‘The new ketchup’? How hummus spread beyond a niche into a British staple

It is a sign of the times. This week it was revealed that hummus is joining the list of foods used to measure the cost of living in Britain as the ubiquity of the dip at mealtimes sees it billed as the “new ketchup”.The decision to drop a pot of hummus in the inflation basket is a moment for the all-conquering chickpea dip, which arrived on supermarket shelves in the late 1980s. Since then Britons have gone from spending virtually nothing to £170m a year on the versatile stuff.“What this shows us is that the UK diet is now global,” says Ramona Hazan, whose first name is emblazoned on pots of hummus stacked in supermarket fridges across the country

Energy shock talk grabs headlines but the Iran war is also driving the world towards a food crisis | Heather Stewart

It is peak harvesting season for avocados in the lush southern highlands of Tanzania but growers are racing against time to find buyers for the precious green fruits before they become overripe.Donald Trump’s disastrous Middle East war is being felt in the world’s energy markets but oil and gas are not the only products that transit through the maritime choke point of the strait of Hormuz. The conflict is also hitting supply chains elsewhere.Shipping routes for Tanzanian avocados towards lucrative markets in the Gulf and beyond are blocked, and air freight capacity is down significantly.The Tanzania Horticultural Association recently warned its members: “Shipping lines have currently suspended acceptance of bookings for consignments across all routes and market destinations including Europe, Middle East, India, and China

‘Thank God they’re still alive’: Kaiser therapists claim its new screening system puts patients at higher risk by delaying their care

Ilana Marcucci-Morris is worried about the patients she treats and how long it took for them to arrive in her office. At Kaiser Permanente’s psychiatry outpatient clinic in Oakland, California, she says she increasingly finds herself assessing people experiencing more severe mental health issues than two years ago. For those who do make it to their appointments, she thinks: “Thank God they’re still alive.”It wasn’t always this way, according to Marcucci-Morris, a licensed clinical social worker. Licensed professionals used to almost always be the first point of contact for patients with behavioral health issues at Kaiser, she said

US man pleads guilty to defrauding music streamers out of millions using AI

A North Carolina man has pleaded guilty to defrauding music streaming platforms and his fellow musicians out of millions in royalties by flooding the services with thousands of AI-generated songs – and using automated “bots” to artificially boost the number of listens into the billions.As part of a deal with federal prosecutors in New York’s southern district, 52-year-old Michael Smith pleaded guilty on Friday to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.The case against the Cornelius, North Carolina, resident is one of the first successful prosecutions of AI-related fraud in the music business, which is being hammered by fake music that threatens to swamp streaming services and deprive earnings from human musicians and copyright holders.“Michael Smith generated thousands of fake songs using artificial intelligence and then streamed those fake songs billions of times,” US attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement.“Although the songs and listeners were fake, the millions of dollars Smith stole was real

Giants’ Cam Skattebo says his denial of CTE and asthma were part of a ‘tasteless joke’

New York Giants running back Cam Skattebo has apologized for saying that chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and asthma are “fake”, insisting that his comments were not meant to be taken seriously.In an appearance on the Bring the Juice podcast, the 24-year-old was asked whether he believes CTE – a degenerative brain condition linked to repeated head trauma – is real. Skattebo called the condition an “excuse”, before making a similar claim about asthma.“Yeah, asthma’s fake too,” Skattebo said, adding that people should “just breathe air”.After receiving widespread backlash for his comments, Skattebo offered a retraction on social media

Bereft Bombers poke, prod and point fingers against Port. What were they even trying to do?

Heading into the season, Essendon released a mini-documentary called “Spend a day with Brad Scott”. To be honest, it didn’t really present as the most riveting 24 hours. Most of it took place in a classroom type setting, with the coaches and players endeavouring to bed down a team defence. They sat with their notepads and biros, nodding and jotting and giving every impression that they were taking it all in. Clearly this was something that needed to be taught, that needed to be learned, and that needed to be swiftly implemented