McDonald’s CEO blames mother’s etiquette training for awkward burger bite in video

The chief executive officer of McDonald’s recently blamed etiquette guidance from his mother for a February on-camera taste test that made him a target for ridicule – and summarily recorded another video of him eating one of the fast-food giant’s offerings in a manner potential consumers found awkward.Chris Kempczinski suggested to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) earlier in April that he was simply heeding maternal advice to never talk with his mouth full when he took the humorously small bite at the center of a viral video which depicted him discussing and sampling the new Big Arch burger from McDonald’s.“I blame it all on my mom because she told me, ‘Don’t talk with your mouth full,’” Kempczinski remarked to Tim Higgin, a WSJ columnist, in an interview captured on video. “And I think, probably in that case, I should have just said, ‘You know what? To hell with it. I’m gonna go talk with my mouth full

Crispin Odey drops £79m libel claim against FT over sexual misconduct allegations

Crispin Odey, the former hedge fund manager, has dropped his £79m libel claim against the Financial Times over its reporting of sexual misconduct allegations against him, his lawyers have said.In 2023, the FT published several articles from 20 women alleging sexual assault and harassment against Odey, covering a period of five decades. He has previously denied the allegations against him.On Friday, lawyers for the former hedge fund tycoon, 67, said he had been “forced to accept” that the newspaper was “likely to succeed in establishing” its public interest defence.A letter said: “Having just endured the stress and strain of a three-week trial in the Upper Tribunal, he does not wish to pursue another lengthy trial at considerable cost, only to fail on the issue of public interest, even if he was successful, as he believes he would be, in demonstrating that he is not the violent predator he was presented as being in the articles

Starbucks’s retail arm gets £13.7m tax credit even as sales increase

Starbucks’s UK retail arm received a £13.7m corporation tax credit last year, even as its sales increased 6% and it added more than 90 stores.The credit, which can be used to offset future tax bills, comes after losses widened to £41.3m in the 12 months to the end of September – almost matching the £40m it paid in royalty and licence fees to its parent company.Starbucks said price increases, new loyalty schemes and the introduction of “freshly baked in-store food” had helped to increase sales to £556

European airports ‘face jet fuel shortages within three weeks’; Irish army called in over fuel protests - as it happened

Time to wrap up…European airports have warned the EU that jet fuel shortages could hit the summer holiday season if oil supplies do not start to flow through the strait of Hormuz within the next three weeks.Airports Council International (ACI) Europe reportedly wrote to EU transport commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas saying that the bloc is three weeks away from shortages. The letter was first reported by the Financial Times.The warning will raise concerns of a risk of flight or holiday cancellations if the US and Israel’s war on Iran continues. Oil prices have soared since the start of March after Iran effectively closed the strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route for exports from the Gulf, in retaliation

US inflation soars in March as war on Iran drives economy into uncertainty

US inflation soared in March amid the US-Israel war with Iran, with prices up 0.9% compared with last month and 3.3% over the year, according to new data released on Friday.The spike in the consumer price index (CPI), which measures the price of a basket of goods and services, is the largest in nearly two years and the first official measure of how the conflict has affected US consumer prices, particularly as Iran blocked the strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and gas would typically pass.The index for energy rose 10

Welcome to Y’all Street: bullish Dallas aims to steal New York’s financial crown

As the warm sun rises over the Dallas skyline, SUVs and pickup trucks whiz past an unassuming construction site that is helping cement the city’s Texas-sized financial ambitions.Nestled between towers claimed by Bank of America and JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs has cordoned off 800,000 sq ft for a new Dallas campus able to host more than 5,000 staff. But the $700m (£530m) project is more than a regional expansion plan by one of America’s largest banks. It is another win for the lobbyists behind Dallas’s “Y’all Street” – the Texan city’s aggressive push to steal New York’s financial crown.The Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, once a fly-in, fly-out stopover for bankers, has seen its financial sector workforce boom over the past decade, surging 40% to 386,000 staff

The daughters of Dominican immigrants achieved the American dream. They’re bringing sweet chocolate success back to the homeland

Janett and Erika Liriano grew up in Queens, the daughters of Dominican immigrants who pushed them to dream big. Their encouragement paid off: by the time they were in their late 20s, Janett had been named a Forbes 30 Under 30 Listmaker and was the chief of staff at a biopharmaceutical firm; younger sister Erika was making a name for herself in venture capital.But something was missing. “We were both comfortable but not happy with our jobs,” Janett said. “I felt unfulfilled and anxiously wanted to move forward

‘Mental breakdown’: oil tanker workers stuck in Gulf for six weeks are reaching their limit

‘You can try to minimise the impact that this situation has on your mental health but it’s becoming impossible.” After six weeks stranded in the Gulf, one of the 20,000 seafarers trapped by Iran’s chokehold on the strait of Hormuz is reaching their limit.Yet with the fragile Middle East ceasefire already fraying, the oil tanker worker – who first spoke to the Guardian a month ago – said any hope they may soon be free to leave had already evaporated, if it ever felt real at all.“We’re at anchor, near dozens of loaded tankers. No one has moved an inch,” said the crew member, one of hundreds anchored off the coast of the United Arab Emirates with a clear view of the loaded Kuwaiti oil tanker set ablaze by an Iranian missile less than a fortnight ago

UK to give £380m grant to Tata battery factory in Somerset

The Somerset battery factory due to supply Jaguar Land Rover is to receive £380m in UK government funding as it pushes ahead with construction despite delays.JLR, Britain’s largest automotive employer, is due to receive batteries from the site to make electric versions of its Range Rover and Jaguar models. The Indian conglomerate Tata owns JLR and the electric vehicle (EV) battery factory under its Agratas subsidiary.The business secretary, Peter Kyle, announced the grant on Thursday during a visit to the construction site in Bridgwater, Somerset. The government said the battery plant – also known as a gigafactory – would employ 4,200 people in the long term

Lidl to open 50 UK stores in year ahead – and its first pub

Lidl is to open 50 new UK stores in the year ahead – as well as its first pub – as it aims to overtake Morrisons as the country’s fifth largest supermarket chain.The German-owned retailer has begun building a pub in east Belfast in response to strict local licensing laws that cap the number of premises that can sell alcohol.In Northern Ireland, supermarkets that want to sell alcohol must buy a licence that has been “surrendered” by another business, such as a pub that is shutting. They then must show there is an inadequate number of existing licensed premises in an area to meet the public’s needs.Lidl was not able to pass the inadequacy test for a standard off-licence, but was able to for a pub as two nearby bars had closed in recent years

Chris Haskins was a champion of the left behind | Letter

The fight for social justice has lost a real champion with the death of Chris Haskins (Obituary, 3 April). As a junior public health academic, I experienced first-hand his openness and willingness to embrace and support insights into the conditions of the left behind in the north of England.In his response to my cold-calling letter drawing attention to the problem of food deserts in inner-city Liverpool, I was privileged to attend the famously relaxed and open Northern Foods directors’ meetings above the dairy in Hull and provided with generous funds for research into this hidden injustice.With Lord Haskins’ support, we were able to reveal how poverty-stricken communities had access only to overpriced processed and tinned food from corner shops whose owners left each night for their homes in the affluent suburbs.The battle for universal access to wholesome, affordable food continues, but Haskins will remain a beacon of ethical and sustainable capitalism

Oil rises and global stocks wobble amid worries over ‘fragile’ ceasefire deal in Middle East – as it happened

Time to wrap up…The boss of Abu Dhabi’s state-owned oil company has warned that the strait of Hormuz is “not open” despite the US-Iran ceasefire agreed earlier this week, as uncertainty over the truce pushed the price of US oil over $100 a barrel on Thursday.Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose by over 4% on Thursday to almost $99 a barrel, while New York light crude climbed by 5.8% to as high as $100.29 a barrel. On Wednesday, Brent had tumbled 13

From soups and greens to roots, how to survive the ‘hungry gap’

Spring may have firmly sprung – I write this with a view of vivid yellow forsythia blossom in next door’s garden, and the melodious warble of full-throated birdsong – but though the greenery may be flourishing in our gardens, it’s a different story at the farmers’ market. Despite a few spindly spears of asparagus and miniature jersey royals making an appearance on our Easter tables last weekend, the new season of British produce doesn’t kick off in earnest for another few weeks yet. That means we’re now heading into the so-called “hungry gap”, an annual quirk of our relatively northern latitude, when temperatures are too high for much winter veg such as kale and brassicas, but too low for the more delicate likes of peas and broad beans to ripen – let alone high-summer treats such as berries, squash and stone fruit.Happily, many hardy winter crops store well, and are versatile enough to shake off their heavy winter coat of cream and butter in favour of a lighter treatment. The late Skye Gyngell gifted us a carrot, celery, farro and borlotti bean soup, Nigel Slater has an early spring laksa with purple sprouting broccoli (and some spinach, which I suspect you could use frozen), and Nicholas Balfe offers a ceviche with celeriac and a baked beetroot dish (pictured top) – both of which look just the thing to wake up your taste buds

Rachel Roddy’s recipe for hazelnut and chocolate cake | A kitchen in Rome

Having been kept waiting for three hours, Dick Dewy leaves Miss Fancy Day snipping and sewing her blue dress. The plan is that he will return for her a quarter of an hour later, however, Dick convinces himself that he has been scandalously trifled with by Fancy and decides that, to punish her, he will not return. Instead, he leaps over the gate, pushes up the lane for two miles, takes a winding path called Snail-Creep, and crawls through the opening to the hazel grove in Grey’s Wood.Getting a class of 15-year-olds to relay/read the opening of chapter four of Under the Greenwood Tree, which is memorably entitled “Going Nutting”, is an extremely effective way to engage them with the majesty of Thomas Hardy. And the title is nothing compared to the line (as Dick vanished among the bushes): “Never man nutted as Dick nutted that afternoon

How to make cauliflower cheese using the whole plant – recipe | Waste not

This recipe, adapted from one in my cookbook, is a very elaborate way to serve humble cauliflower cheese. The whole plant, including the leaves and core, is seasoned with nutmeg and roasted, and it’s then dressed with a satisfying layer of rich cheese sauce and grilled until charred and bubbling. Choose a cauliflower with plenty of leaves, because they go deliciously crisp when roasted.This is perhaps the most decadent cauliflower cheese I’ve ever made. Inspired by an orange-coloured cauliflower I found sitting proudly in a box at my local Brockley Market in south London, I decided to make a vibrant and very orange cauliflower cheese using red leicester cheese and turmeric

How to save limp herbs | Kitchen aide

What can I do with herbs that are past their best?Joe, by email Happily, Joe and his on-the-turn herbs aren’t short of options. “The obvious choice for hard herbs is to chuck them in a sandwich bag and freeze them for future stock-making,” says Alice Norman, founder of regenerative bakery Pinch in Suffolk. Alternatively, Sami Tamimi, author of Boustany, would be inclined to dry his excess herbs. In summer, he’d simply pop them on a tray and put them outside in the sun, but right now he “dries them in a 60-70C oven, then packs in containers, ready for the next time you’re short of fresh herbs”.Norman’s current MO is to blitz languishing herbs (“rosemary and/or thyme work best”) with a 3:4 ratio of fine salt

‘Before I can stop her, my daughter is licking crumbs from the table’: my search for the perfect kids’ menu

Chips, fish fingers, pizza … restaurant food for children is depressingly predictable. Are there more adventurous options? I took my four-year-old daughter on a month-long mission to find outWe’re heading out for dinner. Before I tell my four-year-old where we’re going, she has already announced that she’s going to have fish, chips and lots of ketchup. It sounds delicious; a classic. But there’s the irksome feeling that the intrepid impulses of childhood should be met with food that expands palates rather than feeding into the well-trodden path to a beige meal

Can’t face another mouthful of chicken? You’re probably coming down with the ick

Name: The chicken ick.Age: Chickens have been around since, well, eggs …Unless it’s the other way round. Whatever. The chicken ick, on the other hand, is new.And what is it, please? You know when you suddenly feel disgusted by the chicken you’re eating, possibly mid-bite, despite previously enjoying it?Er, not really, to be honest

How to make the perfect Portuguese feijoada – recipe | Felicity Cloake's How to make the perfect

If you are trying to incorporate more beans and pulses into your diet, as I am, then this robust, one-pot feast, which food writer Edite Vieira describes as “a marvellous standby of the Portuguese kitchen”, is one to bear in mind. Though each region has its own variations, “basically”, she explains, “feijoada is a rich bean stew with pork and sausages”. The Brazilian version, often cited as that country’s national dish, is the product of the West African “love of beans”, according to the Oxford Companion to Food, with some suggesting that it’s a South American creation that travelled to Europe along with returning colonisers. Others insist with equal fervour that the dish was “born in the north of Portugal, and imported and adapted to what was available in Brazil”. Like so many such homely favourites, its precise history will probably ever remain a mystery; what’s important is that it’s simple to prepare, easy to adapt according to taste and budget, and very satisfying

Burro, WC2: ‘Big but the opposite of brash – restaurant review | Grace Dent on restaurants

Brings old-school charm to a touristy part of townBurro, a new Italian restaurant in Covent Garden, London, had been on my horizons even before the napkins were on order, because Conor Gadd, the chef-owner, has form. His first restaurant Trullo, up in Islington, has sat unshakably around the top of my recommendations list for about 15 years and is namechecked by me at least twice weekly when complete strangers want a tip for a birthday, proposal or a client they need to impress. Or simply, “somewhere to take a foodie” who “really likes food”. Yes, the brief given to restaurant critics is often that vague, but to all these things I say: “Have you been to Trullo? Order the beef shin ragu and some good red wine. It’s been there for ages and they know what they’re doing

Sunday best: Thomasina Miers’ recipes for aromatic chicken one-pot and salted caramel banana cake

I love Mexican chillies for the subtle flavour they give to cooking. Take the ancho, with its sweet, earthy notes of chocolate and plum. That adds immense depth to dishes traditional and avant garde alike, and is now readily available online and in shops. In today’s one-pot, which is a near-perfect way to cook a whole chicken, the ancho adds character to a classic sofrito, while in the pudding the savoury notes and touch of heat complement the dark caramel, helping to create a banana cake that is anything but bland. If you can’t find ancho, try any other medium-heat chilli flake in its place (nora, aleppo), or simply leave it out

Oats, sardines and crisps: emergency foods to stockpile – and why you should share them

People should have an emergency stockpile of food in their homes in case conflicts, extreme weather or cyber-attacks shut down supplies, leading UK experts have told the Guardian.In an ever more turbulent world, they say it is essential to choose long-life items that can be eaten without cooking – think tinned beans, vegetables and fish, rice crackers, and oats that can be soaked. But it is also important to choose items you actually like to eat, and some treats such as chocolate or crisps to keep your spirits up. You will also need water – lots of it – not just to drink but for washing too.Perhaps the most surprising advice is to be prepared to share your stockpile with neighbours

Reese’s chocolate heir accuses Hershey of altering recipes: ‘It wasn’t real peanut butter’

The grandson of HB Reese, the inventor of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, has accused the chocolate giant Hershey of faking a pledge to investors to switch back the recipes of its popular products – including KitKat – to the original milk and dark chocolate ones.A confectionery-focused dust-up between Brad Reese and the $42bn Pennsylvania-based company began in February when Reese, 70, accused the company of “quietly replacing” the ingredients – or “architecture” – in his grandfather’s invention with cheaper “compound coatings” and “peanut-butter-style crèmes”.At a recent Hershey investor conference, the company said it would change about 3% of select products to the original recipes but maintained it had never altered the renowned Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.The company’s chief growth officer, Stacy Taffet, said Hershey was “transitioning our sweets portfolio to colors from natural sources, and ensuring that all Hershey’s and Reese’s offerings are consistent with their brand’s classic milk and dark chocolate recipes”. The changes are planned to come into effect by next year

Put away the Aperol and raise a glass to Hugo spritz, the drink of the summer

Pub gardens and bar terraces have been awash with a sea of orange in recent years as Italy’s love of Aperol spritz spread to the UK. But this year the cocktail’s cousin, a Hugo spritz, will be the drink of the summer, according to supermarkets and bars.It is already being served across the country, including at Sea Containers on the banks of the Thames and Mayfair’s swanky Claridge’s hotel in London, 20 Stories bar in Manchester and the Bridge Tavern in Newcastle. Wetherspoons has the cocktail on its menu nationwide.“In the past year, we have noted that there has been a wider shift among our guests towards drinks with lower alcohol percentages, particularly during the day – a Hugo spritz fits rather neatly into this space,” said George Raju, director of bars at Claridge’s