Gloria Dawson

Tyson Foods Inc.’s strong earnings results hint at the world’s complex and changing relationship with meat.

The rumors of Twinkies indestructibility might not be true, but the US snack cakes might very well outlast their manufacturer’s bankruptcy. Hostess, the maker of Twinkies, Ding Dongs, Wonder Bread and other baked goods announced last week that it was liquidating the company after failing to reach an agreement with striking factory workers.

Americans typically vote in schools and government buildings, but not everyone. The US Election Assistance Commission suggests that a polling place “should be located close to major traffic arteries for easy access.”  There’s nothing in the guidelines to stop election officials from picking restaurants, garages, or laundromats, and sometimes that’s exactly where voting takes place. Here are some photos of the most unusual polling places in the United States today:

The roar of generators can be heard throughout lower Manhattan as the area slowly creeps back to life. With the electricity grid still off, these rumbling machines are bringing power to buildings, pumping out flooded basements, or in many cases charging cellphones and other gadgets.

The news that Miguel Hahn and Jan-Christoph Hartung read out of Africa never seemed to be good. Then, they came upon an article about the burgeoning middle class. The two German photographers started researching the changing demographics of Africa. The middle class was growing, unseen by many, they found. Kenya, in particular, seemed to be the most extreme example of change and therefore had the biggest visual potential. Their project in Kenya eventually became “The Forgotten: Example of an African middle-class.”

Parts of New York City have gone dark and many of the streets of lower Manhattan have flooded. Here’s a look at what’s happening on the ground.

New York City’s Financial District is located in a low-lying area of Manhattan, and much of the area has been evacuated for Hurricane Sandy. The storm is expected to hit the East Coast of the US later on Monday. The New York Stock Exchange closed due to the storm, and many markets have been disrupted. Here’s a look at the quiet streets of the Financial District:

All major US stock and options exchanges are closed due to Hurricane Sandy on Oct. 29, 2012.  Trading has rarely stopped for weather. A blizzard led to a late start and an early close on Jan. 8, 1996, and the NYSE shut down for a full day on Sept. 27, 1985, due to Hurricane Gloria.

A link from Vice

Nothing fun about this game. In an email to staff, Zynga founder Mark Pincus said the company would close 13 older game titles, its Boston studio and possibly other locations.  He also said the company would reduce investments in “The Ville,” a new game that has yet to catch on with audiences. Earlier this year, the creator of Farmville and other social media games bought OMGPOP, developer of the Draw Something app. The layoff timing was curious, coming against Apple’s unveiling of its Ipad Mini.

A link from New York Times

To understand which firms are going to end up dominating the market for tablets and mobile phones, it helps to notice that we now live in an era in which every successful company selling hardware and content is giving something away for free. And the companies that can’t afford to give something away for free are now competing with commodity manufacturers that could drive them into bankruptcy.

Google CEO Larry Page has made his first public appearance after several months of silence. Literally silence, since he had lost his voice in June, according to a Google spokesperson.

In fall 2011, a few months after News Corp. closed News of the World as a result of the phone-hacking scandal, the company announced the sale of their East London headquarters, nicknamed Fortress Wapping. Tom Stoddart, who worked as a photographer for the Sunday Times, another New Corp. publication once housed at the Wapping site, wanted to see what a usually bustling newsroom would look like in its newly abandoned state. The surviving newspapers have slowly moved over to a new location, and many newsrooms at Fortress Wapping had already been demolished, but Stoddart was finally able to gain access to the offices of The Sun a few weeks ago. Here are some photos he shot.

After layoffs and factory closures, cellphone maker Nokia is now considering selling its headquarters in Espo, Finland. The iconic building’s proposed sale represents another step in the company’s downturn.

We asked five venture capitalists to tell us where in the world they were seeing growth, opportunities, and change.