A man accused of raping and impregnating a 9-year-old Ohio girl, who had to travel out of state for an abortion, has pleaded guilty to two counts of rape

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Sanjay Aggarwal’s now-booming business was based around a family heirloom: a 100-year-old spice mill. He started selling spice blends with his mother in 2012 almost by accident. “It wasn’t meant to be a business,” the 40-year-old admits. “It was only started as a retirement hobby for my mum. What started off as a silly little idea, so to speak, just grew. We started online and moved after a few years to selling in shops.” Spice Kitchen has been wildly successful, and now Aggarwal is adding another string his company’s bow by writing a cookbook. Above all the success, he’s really just appreciated spending time with his 72-year-old mother, Shashi. “She’s incredible – she’s a whirlwind. She was born in Kenya and raised in India, so she’s got a really eclectic mix of culture. And she’s a real spice expert – we’ve got a 100-year-old spice mill in our family that’s travelled the world and I’ve got it here now; we started the business using that.” Aggarwal says it felt “natural” to work with his mother, after helping his parents run their Birmingham shop when growing up. But he’s “learned loads” from her during their new venture. “It’s certainly made me realise how entrepreneurial my mum is, how creative she is… I’ve been really impressed by how similarly we think.” He says: “We’re certainly closer for it. It’s got the ups and downs and challenges that everything has, but we’re still talking!” While there are plenty of flavour-packed Indian dishes in the new cookbook – including coriander and tandoori fishcakes, chickpea curry and tarka dal – the recipes have a decidedly global outlook. Think fish tacos, jerk-inspired pork, crispy duck with pancakes – and Aggarwal credits this to growing up in the diverse city of Birmingham. “I was born and brought up there, so for me, that was all I knew. But for my mum, it was very much a big influence on her,” he explains. When she came to the UK as a young married woman, “her cuisine and culture was all very Indian” – something that soon changed. “My mum has really seen that development of food and culture, and that cosmopolitan nature of Birmingham. It’s had tidal waves of immigration – my mum being one of them from India – and from West Africa and Asia and all different places. She’s witnessed that, when she came to the UK.” Aggarwal recounts how in the early days of living in Birmingham, Shashi would grind her own spices – you couldn’t buy blends at the time – which “reminded her of home and made her less homesick”, but then her palate expanded. “She’s vegetarian, but got to try all these amazing different sorts of vegetarian food from all around the world, be it Middle Eastern, Chinese or Japanese or whatever. Some of those things weren’t accessible when she first came, but were as time went on – and my mum’s very experimental. “She’s a real foodie. She loves trying new things and experimenting – probably more than anyone else I know. I think she’s quite unique, because I think a lot of people from cultures where they’ve got a really strong food culture – certainly like Indian culture – a lot of my aunts and uncles, they don’t really eat or experiment outside of Indian food. They find it quite scary, not very flavoursome, or quite bland. But my mum really gets it – she’s got a really deep palate, and she can really appreciate different cultures.” This love of different cuisines means both mother and son are quite free with the way they cook– and they want other people to be the same. For example, if you’re making a frittata and you don’t have any Italian seasoning, Aggarwal says: “Try it with Mexican [spice blends], try it with jerk and you could still create something amazing. Don’t be afraid to experiment.” One of the more unusual combinations he’s tried? Mexican spices in a shepherd’s pie: “It actually tastes amazing in there. We’re just trying to get people to be a bit more free thinking and adventurous. What’s the worst that can happen?” Aggarwal says he’s often asked how to make an “authentic” dish – a question he struggles to answer. “It’s very difficult to understand what they mean by that – what is the meaning of authenticity? I’m a second-generation British-born person… Food has evolved over time. We wanted to make sure the dishes [in the cookbook] were authentic in terms of linking back to the original recipes and what they’re all about, and especially the blends being as authentic as possible – trying to respect the tradition. “But we’re also trying to say, we can only take our take on things. I can take my take on things and my mum can take her take on things – and things have changed over time.” That’s why Aggarwal advises against getting “too hung up on authenticity, because there is no way of achieving it”. Instead, he recommends taking a dish you like and “play with the flavours a little bit” to “make it your own”. ‘Spice Kitchen’ by Sanjay Aggarwal (Quadrille, £22).

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A McDonald’s employee has claimed that the fast food chain’s sweet tea is made with an entire bag of sugar. The woman named Gia, who goes by the username @gia2bad, shared a video to TikTok last month about the apparent making of McDonald’s sweet tea. In the footage, an employee appeared to be mixing the tea, as hot water was being added to it. Along with the two liquids, the employee went on to pour an entire four-pound bag of granulated sugar into the bucket. Gia also poked fun at the large amounts of sugar being used, as the text over the video read: “If y’all were wondering why the sweet tea is so sweet at McDonald’s.” She also claimed that it can take more than one bag of sugar to make the tea, writing: “Yes we use a whole bag, sometimes two.” The video went viral, with more than 1.3m views. In the comments, many people shared their shocked reactions, while poking fun at the amount of sugar filmed in the video. “Diabetes in a cup,” one quipped, while another added: “Is no one gonna talk about the bucket.” “That explains why it’s way too sweet. I always order half sweet and half unsweetened,” another wrote. Despite what was shown in the video, other people claimed that they’ve worked at McDonald’s before, and they had never seen the sweet tea made in that way. “I work there and we don’t do that…,” one wrote, while another added: “We don’t hand make sweet tea at our store it’s made with a commercial tea machine.” “We have a machine for this… I never done this when I worked at McDonald’s,” a third agreed. According to McDonald’s official website, the sweet tea is made from an “orange pekoe and pekoe cut black tea”. Some of the other ingredients in the cup include ice, and invert sugar, which “is an aqueous solution of inverted or partly inverted, refined or partly refined sucrose,” according to the Food and Drug Administration. McDonald’s also notes that in a large cup of the sweet tea, there are 40 grams of sugar. According to the FDA, its Dietary Guidelines for Americans “recommends limiting calories from added sugars to less than 10 percent of total calories per day”. For example, if you eat 2,000 calories a day, you’d only have “50 grams of added sugars per day”. @gia2bad Yes we use a whole bag sometimess 2 🤷♀️🤷♀️ #fyp ♬ original sound - DJ Veinz The Independent has contacted Gia and a representative for McDonald’s for comment. Gia isn’t the first McDonald’s employee to make claims about how the chain’s sweet tea is allegedly made. In a viral TikTok video made by former McDonald’s worker, Nicole, she also claimed that there was a lot of sugar used to make the tea. “For every four gallons of the red jug, the sweet tea, there was a full four-pound bag of sugar emptied into it,” the woman, who said she was a manager at McDonald’s, explained in the since-deleted video, which has been shared on YouTube. “One pound per gallon of tea. I stopped drinking the tea after I realised that. Because that’s nasty.” Read More McDonald’s to investigate allegations worker was taunted over rape Mark Zuckerberg reveals his 4,000 calorie diet and large McDonald’s order Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and PepsiCo named as worst packaging polluters in UK Mark Zuckerberg reveals his 4,000 calorie diet and large McDonald’s order Budget Bites: Three recipes to keep food bills down before pay day I was an air fryer sceptic – now I can’t stop using it

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Former F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve married his partner in the Las Vegas Grand Prix paddock on Thursday night (16 November). A wedding chapel was set up so anybody tempted to tie the knot in Sin City could “Race to the Altar” - and Villeneuve took full advantage. His partner Giulia wore a stunning dress for the occasion and the happy couple were then seen posing for photos. Villeneuve’s former Williams engineer, Jock Clear, was best man as the 1997 world champion became the first - and likely last - F1 driver to get married on the track. His wedding came hours before a chaotic first practice session was cancelled. Read More Sainz hits loose drain cover on Las Vegas track as F1 practice session turns to chaos Las Vegas Sphere wears giant F1 helmet ahead of inaugural grand prix F1 cars projected into sky as drone show lights up Las Vegas ahead of grand prix

Scientists have found more evidence to suggest that leading a Mediterranean lifestyle could be key to living a longer and healthier life. People who follow a Med lifestyle – including making time for socialising; resting; physical activity and eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains with low sugar and salt intake – are less likely to die prematurely or die from cancer. And those who get plenty of rest, exercise and make time to socialise with friends are less likely to die as a result of a heart attack or stroke. The new study examined data on 110,799 adults taking part in the UK Biobank study. People aged 45 to 70 from England, Wales and Scotland provided detailed information about their diet and lifestyle habits. The researchers, led by academics from La Universidad Autonoma de Madrid in Spain and Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health in the US, examined information ON Mediterranean food consumption; Mediterranean dietary habits – such as limiting salt and consuming healthy drinks – and lifestyle habits including taking regular naps, exercising, and spending time with friends. Higher total scores in these categories indicated a higher adherence to the Mediterranean lifestyle, the authors said. People involved in the study were tracked for nine years. Some 4,247 people died including 2,401 from cancer and 731 from cardiovascular disease, which includes heart attacks and strokes. Researchers found that people who followed a Mediterranean lifestyle were 29% less likely to die compared to their peers who did not follow this lifestyle. They were also 28% less likely to die from cancer, according to the study, which has been published in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings. And people who got plenty of rest and exercise, while also making time to socialise with friends, were also less likely to die from cardiovascular disease. “This study suggests that it’s possible for non-Mediterranean populations to adopt the Mediterranean diet using locally available products and to adopt the overall Mediterranean lifestyle within their own cultural contexts,” said lead author Mercedes Sotos Prieto, from La Universidad Autonoma de Madrid and Harvard Chan School. “We’re seeing the transferability of the lifestyle and its positive effects on health.” Read More Meghan’s got one. Gwynnie, too. But should YOU get a stress-busting wrist patch? How parents can support their children on GCSE and A-level results day A-Level results: How to be the emotional support your teen really needs 11 ways to work the terracotta trend A-Level results: How to be the emotional support your teen really needs These are the cheapest school uniforms on the high street – according to Which?

Max Verstappen took pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix despite an X-rated radio row with his race engineer. Verstappen was embroiled in a squabble with Gianpiero Lambiase after he only just made it through to Q3 during a wet-dry session at Spa-Francorchamps. EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Daniel Ricciardo is back – and this time he wants to go out on top But the championship leader regained his composure at the business end of qualifying to demolish the opposition, finishing eight tenths clear of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc with Sergio Perez third in the other Red Bull. Lewis Hamilton qualified fourth. However, Verstappen will only start Sunday’s race from sixth position as he serves a five-place grid drop for exceeding his gearbox allocation. Follow live updates from the Belgian Grand Prix with The Independent Read More Daniel Ricciardo is back - and this time he wants to go out on top Carlos Sainz interview: ‘All of us at Ferrari expected more – we haven’t done the best job’ Max Verstappen receives penalty for Belgian Grand Prix