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Giorgia Villa Goes Viral over Parmesan Sponsorship Deal after Gymnastics Silver Medal

FILE - Italy's Giorgia Villa competes in the women's uneven bars final during the European Gymnastics Championships in Munich, Germany, Sunday, Aug. 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)
FILE - Italy's Giorgia Villa competes in the women's uneven bars final during the European Gymnastics Championships in Munich, Germany, Sunday, Aug. 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)
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Giorgia Villa Goes Viral over Parmesan Sponsorship Deal after Gymnastics Silver Medal

FILE - Italy's Giorgia Villa competes in the women's uneven bars final during the European Gymnastics Championships in Munich, Germany, Sunday, Aug. 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)
FILE - Italy's Giorgia Villa competes in the women's uneven bars final during the European Gymnastics Championships in Munich, Germany, Sunday, Aug. 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)

Giorgia Villa missed the Tokyo Olympics because of a sprained ankle. At the Paris Games, despite lingering back injuries, the 21-year-old gymnast made history.
With their silver medal behind the Simone Biles-led US team's gold, Angela Andreoli, Alice D’Amato, Manila Esposito, Elisa Iorio and Villa matched Italy’s best result in Olympic gymnastics, a feat the country achieved in 1928.
It was Italy's first medal in 96 years in the women’s team final, and Villa contributed to that with a score of 13.766 on uneven bars.
But it wasn’t that solid performance that made her a social media sensation. It's her previous role as an ambassador for Parmigiano Reggiano cheese that has put her in the spotlight.
Immediately after the final on Tuesday, images of a 2021 advertising campaign showing Villa in a leotard next to a giant wheel of the hard, grainy cheese, one hand resting on a large chunk of it, began to circulate on social networks. It has not stopped, The Associated Press reported.
“Olympic silver medalist Giorgia Villa sponsored by Parmigiano Reggiano: could it be more Italian than this?” one user asked in a message accompanied with pictures of the gymnast tumbling over a wheel of cheese and doing a big split over four of them.
Sport Consultants Impresa e Sport said Villa, who also was part of the team that ended Italy’s 69-year medal wait in the women’s team event at the 2019 world championships by winning bronze, was named ambassador for the cheese in 2021.
“Since I was a child I’ve always loved this amazing product, a symbol of excellence and Italian culture,” Villa said when the sponsorship deal kicked off. According to Italian media, the deal ended in 2022.
Parmigiano Reggiano is no stranger to working with top Italian athletes including tennis player Jannik Sinner, former NBA player Nico Mannion, Paralympic swimmer Giulia Ghiretti and fencer Matteo Neri.
Villa, who started doing gymnastics when she was 3 years old, could not compete in the all-around because of her back problems.

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China Goes After ‘Ghost Kitchens’ on Food Delivery Apps

In one province, delivery riders have been roped in to whistleblow on ‘ghost kitchens’ (Getty)
In one province, delivery riders have been roped in to whistleblow on ‘ghost kitchens’ (Getty)
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China Goes After ‘Ghost Kitchens’ on Food Delivery Apps

In one province, delivery riders have been roped in to whistleblow on ‘ghost kitchens’ (Getty)
In one province, delivery riders have been roped in to whistleblow on ‘ghost kitchens’ (Getty)

Chinese authorities have taken aim at a new target as they rein in the country's cut-throat food delivery industry: “ghost kitchens,” or restaurants that don't actually exist but appear on apps.

The “ghost kitchens” outsource orders to third-party vendors, which fulfill them at lower costs, allowing merchants to push down prices and maximize profits, according to BBC.

Authorities have found thousands of these “ghost kitchens” across China, raising concerns that the cheap prices are coming at the cost of food safety.

Starting this week, apps must verify restaurants' licenses and addresses, while merchants must ensure the listing online matches the physical business and specify if it offers dine-in services.

The scrutiny of “ghost kitchens” began last year, after a man in Beijing lodged a complaint over an unsatisfactory cake topped with inedible flowers. He had ordered it on a food delivery app, state media reported.

Officials found that the cake chain he had ordered from listed nearly 380 locations on major e-commerce platforms but did not have a single physical store. Its online shops also allegedly used forged business licenses.

As the investigation continued, it revealed that the chain accepted orders which were then transferred to a different platform - and that is where the orders were outsourced to various third-party vendors, depending on who had the lowest bid.

Authorities found a total of 3.6 million cake orders across two order-transfer platforms, state news agency Xinhua reported last month.

They also recorded 67,000 “ghost shops” across seven major food delivery apps, which together with the order-transfer sites “formed an illegal supply chain through mutual collusion,” according to Xinhua.

Food delivery platforms were complicit in these arrangements, it added.

“If we're too strict in our review, the merchants would go to other platforms,” a staff member from one delivery app reportedly told officials.

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Renewable Energy Helps Red Sea Global Avoid 118,000 Tons of Carbon Emissions

Red Sea Global (RSG) has successfully avoided 117,879 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO₂e) emissions during 2024. (SPA)
Red Sea Global (RSG) has successfully avoided 117,879 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO₂e) emissions during 2024. (SPA)
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Renewable Energy Helps Red Sea Global Avoid 118,000 Tons of Carbon Emissions

Red Sea Global (RSG) has successfully avoided 117,879 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO₂e) emissions during 2024. (SPA)
Red Sea Global (RSG) has successfully avoided 117,879 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO₂e) emissions during 2024. (SPA)

Red Sea Global (RSG) announced on Tuesday a major sustainability milestone, revealing that it successfully avoided 117,879 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO₂e) emissions during 2024.

The achievement was independently verified and officially certified by DNV, confirming the company's full reliance on renewable energy and low-carbon operations.

In a statement, Red Sea Global said this figure represents the volume of emissions that would have been generated had conventional energy sources and transportation systems been used. To put the impact into perspective, the achievement is equivalent to removing approximately 27,500 cars from the roads for an entire year or eliminating the annual electricity consumption of nearly 24,500 homes.

Group Chief Environment and Sustainability Officer at Red Sea Global Raed Albasseet said: "Avoiding nearly 118,000 tons of emissions at this advanced stage of development demonstrates the powerful impact of embedding sustainability into operations from day one.”

“As our destinations continue to expand, this positive impact will grow further, proving to the world that luxury tourism can be a leading force in protecting and regenerating nature,” he added.

He stressed that these results stem from Red Sea Global’s strong commitment to clean energy principles. The Red Sea destination is currently powered entirely by 100% renewable electricity, supported by more than 760,000 solar panels and the world’s largest battery storage facility, ensuring a continuous supply of clean energy around the clock.

In the field of sustainable mobility, he explained that the company operates an advanced fleet of electric vehicles and buses, supported by a network of 150 renewable energy-powered charging stations.

Albasseet also noted that Red Sea International Airport has taken pioneering steps by beginning the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and Lower-Carbon Aviation Fuel (LCAF) for seaplane operations, while continuing to work with partners to expand their use on commercial flights serving the destination.

These initiatives form a key pillar of Red Sea Global’s journey toward achieving net-zero emissions (Scopes 1 and 2) by 2030. The results align with the goals of Saudi Vision 2030 and the Kingdom’s Circular Carbon Economy Framework, supporting Saudi Arabia’s ambition to reach net-zero emissions by 2060.

By combining advanced technological solutions with a science-based approach, Red Sea Global continues to strengthen its position as a leading global model, demonstrating how regenerative tourism can deliver measurable and large-scale climate benefits.

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Muhammad Ali’s Family Reflects on the Champion Boxer’s Legacy 10 Years After His Death

In this Feb. 25, 1964, file photo, Muhammad Ali, or Cassius Clay at the time, strikes a familiar pose as he shouts "I am the greatest," as he leaves the ring, arms raised, following his defeat of former heavyweight boxing champion Sonny Liston, in Miami Beach, Fla. (AP file)
In this Feb. 25, 1964, file photo, Muhammad Ali, or Cassius Clay at the time, strikes a familiar pose as he shouts "I am the greatest," as he leaves the ring, arms raised, following his defeat of former heavyweight boxing champion Sonny Liston, in Miami Beach, Fla. (AP file)
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Muhammad Ali’s Family Reflects on the Champion Boxer’s Legacy 10 Years After His Death

In this Feb. 25, 1964, file photo, Muhammad Ali, or Cassius Clay at the time, strikes a familiar pose as he shouts "I am the greatest," as he leaves the ring, arms raised, following his defeat of former heavyweight boxing champion Sonny Liston, in Miami Beach, Fla. (AP file)
In this Feb. 25, 1964, file photo, Muhammad Ali, or Cassius Clay at the time, strikes a familiar pose as he shouts "I am the greatest," as he leaves the ring, arms raised, following his defeat of former heavyweight boxing champion Sonny Liston, in Miami Beach, Fla. (AP file)

Muhammad Ali's legacy extends beyond his stinging right jab, world titles and Olympic gold medal, to the heart and compassion he showed long after he left the ring, his wife Lonnie Ali said.

“He transcended boxing into every space you can imagine,” she told The Associated Press this week ahead of the 10-year anniversary of Ali’s death on June 3, 2016, after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.

“Muhammad lived by this mantra: service to others is the rent we pay for our room here on earth," Lonnie Ali said during an interview at The Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, Kentucky. “He showed up every day with kindness and empathy in his heart for people who are in need."

Ali, known as the “Louisville Lip” in his hometown, rose to prominence as a trash-talking world champion boxer in the 1960s and began speaking about civil rights issues as his star was rising. He is widely regarded as the most famous and influential boxer of all time, winning the heavyweight title three times.

The Ali Center is sponsoring a “Day of Compassion” on Wednesday, the 10th anniversary of his death, to promote acts of service and caring. Lonnie Ali, who serves as the center's lifetime director, said the hope is an expanding annual event to highlight works of service and volunteering.

The day will focus on one of "the core values that made up Muhammad Ali” in an increasingly divided country, she said.

“Today, we are in a place where we are losing touch with our humanity and with each other,” she said. “It’s causing rifts, not just in families and communities, but in this nation. We’re becoming increasingly polarized and separated, and sort of retreating to people who think like us, look like us, and not really reaching out.”

She also challenged political leaders to lead with compassion, noting the recent weakening of the 1965 Voting Rights Act by the Supreme Court.

“We should always be thinking about how we can uplift a community, not how we can make it harder for them,” Lonnie Ali said. “We want equal representation in this country. You can’t have equal representation when you’re denying people voting rights, you can’t do that.”

But there is hope, she said, and she saw that when the city of Louisville came together for a weeklong celebration of Ali's life in 2016. The week was capped by a funeral procession through the city and past her late husband's modest childhood home near downtown Louisville. Former President Bill Clinton and actor Billy Crystal spoke at his funeral, and Will Smith, who portrayed Ali in a 2001 movie, was a pallbearer.

The outpouring of love for Ali at his hometown funeral service was livestreamed to millions around the world. A decade later, Ali’s face graced a US Postal Service stamp for the first time, showing his enduring influence.

“We’re talking about people who traveled thousands of miles to come here, who had never met the man, never laid eyes on him personally, but wanted to ... give their last respects to him: kings, princes, presidents, heads of state, celebrities, sports figures,” Lonnie Ali said.