The Body Shop To Shut Nearly Half Of Its Stores In UK

The UK arm of The Body Shop cosmetics group will shut nearly half its 198 outlets, adminstrators brought in to save parts of the distressed company said Tuesday.

The near 50-year-old business renowned for ethical hair and skin products will immediately close seven stores, including four in London, administrators FRP Advisory said in a statement.

The Body Shop employs about 1,500 people across its UK stores but the administrators did not specify how many positions would be lost.

They added, however, that about 270 roles would disappear from its London head office, or some 40 percent of the workforce there.

The Body Shop last week appointed FRP to try and keep the business running, just a few months after it was bought by Aurelius.

The German private equity firm has already offloaded the cosmetic group's operations in most of mainland Europe and in parts of Asia.

"After years of unprofitability and following a full evaluation of The Body Shop's UK business,... administrators have concluded that the current store portfolio mix is no longer viable," Tuesday's statement said.

It added that "a reduced store footprint, will coincide with a renewed focus on the brand's products, online sales channels and wholesale strategies,... supporting a return to financial stability".

Founded in 1976 by Anita Roddick, the group was later owned also by French cosmetics giant L'Oreal and then Brazil's Natura Cosmeticos, prior to its recent sale.

Roddick, who died in 2007 from a brain haemorrhage, rapidly expanded the business from modest beginnings with a determination to offer products that had not been tested on animals.

She set out to make her business also environmentally-friendly, with customers encouraged to return empty containers for refilling at the original shop in Brighton, on England's south coast.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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This US Firm Is Paying Employees To Hang Out, But There's A Small Catch

In a unique initiative, a $3.5 billion cloud-based security company in the US is paying its employees to socialise with each other. The program that started last April at Verkada, a California-based firm, lets three or more employees go out for food and drinks after 3 pm at the company's expense, Fortune reported. Dubbed the '3-3-3', the perk lets employees expense up to $30 in food and drinks if they go out, in groups of at least three.

Verkada's CEO Filip Kaliszan recently went viral in a TikTok discussing the 3-3-3 perk on a podcast. ''The idea is it's the afternoon and three people go out and hang out together, chances are you'll talk about something relevant or work-related, and ultimately that will benefit us,'' Mr Kaliszan said in the interview.

All 1,800 of Verkada's employees have participated in the program at least once. The CEO told Business Insider that such kind of interaction is crucial for Verkada to stay competitive in an industry with tech companies that are worth $100 billion

The program requires no pre-approval, but employees are required to post a photo in the "3-3-3" Slack channel when they're done with their outing. 

Before the program was officially launched in April last year, employees could still go for drinks at the expense of the company, but they didn't know that. So, the firm decided to promote it in a better way by advertising the program on posters around the office and in elevators. 

"It wasn't about the money it wasn't about the budget. It was about everyone knowing that this is something they can do and then everyone getting excited about it,'' Mr Kaliszan added. 

The concept quickly went viral on social media and many praised the company for encouraging team bonding and friendships outside of work. 

One user wrote, ''That is a lot better use of money then like a team building exercise or hiring a speaker.'' Another commented, ''Building work relationships and networking is a necessary skill so I'm glad they are prioritizing and paying for it.''

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"We're Open": S Jaishankar On India Mediating To End Russia-Ukraine War

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has indicated that India was open to considering playing the role of a mediator to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict if approached but noted that New Delhi does not believe it should initiate anything on its own.

In an interview with German economic daily Handelsblatt, he also said that following the Ukraine conflict, India's energy suppliers in the Middle East gave priority to supplying petroleum products to Europe that paid higher prices and New Delhi did not have any option but to procure Russian crude oil.

Mr Jaishankar asserted that just as India does not expect Europe to have a view of China that is identical to New Delhi's, Europe should understand that India cannot have a view of Russia that is identical to the European one.

He said India has had a "stable" and "very friendly" relationship with Russia, and that Moscow never hurt New Delhi's interests.

"We, on the other hand, had a politically and militarily much more difficult relationship with China, for example," he said.

On India's continuing military cooperation with Russia notwithstanding the Ukraine conflict, Jaishankar said it is going on "because many Western countries have long preferred to supply Pakistan and not India." Jaishankar said India is "deeply convinced, and are publicly committed to bringing the conflict to an end".

"Everyone is suffering from this conflict. I don't know exactly how it will end, we're not deep enough into the process to know," he said.

Asked if that isn't a reason why India could be a mediator, Mr Jaishankar said: "Theoretically, yes. We have already helped with very specific issues." "When Turkey negotiated the corridor through the Black Sea, for example. And we were very supportive of the inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant," he said.

"Wherever we can help, we are happy to do so. We are open when we are approached. However, we do not believe that we should initiate anything in this direction on our own," he added.

Turkey played a key role in activating the corridor to transport grain from Ukraine to various world markets as Russia had blocked it following the escalation of its conflict with Ukraine.

Mr Jaishankar also strongly justified India's procurement of Russian crude oil.

"When the fighting started in Ukraine, Europe shifted a large part of its energy procurement to the Middle East -- until then the main supplier for India and other countries," Mr Jaishankar said.

"What should we have done? In many cases, our Middle-East suppliers gave priority to Europe because Europe paid higher prices. Either we would have had no energy because everything would have gone to them. Or we would have ended up paying a lot more because you were paying more," he said.

In a certain way, we stabilised the energy market that way, he added.

His response came when asked about criticism in Europe against India that its procurement of Russian crude oil is detrimental to the effectiveness of the Western sanctions imposed on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.

The external affairs minister argued that if no one had bought the crude oil from Russia and everyone had procured it from other countries, prices on the energy market would have shot up even further.

"Global inflation would have been much higher -- and that would have been a huge political issue in lower-income countries," he said.

"If Europe had wanted to maximize the damage at the time, it would have had to stop all economic relations with Russia completely. But it didn't," he said.

Mr Jaishankar said if Europe was so convinced and the principles were so important, why did it allow relations to end "gently"? "Why were there exceptions for pipeline gas, for individual countries and so on? That's what governments do, they manage politics with an eye on the consequences for their people," he said.

Asked if India would have liked support from Europe in the border conflict with China in 2020, Mr Jaishankar said "My point is: just as I do not expect Europe to have a view of China that is identical to mine, Europe should understand that I cannot have a view of Russia that is identical to the European one." "Let us accept that there are natural differences in relationships," he said.

To a question on whether the Indo-Russian engagement is a burden on the India-Europe ties, Mr Jaishankar said everyone conducts a relationship based on their past experiences.

"If I look at the history of India post-independence, Russia has never hurt our interests. The relations of powers like Europe, the US, China or Japan with Russia, they have all seen ups and downs," he said.

"We have had a stable and always very friendly relationship with Russia. And our relationship with Russia today is based on this experience. For others, things were different, and conflicts may have shaped the relationship," he said.

Asked about India recently agreeing on more arms cooperation with Russia and whether the country is still the most important arms supplier for New Delhi, Mr Jaishankar said: "In terms of inventory, yes, because many Western countries have long preferred to supply Pakistan and not India." "But that has changed in the past 10 or 15 years with the US, for example, and our new purchases have diversified with the US, Russia, France and Israel as the main suppliers," he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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"Why Would I Meet PM At Night?" Farooq Abdullah On GN Azad's Claim

National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah has reacted sharply to Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) President Ghulam Nabi Azad's claims that he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah 'secretly' at night.

Mr Abdullah said that he would meet the Prime Minister or the Home Minister during the day if he had to and asked why Mr Azad was "defaming" him.

"If I have to meet PM Modi or Union Home Minister Amit Shah, I will meet them during the day, why should I meet them at night? What is the reason that he has thought of defaming Farooq Abdullah? When no one wanted to give him a Rajya Sabha seat, I was the one who gave him a Rajya Sabha seat, but today he is saying all this," the National Conference chief said.

"They want to malign my image and drag my name into every matter. He should reveal the names of his agents who are sitting at the residence of the PM and Union Home Minister. He should tell people so that they can understand the truth," he added.

Clarifying his remarks, the DPAP president told ANI, "I never claimed that he (Farooq Abdullah) met him (PM Modi). I said that. through sources in Delhi, it has come to be known that he tries to meet the central leadership that too only at night. I never said that he met or got an appointment."

Meanwhile, Farooq Abdullah announced on Thursday that his party will contest the upcoming parliamentary elections alone, a decision that was seen as another setback for the opposition INDIA bloc.

Speaking to reporters in Srinagar on seat sharing, the National Conference chief said, "As far as seat sharing is concerned, the National Conference will contest alone and there's no doubt about it."

The remarks were later clarified by Mr Abdullah's son, and National Conference leader, Omar Abdullah.

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''House Of Horrors'': Woman Slept Next To Her Brother's Corpse For 5 Years

An elderly Australian woman spent up to five years sleeping next to her brother's rotting dead body in a rat-infested house in Victoria, Metro reported. The woman, aged in her 70s, lived with the corpse in her public housing unit on Russell Street at Newtown in Geelong, which is considered an affluent suburb.

Police made the horrifying discovery after arresting the woman on December 29, 2022, on an unrelated matter. Forensic officers, clad in biohazard suits, had to navigate through heaps of rubbish, rats, deceased possums, and human waste to reach the remains, which had turned into a skeleton.

The woman is understood to have slept next to the corpse anywhere between two and five years. Notably, the man was last seen alive in 2018 by some of the residents living along the street.  

However, the woman was released without charges in connection to the case and his cause of death is still being investigated. The house has been vacant for over a year.

"It was a bloody skeleton they removed, not a body. How can someone be living with a dead body next door for five years and not a single person knows about it? They've tried to sweep this under the rug. We have been living next to a house of horrors,'' neighbour Nicole Stratton told the Geelong Advertiser. 

The woman was a Department of Families, Fairness and Housing tenant, prompting questions about how the body could lie undiscovered for so long. Locals said they had tried to make complaints about the smell to several government bodies for years, however, they did not pay heed.

The neighbours believe the "utter filth" inside the home helped hide the smell of the dead body.

"There was always a smell but we just thought it was the piles of rubbish. The blinds were always down and you could see the mould on the back of them,'' Ms Stratton added. 

“Several welfare checks had been conducted at the property since 2021 due to growing concerns regarding lack of contact, lack of access and the poor state of the property,” a spokesperson of the Australian Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) said.

They added, ''This is a tragic incident. We send our sincerest condolences to the man's family and friends.''

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Explained: How The Dorito Theory Reveals Our Unhealthy Habits

When one opens a bag of chips, it becomes difficult to stop at one. A social media user has become popular with a new critique of the much-maligned modern phenomena, dubbed the "Dorito Theory." The user, Celeste Aria, spoke about the theory in a minute-and-a-half-long video on TikTok and explained the fascination with Doritos and other chips, as per a report in the New York Post. She said, "When you eat a Dorito and finish your bite, you're not fully satisfied "It's not the same as eating a steak or eating a really satiating food that's high in protein where after your bite, you really feel sort of that fullness and that warmth of satisfaction."

She continued: "Eating potato chips is addictive because the peak of experience is kind of when you're tasting it, and not after." It essentially means that the experiences that do not give an individual true satisfaction are maximally addictive. This can be applied to other areas of life as well.

Similarly, scrolling on social media applications or even things like excessive drinking or toxic relationships can be equally disappointing. She said giving a name to the problem allows her to more easily resist those compulsive behaviours. Social media use has frequently been compared to drug addiction, particularly when screen time negatively impacts everyday functioning, academic or professional performance, or even mental health, as per in the outlet. 

Not only this but spending too much time on social media applications has been connected to depression and negative body image. "We have seen an increase in anxiety, depression, and addiction, including digital addiction, among our youth since the start of COVID," Mental health expert Dr. Gregory Jantz said.

Alice Shepard, clinical psychologist and the owner of Mirielle Therapy Practice told USA Today, "Bad habits can be related to unfulfilling romantic relationships, friendships we should have let go of years ago, jobs that no longer work for us. These require thoughtful decisions and actions. Perhaps we want to return to the beginning when these situations felt good. Unfortunately, drugs, alcohol and excessive consumption of yummy but nutritionally empty foods won't solve our problems."

The theory can be seen as a way to identify one's problem areas. According to Rita McNamara, a lecturer in cross-cultural psychology at Victoria University of Wellington, "Our worst habits have that addictive drive to them. The difference between this kind of pleasure that drives addiction and true satisfaction is that addiction comes from chasing the peak experience, while satisfaction is a quiet beast. You actually can't chase satisfaction, it just arises. So there's nothing to get addicted to."

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UP's Yogi Adityanath Second Most Popular Chief Minister. First Is...

Tripura Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha occupied the prestigious fifth position in India in terms of popularity rating among the Chief Ministers, according to a recent survey by one of the media aimed at gauging the acceptability of the leaders.

The survey aimed to gauge the popularity and acceptability of the country's chief ministers, unveiling some intriguing results.

According to the survey, Odisha's Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik topped the list with a remarkable popularity rating of 52.7 percent. Uttar Pradesh's Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath secured the second position with a 51.3 percent popularity rating.

The third spot is held by Assam's Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who garnered a 48.6 percent rating, while the fourth position is occupied by Gujarat's Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, with a 42.6 percent rating. Dr Manik Saha, with a commendable 41.4 per cent popularity rating, highlighting his significant acceptance and approval among the citizens of Tripura and beyond.

Following the survey, the people of Tripura praised Chief Minister Saha for his simplicity, dedication, honesty, and the developmental strides made under his leadership. Residents commended him for being a compassionate leader who shares in their joys and sorrows.

Meanwhile, a local of Tripura who runs a shop and a businessman praised Chief Minister Saha and said, " CM Saha is very honest, and always works at the grassroots level. He is always there to solve any type of problem".

Another shopkeeper Debabrata Chakraborty said that he is very fortunate to be a native of Tripura while emphasizing the positive impact on the state's gradual development.

"We are in very good condition under the leadership of CM Dr Manik Saha. Under his guidance, each and every person in Tripura is gradually developing," Deepak Debnath a shop owner in Kashipur said.

A businessman from Agartala Basudeb Chakraborty said that CM Saha is working for the development of the people of Tripura.

"I had heard that our CM Dr Manik Saha had been ranked in the 5th position in popularity. It's very true, as he is very honest, he always interacts with everyone and is committed to the well- being and progress of the people. According to me, he must be in the 1st position," he added.

"Our CM Dr Manik Saha is greatly working on his work. He is always delightful and devoted to God. He takes care of every person in the state. He is honest," Vakti Kamal Saint Maharaj, Jagannath Jew Mandir, Agartala said.

Prof. Jagadish Gan Choudhary said that he is feeling proud of this survey, adding that it is a matter of respect for Tripura.

"I feel that the present CM Saha is the most popular and best. He is a very simple person, active and dedicated towards his work. He serves the people of Tripura very sincerely and honestly. Among so many Chief Ministers he is the best," Asutosh Ranjan Ghosh, a Retired Government employee said.

A social activist, Bipin Debbarma said that CM Saha has been working for all the classes of people, especially for the tribal people.

"For the last 25 years, we hadn't seen such common people taking so much facilities from the CM. He always thinks about the development of the Janajati people of Tripura, and how to develop them from the grassroot level he is working on continuously," he added.

Moreover, Durjay Kumar Chowdhury, a shop owner said that the CM Saha has boosted the infrastructure development in the state.

"Manik Saha has been successfully working for the development of the state. He is working on various developmental projects that we haven't seen in the last 25 years of rule of another political party," he added.

Earlier in March 2023, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Manik Saha, a dentist-turned-politician who steered the party to power in Tripura, took oath as the Chief Minister of the state for the second consecutive term.

Manik Saha, who led the BJP to victory, is a dental surgeon who joined the BJP in 2016 after quitting Congress. He was made party chief of the state in 2020 and elected to Rajya Sabha in March 2022.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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