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Milan Furniture Fair Reopens Doors after 2-Year Pause

A kitchen design at the Haecker stand during the six-day Salone del Mobile, the world’s largest furniture fair in Milan. Photo: AFP
A kitchen design at the Haecker stand during the six-day Salone del Mobile, the world’s largest furniture fair in Milan. Photo: AFP
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Milan Furniture Fair Reopens Doors after 2-Year Pause

A kitchen design at the Haecker stand during the six-day Salone del Mobile, the world’s largest furniture fair in Milan. Photo: AFP
A kitchen design at the Haecker stand during the six-day Salone del Mobile, the world’s largest furniture fair in Milan. Photo: AFP

In light of the recovery of the furniture industry, the Milan Furniture Fair has reopened its doors to the audience on September 5 after a two-year pause due to the pandemic.

The curators of this year's edition pledged to organize an event full of creativity despite the small scale organization and the participation of only 425 exhibitors, out of which 66 are foreigners.

Dubbed "Supersalone," the 59th edition held until September 9, "is unique and emphasizes the recovery of the industry," Maria Porro, the fair's new manager, told AFP.

"Creativity, attention to environmental impact, innovation, cultural exchange, and digital experiences are the top interests of this edition," she explained.

This impressive gathering of prominent names from the furniture design industry is the largest specialist exhibition held in Italy since the virus outbreak in February 2020.

The local authorities have allowed the organization of such events since July 1.

Last year was a tough time for the furniture business during which revenues declined by 8.9 percent, to 21.2 billion euro. However, the industry is recovering, as Italian exports jumped 43.2 percent, to 5.4 billion euros within the first five months of 2021.

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Japan Puts the Heat on Suspected Ice Cream Cartel

This illustrative picture shows ice cream in a convenience store in Tokyo on June 17, 2026. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP)
This illustrative picture shows ice cream in a convenience store in Tokyo on June 17, 2026. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP)
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Japan Puts the Heat on Suspected Ice Cream Cartel

This illustrative picture shows ice cream in a convenience store in Tokyo on June 17, 2026. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP)
This illustrative picture shows ice cream in a convenience store in Tokyo on June 17, 2026. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP)

Summer is coming, a boom time for ice cream makers, but Japanese authorities have raided six major firms on suspicion of colluding to raise prices.

Among the country's biggest ice cream firms, the six "are suspected of colluding" to hike prices, a source familiar with the matter told AFP on Wednesday.

Company officials are thought to have sent emails or met up for years to coordinate the timing and size of hikes, the unnamed source said.

Officials from the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) searched the head offices on Tuesday of Meiji Co., Morinaga Milk Industry Co., Lotte Co., Ezaki Glico Co., Morinaga & Co., and Akagi Nyugyo Co., according to company officials and the source.

Since around 2022, the ice cream companies have raised retail prices every year at around the same time, local media reported.

The JFTC is also investigating whether the companies took advantage of inflation to raise prices beyond what was justified by a spike in raw ingredient costs, according to Kyodo News.

Five of the companies issued statements on Tuesday or on Wednesday saying their offices had been raided by the JFTC and that they "would cooperate with the investigation.”

Natsuyo Suzuki of Akagi Nyugo also confirmed to AFP that the firm would work with investigators following an "on-site inspection.”

If the JFTC concludes that there was a cartel, the antitrust watchdog will order the firms to improve their business practices and pay a fine.

In the fiscal year ending in March, ice cream sales in Japan hit a record high of more than 660 billion yen, according to the Japan Ice Cream Association, as the country sweltered through its hottest summer since records began in 1989.

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'Unstable' Tasmanian Devil Found after 15 Days on the Run

A Tasmanian devil named Nick is seen at the Conrad Prebys Australian Outback at the San Diego Zoo in San Diego, California May 31, 2016. Courtesy Ken Bohn/San Diego Zoo/Handout via Reuters
A Tasmanian devil named Nick is seen at the Conrad Prebys Australian Outback at the San Diego Zoo in San Diego, California May 31, 2016. Courtesy Ken Bohn/San Diego Zoo/Handout via Reuters
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'Unstable' Tasmanian Devil Found after 15 Days on the Run

A Tasmanian devil named Nick is seen at the Conrad Prebys Australian Outback at the San Diego Zoo in San Diego, California May 31, 2016. Courtesy Ken Bohn/San Diego Zoo/Handout via Reuters
A Tasmanian devil named Nick is seen at the Conrad Prebys Australian Outback at the San Diego Zoo in San Diego, California May 31, 2016. Courtesy Ken Bohn/San Diego Zoo/Handout via Reuters

A Tasmanian devil named Mary has been found in an "unstable condition" more than two weeks after escaping her enclosure, an Australian wildlife park said Wednesday.

Searchers tracked down the carnivorous marsupial the previous night in the bush, less than two kilometers (1.2 miles) from her home in the Paradise Country park on Queensland's Gold Coast.

"Upon finding her, Mary was in an unstable condition, and the team assessed and determined she required veterinary care and rushed her to a specialist veterinary hospital where they were able to stabilize her condition," AFP quoted the park as saying in a statement.

The two-year-old furry critter, described by keepers as extremely shy, was being kept in the hospital for diagnostic testing, it said.

A dozen wildlife experts backed by a sniffer dog and a thermal-imaging drone had searched for the Tasmanian devil after her widely publicized break-out on June 2, partly captured in CCTV images.

The wildlife park said it believed Mary made an "abnormally large leap" to embark on her 15-day adventure.

Tasmanian devils -- agile, mostly nocturnal animals that can roam for 16 kilometers (10 miles) in a single night -- have been extinct on the Australian mainland for more than 3,000 years.

They can live up to six years in the wild, with males weighing as much as 14 kilograms (30 pounds) and standing 30 centimeters (12 inches) tall at the shoulder, according to Tasmania's environment department.

Though widespread on the island state of Tasmania, they are listed as endangered and face a significant threat from a transmissible cancer known as Devil Facial Tumor Disease.

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Crews Battle Algae Bloom in Washington's Newly Repainted Reflecting Pool

Ducks swim through algae in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, after recent renovations following a directive from US President Donald Trump to paint it blue ahead of the 250th anniversary of US Independence, in Washington, D.C., US, June 16, 2026. REUTERS/Eric Lee
Ducks swim through algae in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, after recent renovations following a directive from US President Donald Trump to paint it blue ahead of the 250th anniversary of US Independence, in Washington, D.C., US, June 16, 2026. REUTERS/Eric Lee
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Crews Battle Algae Bloom in Washington's Newly Repainted Reflecting Pool

Ducks swim through algae in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, after recent renovations following a directive from US President Donald Trump to paint it blue ahead of the 250th anniversary of US Independence, in Washington, D.C., US, June 16, 2026. REUTERS/Eric Lee
Ducks swim through algae in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, after recent renovations following a directive from US President Donald Trump to paint it blue ahead of the 250th anniversary of US Independence, in Washington, D.C., US, June 16, 2026. REUTERS/Eric Lee

Work crews poured hydrogen peroxide into the newly repainted Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Tuesday to combat an algae bloom, a little over a week after it was repainted as part of President Donald Trump's campaign to revamp some of Washington's major monuments.

National Park Service workers were seen emptying jugs labeled "12% hydrogen peroxide" into the visibly green water of the nearly century-old basin that stretches between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument on the National Mall.

A spokesperson for ⁠the Interior Department ⁠said the pool is being treated with "high-tech nanobubble ozone technology" that kills algae, pathogens including E. coli, and other contaminants. According to Reuters, the department said hydrogen peroxide is also being used, saying it's "a milder treatment than chlorine" that is used in spas and natural swimming pools.

Christopher ⁠Gobler, a professor at Stony Brook University in New York who has studied harmful algal blooms for more than 30 years, said hydrogen peroxide is a common short-term treatment for algae that is not likely to have major health effects on the ducks and geese that frequent the pool.

"It's most harmful to animals that are 100% in the water," Gobler said, adding the chemical can create low oxygen conditions that ⁠can ⁠be lethal to fish.

It might not be a long-term fix, though, he warned.

"There's always going to be a rebound of the algae," Gobler added. "Hopefully it works as a quick fix, but these algae do tend to rebound."

The reflecting pool was refilled with water starting on June 5 as part of a renovation project directed by Trump that involved draining, cleaning and resurfacing it. The bottom of the pool was repainted in a color Trump calls "American flag blue."