover’s paradise
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-07 | by ( Milly Chan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Hokkaido, Japan CNN —Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost main island, is unlike anywhere else in the country. Chef Tomoyuki Takao in the kitchen of his eponymous Hokkaido restaurant. “I realized that the indigenous Ainu people were the most knowledgeable about the forest,” Takao says. It was the first Japanese wine ever served in the iconic restaurant Noma in Copenhagen, and is a firm favorite on Takao’s wine list. The ocean’s winter bountyVideo Ad Feedback Discover why these clams taste best in winter 06:25 - Source: CNNSeafood is an integral part of Hokkaido’s food culture.

Persons: Tomoyuki Takao, CNN “, “, ” Takao, Takao, ”, Sonoko Fukae, “ I’ve, Yu Uchida, Uchida, ” Uchida, Japow isn’t, Soga, Yoichi, Soga’s, ” Takahiko, Akio Kashiwamura, ” Kashiwamura, Kashiwamura, doesn’t, Akemi Yokoyama, Kazuki Akazawa, Akazawa, it’s Organizations: CNN, Japan CNN, Michelin, European, Ebetsu, ”, CNN Seafood Locations: Hokkaido, Japan, Sapporo, French, Honshu, Shikisai, Copenhagen, Takao, Burgundy, France, Okhotsk, ”, Notsuke, Tomakomai

☆ How Contemporary Artists Are Taking Papier-Mâché Out of the Classroom
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( Alexa Brazilian | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

The artist Joel Hernandez, 39, first worked with papier-mâché as an 8-year-old, soon after moving from Mexico to rural Indiana. His parents had gone looking for piñatas — a staple of their family celebrations — at local stores but had come up short. Hernandez, now based in San Francisco, is just one of the contemporary craftspeople using papier-mâché in new and provocative ways. And while each has a different approach to the medium, they share an appreciation for its democratic and economic nature. Making papier-mâché, after all, requires nothing more than a few pantry items, some trash and a bit of imagination.

Persons: Joel Hernandez, ”, Hernandez, La Luz de Jesus, Han, it’s, Bernie Kaminski, Brooks, “, ” Kaminski, who’s, he’s Organizations: La Luz, Mardi Gras, New Locations: Mexico, Indiana, —, La Luz de, Los Angeles, San Francisco, China, New Orleans, New York City

☆ Alleged murder of Sydney couple by police officer reopens old wounds in LGBTQ+ community
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( Angus Watson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Sydney, Australia CNN —The alleged murder of a young Sydney couple by a serving police officer has opened a tragic new chapter in the troubled history between the force and the city’s LGBT+ community and cast a shadow over Mardi Gras, a vibrant annual celebration of their culture. The bodies of Sydney couple Luke Davies and Jesse Baird were found a week after their alleged murder. Adding to that distress was a photo circulated widely of the alleged killer marching in police uniform at the 2020 Mardi Gras. The couple's alleged murder has cast a shadow over the annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade. Recommendations to police included reinvestigating some of the suspected hate crimes murders, but also for officers to take courses in LGBT+ bias and to improve relations with the LGBT+ community.

Persons: Australia CNN —, Senior New South Wales Police Constable Beaumont Lamarre, Condon, Jesse Baird, Luke Davies, Baird, Davies, @Jesse Baird, Kate Webb, Taylor Swift, Taylor, ” Webb, Mardi, Jesse, Luke who, Webb, ”, “, Jenny Evans, ” It’s, Mardi Gras, Robert French, Tony Crandell, John Sefton, John Sackar, Sackar Organizations: Australia CNN, Mardi Gras, Senior New South Wales Police, Baird’s Paddington, revelers, Gay, Instagram Police, NSW Police, NSW police, Sydney Gay, 78er, ‘, Oxford, International, Sunday Locations: Sydney, Australia, Mardi, Senior, Baird’s, Sydney’s, Mardi Gras, NSW, Newspix, Police

☆ He booked a one-way ticket to Thailand the day after finishing high school. Now he’s a top Bangkok chef
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Philipp Meier | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

“I’m both a night and morning person,” says the Swedish-born executive head chef of Nordic-Asian fusion restaurant Villa Frantzen, one of only two Nordic restaurants in Thailand’s capital. Courtesy Villa Frantzén Restaurant & Bar“The broad spectrum you gain from exploring cuisines from all over the world is what lends every chef a unique skill set and better fundament for creation. Courtesy Villa Frantzén Restaurant & BarA dish of grilled duck and endive. Courtesy Villa Frantzén Restaurant & Bar“And I can go a long time with few hours of sleep a night. Villa Frantzén – Restaurant & Bar, 7 Soi Yen Akat 3, Chong Nonsi, Bangkok; +66 (0)87 344 8222.

Persons: “, ”, Corneliussen, ” Corneliussen, didn’t, Villa, Copenhagen –, Björn Frantzen, he’s, It’s, Chong Nonsi Organizations: Bangkok CNN, Villa, Nordic, Muay, CNN, Villa Frantzen, Michelin, Frantzen Locations: Bangkok, Swedish, Thailand’s, “, Thailand, Thai, Muay Thai, Sweden, Europe, Bangkok's Sathorn, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Asia, Thai Kingdom, Bangkok’s Sathorn, Bangkok’s

☆ Their Weapons Against the Effects of Aging: Friendship, and Some Fancy Footwork
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-24 | by ( Colbi Edmonds | Madeline Gray | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

WHY WE’RE HEREWe’re exploring how America defines itself one place at a time. In Beaufort, N.C., a group of women offers a window into what contemporary aging can be in a nation that is rapidly getting older. “If you want to say something,” one woman hollered above the din, “you better scream it!”Ms. Barnes’s home is not a sorority house — she is 86 years old. “We’re not very contained,” said Ms. Barnes, who is the Queen Mother of the group. The Belles are a chapter of The Sweet Potato Queens — an international network of more than 6,500 women’s groups that aim for a similar balance of amusement and mutual support.

Persons: Martha Barnes’s, Barnes’s, —, “, ”, Barnes Locations: Beaufort, N.C

☆ Opinion: A Sydney ‘copshop’ with a dark history. And the gay community reclaiming it
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Opinion Gary Nunn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Police arrest a protester during a gay rights demonstration, which would become known as the first Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, June 1978. A permanent place to learn and healThere’s never been a more crucial time to record and display the stories and history of my LGBTQI community. LGBTQ+ activists demonstrate in what would evolve into the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, 1978. Many arrested gay men were sent to Cooma — the world’s only known jail for gay men — also in New South Wales. My gay community finally gets to tell their own history in a venue that imprisoned and beat us for simply being ourselves.

Persons: Gary Nunn, Read, Gary Nunn Qtopia, Sydney’s, Anthony Albanese, “ ‘, ”, Darlo copshop, Steve Warren, Peter Murphy, Murphy, Qtopia, They’ve, videographers, There’s, —, David Polson, wasn’t, “, Cooma, David hasn’t, He’s Organizations: Sydney CNN, Darlinghurst Police, “ ‘ 78ers, ‘ 78ers, 78ers, Police, Sydney Gay, Mardi Gras, Sydney Morning Herald, Fairfax Media, Getty, Warren, Mardi, South Wales, Gay, NSW police, Goliath Locations: Sydney, Australia, Darlinghurst, San Francisco, London, South, Qtopia, New South Wales, Uganda, Malaysia, Guyana, Dominica, Nigeria, Pakistan

☆ A New Orleans Man Wants His Opossum Back. Thousands Have Joined His Plea.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Emily Schmall | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A man in New Orleans lonesome for an opossum named Saffron, whom he had raised as a pet and dressed in a colorful sweater, is appealing to authorities to return the animal, which was taken from him by state wildlife officials. Thousands have backed an online petition to reunite the man with his marsupial. A friend’s petition on Change.org to bring Saffron home had garnered nearly 4,000 signatures by Wednesday afternoon. In an interview on Wednesday, Mr. Voiles, 50, said he and his friends were appealing to law enforcement, biologists, veterinarians, online supporters and even Gov. Saffron formed part of a menagerie, including one rabbit and two dogs, all named after spices, that Mr. Voiles wheeled around New Orleans on a tricycle with a basket and a trailer.

Persons: Saffron, William Voiles, Voiles, Jeff Landry of Locations: New Orleans, Jeff Landry of Louisiana

☆ Australia Authorities Say More Sydney Sites Tainted With Asbestos
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( Feb. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian authorities on Saturday said asbestos had been discovered in more places in Sydney including housing estates as the New South Wales government continues a weeks-long scramble to remove the toxic material from mulch used in public spaces. Since then, in what is the biggest investigation by the state's Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) in decades, 32 city sites have returned positive results for bonded asbestos, the agency said in a statement on Saturday. The EPA said new sites where asbestos had been detected were a public school and park in the city's north, and two residential estates under construction in Sydney's south-west. The University of Sydney had also been identified as potentially tainted and would be tested this weekend, it said. The rate of positive results is around 10 percent," the EPA said.

Persons: Sam McKeith, Matthew Lewis Organizations: SYDNEY, New South, Environmental Protection Authority, EPA, University of Sydney, Authorities, Sydney Gay, Mardi Locations: Sydney, New South Wales, Sydney's

☆ Sydney Parks Cordoned Off, Mardi Gras Event Cancelled After Asbestos Concerns
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Feb. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian authorities on Friday cordoned off areas in several parks in Sydney after the discovery of asbestos in mulch, while schools began precautionary testing as the government scrambled to remove the toxic material from public spaces. About 700 students at a public school in Sydney's southwest will be relocated to another school for several weeks after finding asbestos on campus. The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Fair Day event, which usually draws tens of thousands of revellers, scheduled for Sunday was cancelled after traces of asbestos were found around the Victoria Park venue. The New South Wales state government on Thursday set up a taskforce to provide more resources and staff to help support the Environment Protection Authority's investigations. The complex, criminal investigation involves multiple lines of enquiry," New South Wales Environment Minister Penny Sharpe said in a statement.

Persons: Penny Sharpe, Sharpe, Renju Jose, Jamie Freed Organizations: SYDNEY, Sydney City Council, Sydney Gay, Mardi, Sunday, Protection, Environment Protection Authority, Wales Environment Locations: Sydney, Sydney's, Victoria, New South Wales, New, Wales

☆ Speed dating is making a comeback
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Speed dating, singles mixers and other group dating parties have made a comeback since the Covid-19 pandemic ended as singles look to get off their screens and meet potential partners in person. Game-based dating events grew 163% in 2023 and athletic dating events like pickleball and spin classes saw a 135% rise on the platform. And it’s never been replicated.”Mixed feelings about dating appsOnline dating was stigmatized for years, but it’s now a primary form of dating. Still, online dating users are divided over whether their experiences on dating apps have been positive. Fifty-three percent of people say their personal experiences have been very or somewhat positive on dating apps, according to Pew.

Persons: Mike Blake, ”, Maria Avgitidis, Z, ” Avgitidis, “, ” Linda de Lucca, ” de Lucca, “ We’ve, it’s, Bumble, Yu Chun Christopher Wong, Justin McLeod, Rachel DeAlto Organizations: New, New York CNN, Valentine’s, Reuters, Baby Boomers, Pew, Financial, Match Group Locations: New York, New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, United States, California, Millennials

☆ Meet Flagboy Giz, a Rapper Uniting New Orleans Cultural Traditions
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Millan Verma | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In his cluttered two-room apartment in Gentilly, a small neighborhood just south of Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans, Flagboy Giz used dental floss to thread brightly colored beads through black gym shoes on a stormy February afternoon. An assemblage of neon feathers and phosphorescent beads burst out of drawers and scattered across the floor. Though he was out late at Mardi Gras balls the night before, Flagboy Giz, 37, had awakened early and headed directly to the bead store. “This is a tradition that you have to preserve,” he said, “so you’ve got to make sure you’re out there every year masking. Last year, I caught Covid two weeks before Mardi Gras, and I was still sewing with Covid.

Persons: Flagboy Giz, ”, you’ve, Covid Organizations: Mardi Gras, Gras Locations: Gentilly, Lake Pontchartrain, New Orleans, Mardi

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