Established 1961 13 Lifestyle Features Thursday, May 20, 2021

ritish supermodel Naomi Campbell becoming a mother, telling the Evening launched her own channel, also chimed Bhas become the mother of a baby Standard magazine in 2017 that “I think in. “Such beautiful news, massive con- girl at the age of 50, she said about having children all the time.” gratulations Naomi,” the video sharing Tuesday in a surprise announcement on But she added that “with the way sci- site’s official Instagram account posted. Instagram. “A beautiful little blessing has ence is I think I can do it when I want.” The jet-setting, barrier-breaking model still chosen me to be her mother,” she wrote Celebrities were quick to offer their con- poses for magazine covers, in between alongside a photograph of her hand gratulations. “Oh my God!!!!! Today is the charity and NGO work-particularly in In this file photo chef Alain Ducasse poses for a cradling a tiny pair of infant feet. “So hon- day?? How absolutely incredible. How Africa-and reality TV appearances. In picture during an interview with AFP at his ored to have this gentle soul in my life,” lucky she is and how lucky you are! What 2019, when asked about children by WSJ restaurant Alain Ducasse at the Morpheus hotel she continued, adding that there were “no a wonderful Mother you will be. Blessings magazine, she replied: “Not yet-I’ll see in Macau. — AFP In this file photo British model Naomi Campbell words to describe the lifelong bond that I all around,” wrote designer Marc Jacobs what the universe brings me.”— AFP arrives for the Recording Academy and Clive now share with you my angel. There is no on Instagram. “oh my goodness congrats Davis pre-Grammy gala at the Beverly Hilton greater love.” Campbell did not give more lady! What a blessing!!!” said actress Zoe hotel in Beverly Hills, California. — AFP details. She had spoken previously about Saldana. YouTube, where Campbell has

lain Ducasse, the French chef with Athe most Michelin stars in the world, is leaving the restaurant of luxury Paris hotel Plaza Athenee that has been his base for more than two decades and where he developed his ground- breaking “naturalness” approach to cui- sine. Ducasse, 64, who has picked up 21 stars in his career, was lately known for his radical decision to quit using two sta- ples of French cooking: meat and butter. He remodeled the kitchen around fish, grains and vegetables, and it proved another huge hit with critics, pointing Eurovision fans take pictures in front of a giant portrait of Netherlands’ singer Jeangu Macrooy Surinamese singer-songwriter Jeangu Macrooy (right), representing the Netherlands, performs the towards a new direction for French haute near the Ahoy convention center, in Rotterdam, ahead of the first semi-final. song Birth Of A New Age during the second rehearsal of the second semifinal of the Eurovision cuisine. His award-winning pastry chef Song Contest in Rotterdam. Jessica Prealpato took an even more rad- ical step by applying the ethos to chapter,” Dave Geensen, Project manag- Eurovision contestants are confined to a into an online-only event. desserts. “La desseralite” meant very lit- er for the Eurovision Song Contest in bio-secure “bubble”, while shows in the But the city has put its best foot for- tle sugar and ingenious concepts such as Rotterdam Rotterdam, told AFP. “Right now we are Ahoy Arena including Saturday’s final are ward in the form of attractions like a huge freeze-drying fruits in vinegar to draw out in a phase of adjusting, and the next step limited to just 3,500 fans — 20 percent of replica of the iconic microphone-shaped their flavors. The Dorchester Group, obviously would be ‘opening up’.” the venue’s capacity. Everyone on site trophy for fans to pose with. One French which runs Plaza Athenee, did not give a defies pandemic Geensen said they had to “reinvent our- must be regularly tested. fan who made the journey from Val- reason for their decision to part ways, but self and come up with resilience and But there have already been scares, d’Oise near Paris was handing out confirmed they will continue to collaborate contingency planning” to hold a safe con- with four teams being nixed from badges with a picture of French entrant- at their other restaurants, le Meurice in to ‘open up’ for test in the midst of a global pandemic, Sunday’s opening ceremony. Delegates and favorite to win-Barbara Pravi. “She’s Paris and The Dorchester in London. a charismatic singer, crazily talented, her A spokesman said Ducasse’s “natural- voice is like crystal and she’s got every- ness” campaign had “left its mark on the Eurovision thing she needs to win,” said the fan who history of gastronomy”. The move comes gave his name as Dalessio. He said he as haute cuisine prepares to emerge from missed the usual fan events but “admired” an unprecedented hibernation caused by he mood is defiant among the trickle the efforts made by Rotterdam. the pandemic, with top restaurants in of flag-waving Eurovision Song western Europe robbed of their ultra-rich, T ‘Rotterdam spirit’ globe-trotting clientele. During the pan- Contest fans who have made their way to Rotterdam-like the mood of the Dutch fans are supporting this year’s demic, Ducasse sought to bring his cui- Dutch port city itself. A huge artwork out- entry Jeangu Macrooy. “I’m really a fan of sine to the people, offering takeaway side the Ahoy Arena is emblazoned with Jeangu from the Netherlands, I really like dishes at around 22 euros. — AFP the words “Open Up”, the theme for this his song,” said Mindy Masselman, 19, a year’s version of a televisual spectacle student from Utrecht. that is meant to bring Europe together in Another local fan, waving a scarf for song. The theme was actually chosen the cameras in front of the trophy replica, before coronavirus swept the globe and Netherlands’ Jeangu Macrooy appears on stage during the first semi-final of the 65th edition of the said it was “once in a lifetime that the forced the cancellation of the 2020 edi- Eurovision Song Contest 2021, at the Ahoy convention center in Rotterdam. — AFP photos Eurovision is in your country, so I’m very tion, but it has proved uncannily apt. very proud”. Rescuing Eurovision after the Rotterdam is now cautiously leading the first cancellation in its six-decade history way for Europe’s gradual reopening from but it was worth it. “These are times from the Polish and Icelandic teams test- was itself a symbolic act for a city that had Covid-19 and for other major events like where we are debating each other, fight- ed positive for Covid-19 and Malta and to be totally rebuilt after Nazi Germany the Euro football tournament and the ing a pandemic. Now it’s also time to Romania are staying away as a precau- bombed it in 1940, said Reinier Weers, Tokyo Olympics. have some fun.” tion because they are staying in the same Rotterdam city program coordinator. Rotterdam has glitzed up ahead of the hotel. Travel restrictions meanwhile have “There is a typical Rotterdam spirit I think ‘Voice like crystal’ first semi-final on Tuesday, with names of kept all but a handful of the normally tens and it has to do with the resilience of the In this file photo, Actor Charles Grodin attends former winners including Abba’s Rotterdam is taking no chances in a of thousands of fans from venturing to the Rotterdam people,” he said. — AFP the opening night gala world premiere of “Waterloo” festooned across the city’s country that has averaged 5,000 Covid-19 Netherlands. The usually vibrant ‘Captain Phillips’ during the 51st New York Film harp-like Erasmus bridge. “We do think cases a day over the past week, and Eurovision village where fans and con- Festival at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center in that this is the stepping stone to the next where vaccination has been sluggish. testants can meet has also been turned New York City.— AFP Six stolen frescoes returned to Pompeii Charles Grodin, star of ‘Midnight

ix frescoes hacked off from the ruins smuggled out of Italy and sold to collec- before thieves had time to take them Roman city destroyed by the volcanic Run’ and ‘Beethoven,’ Sof ancient Roman villas years ago tors in the United States, Switzerland and away. In the same spot, which has since eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD. The ruins have been returned to the Pompeii Britain. been taken over by official authorities, have survived to this day after being cov- dies at 86 archaeological park, Italian police said The art squad unit of the Carabinieri archaeologists found last year the ered for centuries by a metres-thick layer Tuesday. Three of them-one depicting a police intercepted and confiscated them remains of two victims of the eruption of of volcanic ash and dust, allowing an cherub, another a female dancer and the last year as part of “a wider investigation Mount Vesuvius, presumed to be of a extraordinary degree of frozen-in-time S actor, talk-show host and writer third the head of a woman-came from two on the international trafficking of archaeo- young slave and his older master. preservation both of city structures and of UCharles Grodin, best known for his ancient Roman houses in Stabia, a site a logical goods”, a statement said. The oth- Pompeii, located near Naples in south- residents unable to flee. — AFP comic deadpan performances in few kilometers from the main Pompeii er three frescoes were found by police in ern Italy, is one of the archeological won- films such as “Midnight Run” and excavations. They are believed to have 2012 in an illegal dig in Civita Giuliana, ders of the world, as it holds the remark- “Beethoven,” has died aged 86 from bone been stolen as far back as the 1970s, around 700 metres northwest of Pompeii, ably preserved remains of an ancient marrow cancer, his son told AFP Tuesday. Grodin starred alongside Robert De Niro in action-comedy “Midnight Run,” as well as in the 1976 remake of “King Kong” and a Golden Globe-nominated lead role in rom-com “The Heartbreak Kid.” Early in his career he had a minor role as a doctor in Roman Polanski’s horror classic “Rosemary’s Baby,” and he later played a suburban dad in the popular canine family comedy “Beethoven.” Grodin died Tuesday at his home in Wilton, Connecticut, his son Nicholas confirmed. “So said (sic) to hear. One of the funniest people I ever met,” tweeted US comedy legend Steve Martin. Grodin also won an Emmy as a co- writer on a 1977 Paul Simon television special, hosted his own 1990s chat show, and was a regular fixture on shows host- ed by Johnny Carson, David Letterman and Jay Leno. Born in Pittsburgh in 1935, Grodin became a respected stage per- former, earning his big break in 1962 Broadway comedy “Tchin-Tchin” and cementing his stardom with 1975’s “Same A handout photo shows a fragment of a fresco, probably coming A handout photograph shows a fragment of a fresco, probably A handout photograph shows a fragment of a fresco, probably Time, Next Year” opposite Ellen Burstyn. from room 9 of Villa Arianna in Pompei, and returned to the coming from the Stabia area due to the similarities with a coming from room 12 of Villa Arianna in Pompei, and returned to Grodin’s other notable supporting roles Museo Archeologico Libero D’Orsi, in Castellammare di Stabia. female figure and lyre present in the fresco of Hermes, at the the Museo Archeologico Libero D’Ors. — AFP photos came in films including Warren Beatty’s Villa San Marco in Pompei, and returned to the Museo “Heaven Can Wait” and Mike Nichols’ Archeologico Libero DíOrsi. “Catch-22.”— AFP