By Danica Kirka
The British Museum said Wednesday that a member of its staff has been dismissed after items dating back as far as the 15th century B.C. were found to be missing, stolen or damaged.
The museum said it has also ordered an independent review of security and a ‘‘vigorous program to recover the missing items.″
The stolen artifacts include gold jewelry and gems of semi-precious stones and glass dating from the 15th century B.C. to the 19th century A.D. Most were small items kept in a storeroom and none had been on display recently, the museum said.
“Our priority is now threefold: first, to recover the stolen items; second, to find out what, if anything, could have been done to stop this; and third, to do whatever it takes, with investment in security and collection records, to make sure this doesn’t happen again,″ said George Osborne, the museum’s chair.
“This incident only reinforces the case for the reimagination of the museum we have embarked upon," Osborne said.
The museum said legal action would be taken against the dismissed staff member and that the matter was under investigation by London’s Metropolitan Police Service.
The 264-year-old British Museum is a major London tourist attraction, drawing visitors from around the world who come to see a vast collection of artifacts ranging from the Rosetta Stone that unlocked the language of ancient Egypt to scrolls bearing 12th century Chinese poetry and masks created by the indigenous people of Canada.
But the museum has also attracted controversy because it has resisted calls from communities around the world to return items of historical significance that were acquired during the era of the British Empire. The most famous of these disputes include marble carvings from the Parthenon in Greece and the Benin bronzes from west Africa.
Hartwig Fischer, the director of the British Museum, apologized and said the institution was determined to put things right.
“This is a highly unusual incident,'' said Fischer said. “I know I speak for all colleagues when I say that we take the safeguarding of all the items in our care extremely seriously.''
WW, the company formerly known as Weight Watchers, is looking to expand past its mostly-female base by partnering up with celebrities like DJ Khaled and brands like Blue Apron to inspire a new demographic of members. WW Chief Brand Officer Gail Tifford said Blue Apron was a "very natural fit" for WW members, despite struggles that have driven the meal kit company's stock down sharply since its 2017 IPO. WW is also partnering with Headspace's mindfulness app, Aaptiv for audio fitness content, and the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. "I think you will start to see the makeup of our community really start to change in an exciting way," Tifford said.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Friday, Jan. 4, 2019.
Fitness and beauty booking tool Mindbody is planning to make a play for the next big thing in wellness ー on-demand video, CEO Rick Stollmeyer told Cheddar on Thursday. "You can expect us to be playing in that space because we think that the on-demand and streaming video revolution hitting the fitness space is a big breakthrough," Stollmeyer said.
Roku's new content partnership with Showtime, Starz, and other premium channels is "just the beginning" of a greater expansion into paid content, the company's VP of programming and engagement told Cheddar Thursday.
For a country that spends $72 billion a year on its pets, it would follow that some of the biggest trends in health and wellness eventually make their way to the domain of our furry friends. Vanity Fair reporter Joanna Brenner says CBD, the non-psychoactive compound in marijuana, is the next frontier in pet wellness.
PepsiCo is spearheading an autonomous food delivery service on the campus of the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif., where students can now order snacks via an app that are then delivered to them via a small robotic vehicle. The "snackbot" is a "first-of-its-kind" experiment in self-driving and robotics technology, Scott Finlow, vice president of innovation and insights at PepsiCo, told Cheddar.
Chipotle may be best known for stuffed burritos and chips and guac, but the fast-casual chain is kicking off 2019 as an unlikely source of health food ーlaunching a new collection of diet-friendly "Lifestyle Bowls" just in time for New Year's resolutions. The new bowls are branded around four of the trendiest diets, but the company's VP of marketing said the new venture is "a lifestyle approach, it's not a fad."
Stress and the pressure of perfection all too often get in the way of achieving goals ー or at this time of year, resolutions. But rethinking stress, "trusting the process," and practicing gratitude are some simple ways to make serious strides, according to Monica Berg, author of "Fear is Not an Option" and chief communications officer for the Kabbalah Centre.
In a new era of transportation, safety testing is critical for cars that are now more dependent on tech than on steel and rubber. The American Center for Mobility is a 500-acre testing facility located in Ypsilanti, Mich., just over 30 miles from Detroit. On the center's highway speed loop, vehicles are tested for safety on a range of roadway and weather conditions. "It's gotta work all the time, every time," the center's interim CEO, Kirk Steudle, told Cheddar's J.D. Durkin.
Tesla's latest production miss proves it is no longer a "hyper-growth story," Tesla short Mark Spiegel told Cheddar. Tesla shares tumbled close to 7 percent on Wednesday after the company missed expectations on car deliveries and broadly discounted its vehicles to offset subsidy cuts.
