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Food focus

Mediterranean diet may help solve fertility issues

Forget costly medical intervention. New research shows that with its focus on fruits, vegetables and beans, the Mediterranean diet may help overcome infertility, making it a simple strategy for couples trying to conceive.

The Mediterranean diet can improve fertility, the success of assisted reproductive technology, and sperm quality in men, a review by Australian researchers found. It is believed the diet – which has also been found to protect against conditions linked to inflammation, such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes – can boost fertility by reducing inflammation. The study, by scientists at Monash University, the University of the Australian researchers have found that the Mediterranean diet may Australian researchers have found Sunshine Coast South Australia, and the University reviewed research of on help overcome infertility how diet can affect conception.

Following the Twitterati

n @RayMinehane

If Harry and Meghan really wanted privacy they could move to

West Cork. They’d be shopping in SuperValu without a bother and everyone would be like “don’t let on” n @RobOHanrahan

With the price of a pint of Guinness now on the up... What’s the cheapest pint you’ve had recently? Found a €4.70 pint in The Gladstone in Skerries (still technically Dublin) over

Christmas, will be tough to beat. n @DrPaulO’Brien

Just found an @one4allireland voucher in my room, dated

Xmas 2019, to the value of €60. Checked the balance and there’s only €23.75 left on it! What a joke! Probably missed it as Covid emerged. I never buy these vouchers anymore, it’s always best to buy direct from the shop. [One4allireland subsequently reinstated the voucher’s original full value - Ed] n @brigidrithilly

I helped my mum take down and put away the Christmas decorations today. Everything gets wrapped carefully in a labelled bag or box and it’s possible to figure when different items were bought using a Dunnes-stores-bag dating methodology

Grocery across the globe

France Lidl France has announced the rollout of electric vehicle charging stations, with the first opening at its supermarket in Villefranche-surSaône, north of Lyon. The retailer has teamed up with ABB E-mobility and DBT on the e-station, which comprises 13 parking spaces offering fast and ultra-fast chargers. The retailer has also opened E-stations at the Lidl supermarket in Landivisiau and Les Pennes-Mirabeau, near Marseille, and one in Tourcoing. Spain Spanish retailer Mercadona has approved wage increases for its entire workforce in Spain and Portugal, saying they would be in line with the official rate of inflation recorded in December. The measure will enter into force starting from the January payslips of the more than 96,000 employees. European retailers have faced growing demands from their workers for pay rises to match or surpass inflation. UK Single-use plastic items including cutlery, plates and polystyrene cups are set to be banned in England by the end of this year. UK Environment Secretary Therese Coffey is to announce the move in response to a public consultation on a plan to ban the supply of single-use plastic items and polystyrene food and drink containers. US Walmart is providing 30-minute drone delivery in seven states and plans to further expand the programme. The partnership with DroneUp had led to more than 6,000 drone deliveries of products under 10 pounds to Walmart customers in the past year. Between the hours of 8am and 8pm, customers can order from tens of thousands of eligible items, such as Tylenol, diapers and hot dog buns, for delivery by air in 30 minutes. n

Living the fairy-tale dream? Disney has asked employees to spend more time in the office

Disney sparks back to office trend?

The Walt Disney Company is asking its employees to spend more time in the office, becoming one of the biggest media companies to join employers who are growing impatient with pandemic work norms.

Disney chief executive Bob Iger told employees working hybrid schedules that they would be required to start coming in four days a week after 1 March, citing the company’s need for in-person collaboration. Iger said hybrid workers will be asked to treat “Monday through Thursday as in-person workdays”, according to an email seen by CNBC, which first reported the news.

“As I’ve been meeting with teams throughout the company over the past few months, I’ve been reminded of the tremendous value in being together with the people you work with,” Iger wrote.

Disney joins companies such as Twitter, Telsa and Goldman Sachs in asking employees to spend more time in offices as the threat of Covid-19 recedes and the employment market has been shifting back toward employers.

Activists sue French food firm Danone over use of plastics

Danone, the French yoghurt and bottled water company, is being taken to court by three environmental groups who accuse it of failing to sufficiently reduce its plastic footprint.

The company behind Evian and Volvic mineral water was failing in its duties to act under a ground-breaking French law, the groups said.

The 2017 “duty of vigilance” law makes it mandatory to carry out monitoring of human rights and environmental concerns within large French companies and their supply chains. It is being increasingly used by non-governmental organisations against multinationals, as part of a growing trend of climate litigation.

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