List of All Articles with Tag 'lifestyle'

Artificial intelligence tools that can conjure whimsical artwork or realistic-looking images from written commands started wowing crowds last year

Pythons, peacocks, and monkeys have all made the Sunshine State their home.

Companies across the UK have been trialling a four-day work week over the past six months, with employees enjoying longer weekends for the same pay. The idea’s gaining traction around the world, with union workers in America recently demanding it from automobile manufacturers. But not everyone likes the idea. Local government minister Lee Rowley has demanded South Cambridgeshire District council put an end to their scheme and others think it will dent productivity and give workers minimal gain in their work life balance. India Burgess from the think tank Autonomy answers your questions on the four-day week.

One euro homes in Italy are two a penny, so Jeffrey Pfefferle and Leon McNaught bought two. They snapped up their first cheap turnkey property in Mussomeli, Sicily. But the locals were so friendly that they decided to buy another.

MILAN (AP) — Milan Fashion Week continued Thursday for the second day with mostly womenswear previews for next spring and summer under a steady rain.

YouTube will roll out a slew of artificial-intelligence-powered features for creators, the latest effort from parent company Alphabet

Cindy Crawford has explained why she posed nude for Playboy magazine in 1988, even after her agents told her not to. The supermodel, 57, reflected on the early days of her career in the new Apple TV+ docuseries, The Super Models, which she appears in alongside fashion icons Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista and Christy Turlington. During the second episode of the show, Crawford noted that, after becoming the face of Revlon in the 80s, “things started really happening,” as she was “doing the right campaigns”. However, she claimed that when she was asked to appear on the cover of Playboy in 1988, some of her peers and agents advised her against it. “Everyone in my life at the time thought I shouldn’t do Playboy,” she said. “My modelling agency didn’t feel that that fit into the types of jobs I should be doing. I think the brand still had a connotation to it that maybe scared some people off.” Crawford said she knew why her agency was hesitant about on the gig, given how different it was from jobs she’d had before. “I understood the platform of Playboy and what that symbolised,” she explained. “It was definitely outside the normal trajectory for a Vogue model at the time.” She went on to specify that a famous fashion photographer, the late Herb Ritts, was the one who reached out to her about the project. After she recalled that she and Ritts were “really good friends” and that she “worked with” him a lot and previously “stayed at his house,” she shared another reason why she wanted to pose for Playboy. “I don’t know, there was just something about it that intrigued me. So against the advice of my agents, I said ‘yes,’” Crawford said, before describing the conditions she brought up to the maagazine when taking on the job. “But I said: ‘You don’t need to pay me a lot of money. As long as I can have control of the images, and I wanted the right to kill the story if I don’t like it,’” she recalled telling the publication. Crawford noted that when she did the photoshoot for Playboy, she and Ritts “combined it with another trip that [they] were doing for French Vogue to Hawaii”. And, according to the supermodel, the two photoshoots weren’t all that different from each other. “We’d shoot a picture for French Vogue and then we’d shoot a picture for Playboy,” she said. “I mean, you almost couldn’t tell which pictures were for French Vogue and which pictures were for Playboy, it was very organic and I loved them.” The actor concluded by noting that, despite what other people may think, it was ultimately her decision to pose for Playboy, and she did not feel pressured into it. “That’s the whole thing for me is, even if I make choices that other people disagree with or don’t like, if they’re my decisions and I have control of it, that’s empowering to me,” she said. “Even if it’s doing Playboy. I never felt like a victim of that decision.” This isn’t Crawford’s first time opening up about posing for the magazine. During an interview with Net-a-Porter’s PorterEdit in 2019, she acknowledged that she didn’t have any regrets about being photographed nude for the publication twice, as she also appeared in a 1998 Playboy spread. “I look back at some of my old Playboy pictures and I think: ‘Why wasn’t I walking around naked all the time?’” she said. “I’m not getting younger. So I want to celebrate who I am today.” She also opened up about posing nude in her fifties, and shared the candid reason why she did so in photographer Russell James’ book, Angels. “Part of the reason I wanted to do it was that I thought, at what age is being naked not beautiful anymore? Is there a sell-by date on us?” the model said. “I don’t look the same as I did at 20, 30 or even 40. If we take care of ourselves, why not? Am I frolicking on the beach in a string bikini? No.” Crawford continued to explain how, to her, posing nude showcases a type of beauty that isn’t typically shown in her other photoshoots. “But there is a place where I want to feel beautiful naked, in my private life, with my husband. [Russell] was tapping into that real place – not high heels, not a lot of makeup, not coy, just a real woman who doesn’t have clothes on,” she said. Read More Cindy Crawford candidly speaks about her marriage to Richard Gere 30 years later Voguewashing London Fashion Week won’t pay the wages of Britain’s young fashion designers Groping, abuse and racism: 10 of the most shocking revelations from The Super Models TV show

It's been nearly five months since the Hollywood writers strike began and more than two months since actors joined them

Amy Dowden has shared “the hardest step” of her cancer journey with fans as she shaved her head. The Welsh dancer, who has competed on Strictly Come Dancing since 2017, was diagnosed with breast cancer in May. She is currently undergoing chemotherapy. Dowden, 33, has been documenting the journey for her fans, and recently described in a candid video how she “cries every day” as her hair falls out due to treatment. On Thursday (21 September), with Dowden over halfway through her chemotherapy, the dancer made the brave decision to “take control” and shave her head. In a montage shared on Instagram, Dowden was shown dabbing at her eyes while her “loved ones” cut off chunks of her hair down to a short, cropped style. The remaining hair was then shaved off, with the Strictly star growing more emotional and pausing to cover her face with her hands. However, she was in the end shown admiring the end results in the m “This too shall pass,” Dowden wrote, before describing the haircut as “the hardest step so far”. “I tried my best to save it. I know it’s only hair but these past few months I’ve had what feels like so much taken away from me that has made me not feel like Amy. I’m missing every possible aspect of dancing. I just wanted to keep my identity with my hair and I tried telling myself it wouldn’t go. But I would dread the pain of waking up to the shredding everyday.” She continued: “I’ve not been able to take control of this journey so far, but as you can see with some of my loved ones I took the courage and CONTROL. “It’s going to take some time to get use to and learn to love and embrace but, I’m now focusing – not on the hair I’m losing but the hair I’m going to get back and the happy dancing, tea lover who talks way to fast whilst rolling every rrrrr who is still there inside with or without hair!” Dowden said that she could now “see the finish line” after shaving her head, explaining: “This for me was a hurdle I couldn’t even bring myself to think or speak about. I’ve done it and I’ve also crossed the halfway chemo line! I’m feeling empowered and positive!” Dowden’s fellow Strictly pro Dianne Buswell commented: You are still all the things you were before, just with added courage, strength and determination. One thing about you is that you don’t let anything take over! “I cannot wait to have you back on the dancefloor with us chatting away, making endless cups of tea! We all love you so much and I’m such a proud friend.” Due to her treatment, Dowden has not been given a professional partner during this series of Strictly Come Dancing. However, the team paid tribute to Dowden during Saturday (16 September) night’s launch show. Host Tess Daly called Dowden their “Welsh dragon” and explained that she would be missing “the start of the series”. Strictly Come Dancing continues Saturday 23 September at 6.15pm on BBC One. Read More Strictly’s Bobby Brazier: ‘I don’t think happiness or fulfilment lies in what TV show I’m gonna do’ Strictly’s Amy Dowden says she ‘cries every day’ as she opens up on losing her hair during cancer treatment Strictly Come Dancing’s biggest stars this year are 50 plus – it’s refreshing to see Stacey Solomon leads tributes to cancer campaigner Nicky Newman who has died aged 35 Yoghurt could be the cure for bad garlic breath, study finds Teenager’s death after drinking too much water was ‘preventable’

Darden Restaurants Inc. is seeing more “softness” among households with incomes above $125,000 compared to last year, Chief

It’s hard to resist garlic sometimes, but its pungent smell can often last long on the tongue and what better way to get rid of it than good old yoghurt? Garlic contains a compound called sulfur volatiles that can cause a bad odour after being eaten. Researchers wanted to better understand how yoghurt and its components can eliminate or reduce such strong odours. For the study, researchers from the Department of Food Science and Technology at Ohio State University, Columbus tested the garlic deodourising capabilities of yoghurt and its individual components of water, fat and protein to see how each stood up to the smell. As a result, the team found both fast and protein were effective at trapping garlic odours, leading the scientists to suggest high-protein foods may one day be formulated specifically to fight garlic breath. “High protein is a very hot thing right now – generally, people want to eat more protein,” said senior study author Sheryl Barringer, professor of food science and technology at the university. “An unintended side benefit may be a high-protein formulation that could be advertised as a breath deodorizer in addition to its nutritional claims,” she said. “I was more excited about the protein’s effectiveness because consumer advice to eat a high-fat food is not going to go over well.” In the lab experiment, researchers placed equal amounts of raw garlic in glass bottles and confirmed the smell of the garlic was released in concentrations that would be detected by the human nose. Scientists measured the levels of volatile molecules in gaseous form present before and after each treatment. It was revealed that garlic alone reduced 99 per cent of the major odour-producing raw garlic volatiles. When introduced separately, the fat, water and protein components of yoghurt also had a deodorising effect on raw garlic, but results showed fat and protein performed better than water. Looking at fat’s performance, a higher quantity of butter fat was more effective at deodorisation. The proteins which were studied included different forms of whey, casein and milk proteins, all of which were effective at deodorising garlic. This may be because of their ability to trap the volatile molecules before they are emitted into the air. A casein micelle-whey protein complex performed the best. “We know proteins bind flavour – a lot of times that’s considered a negative, especially if a food with high protein has less flavour. In this case, it could be a positive,” Barringer said. Additional experiments that involved changing the pH of the yoghurt to make it less acidic (4.4 pH to 7 pH) actually appeared to lower the yoghurt’s deodorisation effect on the garlic. However, changing the pH of water did not seem to make any difference on the water’s deodorization effect. “That’s telling me it goes back to those proteins because as you change pH you change the configuration of proteins and their ability to bind. That said we definitely should be looking at these proteins,” Barringer said. “It probably depends on the protein, as well, because different proteins react differently to pH. So that may be an important thing as we look at other proteins for their garlic deodorization effect.” The team also tested the deodorising effect of yoghurt and its components on fried garlic, in the process they found that drying garlic alone can significantly reduce garlic odour. Yoghurt and its individual ingredients neutralised a lower percentage of volatile compounds of fried garlic compared to raw garlic. Study authors think this may be because there were fewer volatiles to trap than were present in the raw cloves. The findings have provided a foundation for future studies on proteins that might help fight the garlic breath. In the meantime, Barringer predicts that Greek yoghurt, with a higher protein profile than the whole milk plain yoghurt used in the study, may be particularly effective at getting rid of garlic breath. Fruit-flavoured yoghurts will probably work, too, she said – and whatever is used, it must quickly follow ingestion of raw garlic. “With apples, we have always said to eat them immediately,” she added. “The same with yoghurt is presumed to be the case – have your garlic and eat the yoghurt right away.” The study was published in the journal Molecules. Read More 11 best mouthwashes that will keep your mouth minty fresh Women less likely than men to receive CPR from strangers, study finds Study finds toxic ‘forever chemicals’ may be ‘intentionally added’ to some period products Teenager’s death after drinking too much water was ‘preventable’ Could bats hold the secret to beating Covid and cancer? Groundbreaking migraine treatment offers ‘new hope’ for patients

Watch live as King Charles visits Notre Dame cathedral and a flower market in Paris on Thursday, 21 September, on his state visit to France. His Majesty has been accompanied by Queen Camilla for the trip, which is his 35th official visit to France and the Queen's ninth - however it is their first since they were crowned last year. The tour of the cathedral and the market comes after the King made a historic address to the French senate on Thursday morning. Charles became the first British monarch to speak from the chamber as he branded global warming “our most existential challenge” a day after Rishi Sunak scaled back key green efforts to tackle climate change. The King's 18-minute long speech prompted a standing ovation after he called for a new Entente Cordiale agreement between Britain and France to tackle the global climate emergency. The Notre Dame visit comes after Charles and Camilla visited the suburb of Saint-Denis, home of the Rugby World Cup, where they were met by rugby stars and sports fans. Read More Queen enjoys game of ping pong with Brigitte Macron King Charles makes historic speech and gives verdict on Rugby World Cup - live ‘May the best win’: King wishes England and France well in Rugby World Cup