Composer Gudnadottir nominated for the 2017 Harpa award

Photo Credit: www.digitalinberlin.de

Icelandic cellist and composer Hildur Gudnadottir has been nominated for the 2017 Harpa award with her score for Balthasar Kormakur’s feature film The Oath (Eidurinn). Other nominees for best score are Danish Sune Martin for his score to Martin Zandvliets drama “Land of Mine”, Norwegian Gaute Storaas for his score to Hannes Holms comedy “En mand der hedder Ove”, Swedish/Finish Marko Nyberg for his score to Ville Jankeris comedy, “Onnenonkija” and Swedish Sophia Ersson for her score to Alexandra-Therese Keinings drama “Pojkerne”. The award will be handed out at Cannes, May 2017 in connection with Directors Fortnight and in cooperation with ECSA. According to the nomination text her score for “The Oath” has been hailed as a major success, complementing every scene with a confident vision of the correct angles and moods, serving the film perfectly. Her very modern sense, combined with her classical background, makes for a rare outcome in this most outstanding score of the year in Icelandic filmmaking. At a reasonably young age she has, with her score to The Oath, created an identity, which is both original and stylish” Gudnadottir is a veteran in contemporary music despite her young age, she’s a classically trained cellist and has played and recorded with a wide range of bands such as Pan Sonic, Throbbing Gristle and Mum, as well as her solo project Lost in Hildurness. She has also toured with Animal Collective and drone metal band Sunn O))). Gudnadottir has released four critically acclaimed solo albums and composed music for theatre, dance performances and films. The Icelandic Symphony Orchestra, Icelandic National Theatre, Tate Modern, The British Film Institute, The Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm and Gothenburg National Theatre are amongst the institutions that have commissioned new works by Gudnadottir. IceNews Photo

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World Penguin Day – the globe 'must do more' to protect penguins' Antarctic habitat

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Starbucks barista has meltdown over Unicorn Frappuccino By AP

Photo Credit: AP/The China Post

SEATTLE -- A Starbucks barista has taken to social media hoping to make orders for the coffee chain's much buzzed about Unicorn Frappuccino disappear. Starbucks' entry into the unicorn food craze was released Wednesday and its popularity was too much for 19-year-old Colorado barista Braden Burson. He posted a video (now-deleted) on Twitter after his shift complaining that it was difficult to keep up with orders for the drink and he's "never been so stressed out" in his life. The Unicorn Frappuccino is a sweet and sour pink and blue cream swirl topped with what Starbucks calls "fairy powder." Burson says in the video that a day of making the treat left him with sticky hands and residue from the drink stuck to his clothes and in his hair. Burson tells The Associated Press that he didn't think his rant would get this much publicity and he didn't intend to "downgrade" the drink. "It's a great drink. But it is difficult to make when there are like 20 fraps all at once both front and drive thru," he wrote in a Facebook message. Starbucks said in a statement Thursday that the popular reception of the drink has "exceeded everyone's expectations." It added that it is reaching out to Burson "to talk about his experience and how to make it better." Burson said he hadn't heard from the company as of midday Thursday. The China Post

Il Giro d’Italia ritorna a casa Volata finale in piazza Duomo By Maurizio Giannattasio

Photo Credit: Ryder Hesjedal/Ansa

Fiato sospeso fino alla fine con la tappa a cronometro dall’Autodromo al Duomo. Il sindaco Sala: «Milano capitale del ciclismo. Non sarà soltanto una passerella» Un ritorno al passato e una promessa per il futuro. Milano e il Giro d’Italia si riabbracciano. La tappa finale dell’edizione numero cento della corsa rosa non solo torna nella sua città d’origine, ma sceglie di nuovo il cuore di Milano per il traguardo finale: piazza del Duomo. Con un impegno del sindaco Beppe Sala: «Non mi dispiacerebbe che l’arrivo del Giro fosse sempre in piazza Duomo, sarebbe una bellissima cosa». Gira la testa alla sua destra. Vicino a lui c’è Urbano Cairo, patron Rcs: «Facciamo subito un contrattino?».
Appuntamento domenica 28 maggio. Crono individuale con partenza dall’Autodromo di Monza e arrivo in piazza del Duomo. A presentare la tappa milanese, oltre a Sala e a Cairo, gli assessori allo Sport di Comune e Regione, Roberta Guaineri e Antonio Rossi insieme al direttore della Gazzetta dello Sport Andrea Monti e al direttore generale di Rcs Sport, Paolo Bellino. Ventinove chilometri e 300 metri di tracciato. Non sarà una passerella, assicurano tutti, ma una tappa che potrebbe cambiare la classifica finale. Autodromo, parco di Monza, viale Italia a Sesto San Giovanni, viale Sarca, Bastioni di Porta Nuova, corso Venezia, corso Matteotti, piazza Duomo. Prima partenza alle 13 e 10, ultimo arrivo alle 17 e 10. Tifosi e automobilisti sono avvertiti.  

Il Giro torna a casa: 47 volte partenza da Milano, 76 volte arrivo a Milano. E numeri importanti: 12,5 milioni di italiani che scendono in strada per vedere i loro beniamini, 840 milioni di spettatori in tv. Poi la separazione, non si capisce quanto consensuale. A sbloccare la situazione un incontro a tre: Sala, Cairo, Monti. Il sindaco, attento alla vocazione internazionale della città, rilancia il «matrimonio». Accordo fatto. Il Giro torna sotto la Madonnina. «Non poteva essere altrimenti — dice Cairo —. C’è un legame speciale con la città, Milano è una destinazione naturale per il Giro. Il legame tra il gruppo Rcs e la città nasce più di un secolo fa: il nostro gruppo è cresciuto con Milano e da sempre trova in Milano un campo pieno di entusiasmo per tutte le nostre manifestazioni». A Sala viene consegnata la maglia rosa. In prima fila c’è Vittorio Adorni, vincitore del Giro nel 1965 e del campionato del mondo nel 1968. Un bignami della storia del Giro che conta più di un secolo di vita. È lui a riannodare il filo tra il passato e il futuro. Tra l’arrivo al Musocco del 1909 (spostato all’Arena per problemi di ordine pubblico) e il traguardo in piazza Duomo del 2017. Ma non ci sono solo i professionisti. La passione delle due ruote che ha contagiato molti milanesi potrà trovare uno sfogo la mattina del 28. Prima della crono individuale ufficiale, gli amanti della bici potranno provare il brivido di percorrere il tragitto ufficiale con una cronometro a squadre. Corriere della Sera

How to Photograph White Birds By Michael Milicia

Photo Credit: Snowy Egret, Michael Milicia
Audubon

The brilliant white plumage of some birds can also show exquisite detail. Here are two tricks for capturing both in an image. One of the great things about bird photography is the seemingly endless diversity of colorful subjects. But while birds such as the Painted Bunting and Scarlet Tanager are certainly eye-catching, images capturing the elegance, grace, and simplicity of predominantly white birds, such as the Great Egret, Snowy Egret, and Trumpeter Swan, can be just as spectacular. When photographing white birds, we want to portray their brilliance while still preserving the subtle and often intricate detail in their plumage. This can be a delicate balance and is often a source of frustration for beginning bird photographers. Exposure theory tells us that if we come up with camera settings that render a gray bird as gray, those exact same settings will work for a white bird in the same light. While this is true, there is far less room for error with bright white subjects: Underexposing will make them appear too dull, and overexposing even a little can cause a complete loss of detail in the highlights. As a first step, put your camera in manual exposure mode. For many reasons, automatic exposure modes like Aperture Priority can make it difficult to achieve the level of accuracy and consistency that is critical for proper exposure of bright white subjects. This is especially true if your subject is in a dynamic environment or if its size in the frame is changing frequently.  There are many ways to come up with the correct settings but here are two simple and effective methods.  
Utilize Highlight Alerts
By enabling highlight alerts or “blinkies” on your camera, any areas that have lost highlight detail—the detail hidden in the brightest part of a scene—will blink during image playback. For white subjects, these blinkies are both accurate and reliable and can be used to your advantage. Take test shots in manual mode with increasing levels of exposure until you see blinkies on the subject and then reduce the exposure by one third or two thirds of a stop. You can now use these locked-in settings to get the optimal exposure regardless of the subject’s background or its size in the frame, as long as the amount of light hitting the subject remains constant. If and when the light changes, again take test shots to come up with new settings. This method is not the most efficient or elegant, but it is simple and very effective.
Choose Spot Metering
Even though you are in manual mode, you can still use the camera’s exposure meter to guide you to the correct camera settings. Choose a spot metering pattern, which yields more predictable and consistent results than patterns like matrix or evaluative. Fill the spot metering area with white from the brightest part of the subject and adjust the camera settings until the exposure scale in the viewfinder reads +2. This should be very close to optimal, but you may be able to go one or two thirds of a stop more without losing highlight detail. As with the previous method, you can now fire away with these locked-in settings regardless of background or subject size until the light changes. When this happens, again fill the spot metering area with white plumage and adjust the camera settings to get back to the same reading on the exposure scale. Once you have used the meter as a guide to lock in the correct exposure, you can ignore the exposure scale while you are shooting—it may bounce all over the place as your Spot metering area falls over different parts of the scene.
Other Considerations
Fine detail in the plumage of a bright white bird can often be made more visible by reducing the exposure by one or two thirds of a stop. You might want to consider this in the field if you are shooting JPEGs, but if you are shooting RAW, you can and should wait until post-processing time to make this decision. It’s also best to avoid shooting in bright midday sun, when blazingly white plumage seems to become even more reflective, obscuring highlight detail. Audubon Tips and How-To's

Michael Milicia is a Massachusetts-based bird photographer. He also specializes in teaching photography and takes great joy in helping others take their imagery to the next level.

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Cycling to work could help you live longer and greatly reduces the chance of developing cancer, study reveals By Sarah Knapton

They are often derided as Mamils (middle-aged men in Lycra), but a new study suggests Britain’s urban cyclists will have the last laugh. Cycling to work lowers the risk of dying early by 40 per cent, and reduces the chance of developing cancer by 45 per cent. Similarly a daily bike ride to the office nearly halves the risk of heart disease, according to a major study by the University of Glasgow, who tracked the health of more than a quarter of a million people over five years. Over the study period 37 people in the cycling group died, but the researchers say the findings suggest that 63 would have died if they had all commuted by car or public transport. The findings held true for both men and women. Just four per cent of adults cycle to work each day, around two million people. Dr Jason Gill, from the Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences at Glasgow University, said the government must do more to make cycling safer and more popular. “Cycling all or part of the way to work was associated with substantially lower risk of adverse health outcomes. “If these associations are causal, these findings suggest that policies designed to make it easier for people to commute by bike, such as cycle lanes, city bike hire, subsidised cycle purchase schemes and increasing provision for cycles on public transport may present major opportunities for public health improvement.” Walking to work was also found to be good for health, although it does not offer the same benefits as taking a bike. Commuting on foot was associated with a 27 per cent lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease and a 36 per cent lower risk of dying from it. Overall walking to work lowered the risk of early death by 27 per cent. But there was no link with a lower risk of cancer or dying early from any cause in walkers, the study found. People who preferred to stroll to work also had to walk for two hours a week in total to see health benefits, at an average speed of three miles per hour. Experts behind the study, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), said the lower benefits seen for walking compared to cycling could be due to the fact cyclists covered longer distances in their commutes than the walkers, cycling is a higher intensity exercise and cyclists were generally more fit. Dr Carlos Celis-Morales, from the University of Glasgow, said: "Walking to work was associated with lower risk of heart disease, but unlike cycling was not associated with a significantly lower risk of cancer or overall death. "This may be because walkers commuted shorter distances than cyclists, typically six miles per week, compared with 30 miles per week, and walking is generally a lower intensity of exercise than cycling." The study also found some health benefits if people cycled part of their journey and took public transport or drove the rest of the way. The people taking part in the research were aged 52 on average at the start of the study and were followed for five years. Professor Lars Bo, an expert in sports science from the Western Norwegian University of Applied Sciences, Bergen, Norway said the UK government must do far more to help people cycle or walk to work. “The UK has neglected to build infrastructure to promote cycling for decades and the potential for improvements to increase cycling and the safety of cycling is huge,” he said. “Cities such as Copenhagen have prioritised cycling by building bike lanes; tunnels for bikes, so cyclists do not need to pass heavy traffic; and bridges over the harbour to shorten travel time for pedestrians and cyclists. Today, no car or bus can travel faster than a bike through Copenhagen. “The findings from this study are a clear call for political action on active commuting, which has the potential to improve public health by preventing common (and costly) non-communicable diseases. “A shift from car to more active modes of travel will also decrease traffic in congested city centres and help reduce air pollution, with further benefits for health.” The Telegraph

French election: Le Pen, Macron... or Mélenchon? By James Masters, Maud Le Rest, and Margaux Deygas

Paris (CNN) It has been one of the most unpredictable and dramatic presidential campaigns in French political history -- and with less than a week to go before the election, the outcome remains too close to call. Only a few weeks ago, it appeared almost guaranteed that the French electorate would vote for a face off between National Front Leader Marine Le Pen and independent candidate Emmanuel Macron. But as Sunday's first round of voting draws ever closer, the political whirlwind that is far-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon appears to be gathering speed. Will Le Pen ease through? Can Macron persuade voters he's got a plan? Or will the left-wing firebrand Mélenchon cause widespread shock? (... continued.) CNN

Germany gains popularity among foreign investors By Hardy Graupner

Germany is becoming increasingly attractive to foreign investors, a fresh study by a leading business consultancy has shown. The authors say the country stands to profit from the UK's exit from the European Union. Renowned consultancy A.T. Kearney on Wednesday published its 2017 Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index, looking once again at changes in investors' perception of the business climate in specific countries and regions. The authors of the study said they were surprised by this year's results, pointing out that a year ago investors were concerned about the rise of populist policies in the Brexit referendum vote and the US presidential elections. "And yet this year, despite Brexit and the equally unexpected US election outcome, the US maintains its No.1 rank on the index, and the United Kingdom gains one spot to rank fourth," A.T. Kearney's Paul Laudicina said on the consultancy's website.
Not as bad as previously thought?
The study said the discrepancy could best be explained by the fact that the US and UK markets were both large and open economies with relatively efficient regulations, transparent tax rates and strong technological capabilities. It added investors had pointed to these characteristics as the primary factors they considered when determining where to invest. There's also the perception that both Brexit and US President will be good for business at least in the short term. This is based on London's prospect of having to deal with fewer cumbersome EU-mandated regulations and a more rational immigration policy, once it's left the EU. The study remarks that Trump for his part has promised to lower corporate tax rates and invest heavily in US infrastructure.
Germany a winner
This year's index provides some good news for Germany as it rises to second place in the table behind the US, marking its highest ranking in the nearly two-decade long history of the FDI Confidence Index. A.T. Kearney says the improvement likely reflects the country's business-friendly regulatory environment and its robust labor market. Many investors expect Germany to benefit from the fallout from Brexit. The number of European markets on the index fell for the second year in a row to 11 countries in 2017, signaling a downward trend in investor interest in Europe as a region. Nonetheless, the five largest European economies all made gains in the ranking this year. Emerging markets secured a share of 28 percent of the positions, "rebounding from a historical low of 20 percent last year." A.T. Kearney viewed this as a nascent trend of global investors increasing their risk tolerance and eyeing emerging economies for growth opportunities, particularly China and India. DW

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Obama to give speech in Berlin to mark Reformation anniversary

Germany's protestant church has secured a coup: Barack Obama will address the annual assembly to mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. It could be Obama's first major appearance since leaving the presidency. Former US President Barack Obama will visit Germany in May to address the Protestant Church Assembly, or Kirchentag, the organizers confirmed on Tuesday. Obama will join Chancellor Angela Merkel and other dignitaries at the four-day festival. He is believed to be making a speech at the closing event in Berlin to mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. It would be his first public talk since his second term came to an end in January. Organizers refused to confirm Obama would be attending, saying they would announce the official line up of speakers later on Tuesday. As Germany looks towards federal election in September, it is safe to assume that most of the country's major politicians will be in attendance. The former president can likely look forward to a warm welcome in Germany, where he still enjoys a favorable reputation despite revelations that the NSA once tapped Chancellor Merkel's cell phone under his watch. Obama visited Germany six times as president, but he captured the hearts and minds of Germans before he was even elected. In 2008, hundreds of thousands gathered to hear him speak at the Victory Column, or Siegessäule, in Berlin. DW

Berlusconi cuddles lambs in vegetarian Easter campaign By Reuters in Rome

Former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has infuriated Italy’s meat industry by joining a vegetarian campaign and “adopting” five lambs that would have been butchered for Easter. A video by the Italian League in Defence of Animals and the Environment, showing Berlusconi cuddling, kissing and feeding the lambs with a baby’s bottle, was circulated widely on social media over the weekend. The 80-year-old former prime minister was filmed in his parkland estate in front of a sign saying “Defend life, choose a vegetarian Easter,” while a scrolling message urged viewers to “Be like him. He saved five lambs from the Easter slaughter.” Berlusconi was expelled from the senate in 2013 following a conviction for tax fraud, but his Forza Italia party is still the third or fourth most popular in Italy with about 12% of the vote, according to opinion polls. Italians traditionally eat lamb or goat on Easter Sunday but consumption has declined sharply over the last five years due to an economic slump and the growing success of vegetarian campaigns. The Guardian

A Coffee Empire Grows, as Panera Is Sold to JAB Holding Company By Stephanie Strom and Chad Bray

LONDON — Over the last several years, a European family business has spent more than $40 billion assembling a coffee empire. JAB Holding Company has acquired the American brands Peet’s Coffee, Caribou Coffee and Keurig Green Mountain, all since 2012. It also combined the European coffee giant D.E. Master Blenders 1753 with the coffee business of Mondelez to create a company now known as Jacobs Douwe Egbert. Then it bought the high-end coffee retailers Stumptown Coffee Roasters and Intelligentsia. Mondelez continues to own 25 percent of Douwe Egbert and has a similar stake in Keurig. Now JAB needs somewhere to sell all that coffee. On Wednesday, JAB, which is privately held, said it would add the Panera restaurant chain to its growing empire of American coffee and food favorites for $7.5 billion, including debt. It is only the latest effort to expand into restaurants by JAB, the investment arm of the Reimann family of Germany, who are heirs to the consumer goods company Joh. A. Benckiser. In 2014, JAB bought the bagel chain Einstein Brothers, which it has been combining with Caribou is some markets. And last year, it paid $1.35 billion for Krispy Kreme, the struggling doughnut chain. In Panera, JAB will acquire a popular fast casual chain that serves soups, salads, sandwiches and baked goods at about 2,000 locations. Panera has set itself apart by offering relatively healthy options and being one of the first national restaurant chains to distance itself from high fructose corn syrup. But Panera, which went public in 1991, has chafed under Wall Street’s relentless demand for growth. Ron Shaich, Panera’s personable chief executive who controls roughly 15 percent of its stock, said one of the biggest attractions to the JAB deal was the chance to take his company private. “For the last 20 years, I’ve spent 20 percent of my time telling people what we’ve done to grow and another 20 percent of my time telling people what we’re going to do to grow,” Mr. Shaich said in an interview. “I won’t have to do that anymore.” Investment analysts have speculated for years that Mr. Shaich, 63, has been looking for a way to reduce his role at the company after spending more than two decades building it up from a tiny 400-square foot cookie store in Boston. Mr. Shaich, however, said that he planned to continue to lead Panera. “Nothing will change,” he said. “The management team and I will remain.” With the acquisition of Panera, JAB will have spent more than $40 billion in what appears to be a big bet that it can muscle in on a market dominated by Starbucks and Nestlé. It takes on Panera at a time when it has two large turnarounds on its hands, Krispy Kreme and Keurig Green Mountain. The doughnut chain was a phenomenon several years ago, then fell on hard times and has never fully recovered. Keurig, which dominates the single-serve coffee market, has struggled as competition cut into its profitability. Then it made a big bet that fell flat on a single-serve machine to make cold drinks, and JAB stepped in. The restaurant business in general has been in the doldrums for the last couple of years, with most big chains struggling to eke out increases in same-store sales of even 1 or 2 percent. Panera has done better than most. The company moved faster than others to build a mobile ordering system and cleanse its menu of ingredients like artificial preservatives and high fructose corn syrup that consumers do not want. The NPD Group, a research and consulting firm, predicts that traffic in restaurants in the United States will remain stalled this year as well. The firm predicts that quick-service restaurant chains like McDonald’s and KFC, which account for 80 percent of the total traffic in the restaurant industry, will see a 1 percent increase in visits this year. On Wednesday when it announced the deal with JAB, Panera said its same-store sales in its company-owned stores were up 5.3 percent, which is stronger than most. But roughly 60 percent of its stores are owned by franchisees, with sales in those units not doing as well. Mr. Shaich said that was because the fruits of initiatives like the mobile ordering system, which were rolled out first in company-owned stores, have yet to fully show up in the performance of franchisees. He said JAB had no plans to make changes. “They are hands off,” Mr. Shaich said. “These guys have a track record for investing in great brands and companies and letting management do their jobs.” Under the terms of the transaction, JAB BV, the investment vehicle executing the transaction for JAB, would pay $315 a share, representing a premium of 30 percent to Panera’s 30-day volume-weighted average stock price as of March 31, the last trading day before media reports that Panera was exploring a potential sale. JAB BV would also assume about $340 million in net debt. “We strongly support Panera’s vision for the future, strategic initiatives, culture of innovation, and balanced company versus franchise store mix,” Olivier Goudet, JAB’s chief executive, said in a news release. “We are excited to invest in and work together with the company’s management team and franchisees to continue to lead the industry.” The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter and is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval. Mr. Shaich and entities affiliated with him have agreed to vote shares representing about 15.5 percent of the company’s voting stock in favor of the transaction. Morgan Stanley and the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell are advising Panera. Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and BDT Capital Partners, and the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom are advising JAB. In addition, entities affiliated with BDT are acting as minority investors alongside JAB, which they also did in the Krispy Kreme deal. International New York Times

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Gucci to finance 2mn restoration of Boboli Gardens

(ANSA) - Florence, April 4 - Gucci will donate two million euros to the Uffizi Gallery to restore and enhance Florence's Boboli Gardens park. The announcement was made on Tuesday by Gucci CEO Marco Bizzarri, Uffizi Director Eike Schmidt and Florence Mayor Dario Nardella. For the first time, as part of the deal, the Gucci Cruise show will take place on May 29, 2018 in the Galleria Palatina of the iconic Palazzo Pitti, which maintains the world-famous gardens. The 'Boboli Spring' project, promoted by the Italian culture ministry under the aegis of the Florence city council, in partnership with the Uffizi Gallery, "will make the greenery of the garden thrive again and restore it to its status as the Italian Versailles," said Schmidt. Bizzarri noted that one million people visited the garden last year and he, too, said "we want to restore it to its place as the Versailles of Italy". The project had a "particular significance", he said, reflecting Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele's "cultural and aesthetic background", which finds in Renaissance Florence "an undying source of inspiration". Culture Minister Dario Franceschini hailed Gucci's "significant" investment, noting that fashion is part of Italy's cultural heritage. The Boboli Gardens (Italian: Giardino di Boboli) is a park behind Palazzo Pitti, that is home to a collection of sculptures dating from the 16th through the 18th centuries, with some Roman antiquities. It is one of the most famous gardens in Italy and a favourite spot for locals and tourists to picnic. Life in Italy