Italian restaurateur Sirio Maccioni, who opened the celebrated French restaurant Le Cirque and watched it grow into arguably Manhattan’s favorite dining room of the rich and famous, has died in Italy. He was 88.Maccioni’s son, Mauro, told The Associated Press that his father died in the family’s villa in Tuscany early Monday. He had suffered from the effects of a stroke and Alzheimer’s disease, the son said. Le Cirque was famed for its decadent Grand Marnier souffles and terrines of rabbit rillette. The starry guest list included Frank Sinatra, Henry Kissinger, Princess Grace, Bill …

Artist, adventurer and celebrated wildlife photographer Peter Beard was found dead in woods near his cliff-side home at the tip of Long Island nearly a month after his family reported him missing. He was 82. “He died where he lived: in nature,” his family said in a statement posted on Beard’s website  Sunday night. In recent years, the once-swashbuckling explorer had developed dementia and had at least one stroke, according to the New York Times. His family confirmed that a body found Sunday in Camp Hero State Park in Montauk was Beard’s. Beard’s …

A Japanese infectious disease expert says he does not think it is likely the Tokyo Olympic games will be held at its rescheduled date next year because of what he foresees as the lingering threat of the coronavirus.Speaking in an interview via teleconference Monday at the Foreign Correspondents club of Japan, Kobe University Infectious Diseases Professor Kentaro Iwata said because the Olympics involve bringing in athletes and spectators from all over the world, there is too much of a risk in restarting a COVID-19 outbreak.Iwata said holding the Olympics is …