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MASTERCHEF: The Professionals judge and celebrity chef Monica Galetti has had a glittering career.The all-star chef is back for another series of MasterChef: The Professionals on the BBC alongside Marcus Wareing and Gregg Wallace.Monica was born in Samoa in the South Pacific, where she was raised by her aunts until she was eight-years-old.She then moved to Wellington, New Zealand, where she lived with her parents and five siblings.The television chef is still loyal to her roots, as she currently serves Samoa as the UK Tourism Ambassador.Mum-of-one Monica is married to French wine expert David Galetti, who was the Head Sommelier at Le Gavroche – one of London’s leading restaurants.The experienced chef began her training at the Central Institute of Technology, Wellington, in the early 1990s.When she was finished with her studies, she landed her first proper cooking job at a nearby restaurant, Timothy’s.Her cooking impressed the owner so much that she was sent to cooking … [Read more...] about `

They were barefoot and they had lice. It must have been April 1946, but after so many decades, Erika Smetonus isn't entirely sure about the dates. Her mother hadn't survived the war, her father was missing. Smetonus was completely alone when the great expulsion and flight of the East Prussians began and tens of thousands of Germans moved west from what was then the city of Königsberg (today Kaliningrad). The 11-year-old was desperate — on top of everything else, she had lost her little brother in the Red Army's advance. She instead latched on to an older boy, who always ran away from her when he found food so he wouldn't have to share it. Together, the two of them made it to Lithuania, where Smetonus found a new home with a couple. They sent the boy away because they didn't want to take in two orphans. Smetonus stayed with them for decades. Lithuania and the 'Vokietukai' Semtonus is one of the "wolf children" ("Wolfskinder") — German children orphaned after World War … [Read more...] about German ‘wolf children’: the forgotten orphans of WWII

The global agreement signed at the UN's climate talks in 2015 aims to stop average global temperatures from increasing by more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) by the year 2050. With the exception of the United States, which withdrew from the accord over the summer, 195 countries, Russia among them, have pledged to fight global warming. Alexey Kokorin, of the World Wildlife Fund, said Russia had indeed begun implementing the terms of the agreement at home — at least formally. He says that Russia has been providing financial assistance to developing nations and that Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised to reduce greenhouse gases. "But that is all just part of the country's foreign policy public relations program. It really doesn't do much in the way of stopping climate change, regardless of whether or not we keep our promises," he emphasizes. Russian industry will remain the world's most energy intensive until at least 2030.    Scientists say … [Read more...] about Where Russia falls short in fight against climate change

China's legislature on Saturday amended the country's criminal law to include severe punishments for people who "seriously" disrespect the national anthem in public. The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, which serves largely as a body to rubber stamp decisions by the ruling Communist Party, outlined penalities for such actions that include detention, imprisonment of up to three years and the deprivation of political rights. Such punishments were previously meted out to those who desecrated the national flag and emblem in public, according to the official Xinhua news agency. Anthem protests The move comes as the anthem, "March of the Volunteers," has in recent months become a focus for political protest in the southern Chinese city of Hong Kong, where many object to Beijing's increasing efforts to impose its authority on the territory. The anthem has been booed by Hong Kong fans when played at games between the home team and teams from China or elsewhere. Read … [Read more...] about China criminalizes disrespect of national anthem

Marc Bartra's curling effort into the bottom corner was the first goal that Bayern Munich have conceded in the Bundesliga since the return of Jupp Heynckes. And what a goal it was, yet it elicited barely even a cheer from the massed yellow and black ranks on the Südtribüne. The damage had already been done in the previous 88 minutes in which Peter Bosz's Borussia Dortmund team had done little to correct the two major problems which have now seen them win only two of their last nine games in all competitions – and one of them was against third division Magdeburg. Having conceded 14 goals in their last six matches, much has been said and written about Dortmund's defensive problems. Their makeshift backlines have been exposed all too frequently by long passes played by opposition defenders who, despite Bosz's insistence on a high pressing game, have been afforded too much time on the ball by Dortmund's forwards. Excuses can be made when Harry Kane or Cristiano Ronaldo are … [Read more...] about Bayern Munich teach Borussia Dortmund a lesson in finishing