The actress addressed the US Congress in support of the Violence Against Women Act. ...

NEW DELHI — The Charaideo Moidam royal burial complex and shrines, built by northeast India's Ahom dynasty, has been inscribed as a new World Heritage Site, the United Nations' cultural agency said on Friday.  UNESCO experts, who are deliberating on a list of sites nominated for the World Heritage Site tag, announced the decision in Indian capital New Delhi, where they are holding their 46th session.  The Charaideo Moidams, located in Assam state, are a mound burial system that served as a resting place for Ahom kings and queens. They were constructed by providing an earth cover over a hollow vault made of bricks, stone or earth.  The designated site contains 90 modiams of different sizes, which were created over a period of 600 years, and include other cultural features like ceremonial pathways and bodies of water, said a spokesperson from ICOMOS, the advisory body of the World Heritage Committee.  "The moidams are an exceptional example of an Ahom necropolis that represents funeral traditions and associated beliefs in a tangible way," they said.  The Ahom clan established their capital in different parts of the Brahmaputra River Valley between the 12th to 18th century, after migrating from China, according to the U.N. cultural agency's website. They established the first capital at the Patkai hills in eastern India and named it Charaideo, which means "a dazzling city above the mountain" in their language. Even though the clan moved across cities, the burial site they built was seen as the most sacred place for the departed souls of the royals.  Experts say the shrines showcase the architecture and expertise of Assam's masons, comparing them to the royal tombs of China and the pyramids of the Egyptian Pharaohs.  The site has the largest concentration of these vaulted mound burials, according to UNESCO, and reflects the sculpted landscape of the surrounding hills.  India is now home to 43 World Heritage Sites.  Other sites inscribed on Friday included the Colonies of the Moravian Church in Germany, the U.S. and U.K.; the Umm Al-Jimal in Jordan and the Badain Jaran Desert in China.  The committee also inscribed the Monastery of Saint Hilarion, in the archeological site of Tell Umm Amer in the Gaza Strip, on both the World Heritage List and on the List of World Heritage in Danger. It said the decision recognized the site's value and the need to protect it given threats posed by the conflict in the Gaza Strip.  ...

At Tyler Malek's ice cream parlors, one cook's trash is another chef's frosty treat. The head ice cream maker at the Portland, Oregon-based Salt & Straw uses the whey leftover from yogurt makers in upstate New York to make his lemon curd flavor. For chocolate barley milk, he mixes in the remnants of rice and grains from beer brewing to give it a light and creamy taste. "Instead of calling this food waste, we need to call it wasted food and start decreasing how much wasting we're doing," Malek said. Malek's ice cream chain is among those at the forefront of the upcycling movement, the process of creating high-quality products from leftover food. Malek's shops from the Pacific Northwest to Miami now feature flavors like "Cacao Pulp & Chocolate Stracciatella Gelato," which is made from leftover cacao pulp from chocolate production that otherwise would have gone to waste. It's a trend gaining ground as consumers spend more time reading packaging labels and menu ingredients to learn where their food comes from and how it affects the environment. More than 35 million tons (31 million metric tons) of food are wasted every year in the U.S. — about 40% of the country's food production — costing the national economy more than $200 billion, according to the Upcycled Food Association. Upcycled food is becoming increasingly common in cake mixes and veggie chips at natural grocery stores. Ingredients include fruits and vegetables from farms nationwide that are perfectly edible but often rejected by restaurants and grocery stores because of their shape or color, like white strawberries, wilted greens and ugly mushrooms. The Upcycled Food Association, which will celebrate World Upcycling Day on Saturday, issues an official "Upcycling Certified" seal to qualifying products. These seals, which adorn the new Salt & Straw upcycled flavors, raise awareness with consumers that the company making the food used such ingredients. The association initially certified about 30 products in 2021 and now has 450 carrying the label. "A lot of the food that is uneaten or thrown away in our supply chain is actually due to archaic cosmetic standards or sort of perceptions that what we think is edible or quality food," said Angie Crone, the association's chief executive. "So this is a mark that you can see on the products wherever you go shopping, to be able to understand how that company is reducing food waste in their supply chain." The association's seal also is featured on all products made by Renewal Mill, an Oakland-based company turning byproducts from plant-based milk into pantry stables like baking flour to reduce waste at the manufacturing level. "Our first product is the pulp leftover from making soy milk. We turn that into a high fiber gluten-free flour called okara flour," co-founder Caroline Cotto said. "And then we use that flour to make things like baking mixes and ready-to-eat cookies." The company's okara flour is featured in Salt & Straw's new "Salted Caramel & Okara Cupcakes" flavor. The movement isn't confined to recycled products found in a trendy ice cream store, farmers market or natural grocery. In San Francisco, a restaurant serving pizza and wine focuses on upcycled ingredients such as ugly mushrooms, misshapen peppers and discolored tomatoes, as well as offcuts of meat for menu stars like beef heart meatballs. "I think so many people think about dumpster diving or using rotten ingredients, but we have this wildly overproductive food system that accounts for a ton of waste," said Kayla Abe, co-owner of Shuggie's Trash Pie. "Some people might not read that it's a beef heart meatball and they just might see meatball. They order it and they're like, that was the best meatball I've ever had in my life." ...

Joan of Arc attributed her extraordinary courage to divine command, not personal ambition. She faced her trial with humility, placing all credit with God. Her conviction provided strength through imprisonment and intense pressure. Purpose, rather than recognition, fueled her unwavering dedication to her mission. This historical figure's story continues to resonate due to her steadfast faith....

‘I want to do this when I go into labour and just show up with the baby,’ one viewer writes on TikTok ...

Aitch, Mabel, Rag'n'Bone Man and Griff also performed through the day on the Main Stage. ...

Gay has hit three centuries and posted 552 runs at 92.00 in the County Championship so far this season. ...