A restaurant in London has sparked criticism over its decision to introduce a minimum spend next month that will see solo diners charged double for their meals. In August, Alex Dilling at Hotel Café Royal, which boasts two Michelin stars, will increase the prices of its tasting menus. Currently, a five-course tasting menu costs £125 per person, while it’s £175 for seven courses. However, from 17 August, the restaurant will increase its prices by 11 per cent, bringing five courses to £165 and seven courses to £195. This is due to an increase in supplier costs and rising staff shortages in London, due to Brexit, that has put pressure on the business. For those dining alone, though, the new minimum spend means solo visitors could be charged a minimum of £330 to visit the restaurant due to the volume of requests they receive. However, the restaurant confirmed that they keep one to two tables for solo diners for every service without the minimum spend. So solo diners who book within 24 to 48 hours of their required booking time could be able to swerve the minimum spend depending on whether those tables are available at the time. Nonetheless, the initiative sparked outrage on Twitter, with commenters quick to point out the joys of dining alone, and how solo diners are often stigmatised. “F*** the Hotel Café Royal then… Solo dining is one of life’s great pleasures,” tweeted one person. “Oh great news. Yet another penalty for being single,” another added. Hugh Smithson-Write, who works in restaurant PR, tweeted: “A classic example of making the customer the problem, rather than finding a solution. “If you get ‘many solo diner requests’ how about you reconfigure your dining room to accommodate that and maximise the revenue? This is the very opposite of hospitality!” Victoria Sheppard, chief executive at Alex Dilling at Hotel Café Royal, told The Independent: “Since achieving our two Michelin stars the demand for solo dining has increased dramatically and whilst we make every effort to accommodate solo diners, we also have to be considerate to the running costs of our business. “That said, we are increasing our opening hours from 17 August and will be able to accommodate more solo diners (without any discretionary minimum spend). 95 per cent of our solo diners requesting tables since we implemented a discretionary minimum spend when we are at capacity for solo diners have been more that happy to proceed with their booking, enjoying wine pairings or champagne of wine alongside their meal. “Nightclubs in our local vicinity have minimum spends for tables or hotels you pay the same price whether one guest or two which is never under dispute.” Read More Michelin star chef Marcus Wareing gives controversial answer to the best pizza in London Tom Kerridge addresses backlash to his £35 fish and chips at Harrods: ‘They shout at me’ Chef defends viral chicken recipe after TikTok backlash: ‘PSA to the seasoning police’ Restaurant with ‘tips are a privilege’ policy sparks intense backlash on social media Cher is launching a gelato brand called ‘Cherlato’ Popeyes widely mocked for attempt to join ‘girl dinner’ trend

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Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India could feed the world. This year, the world’s top rice

UPDATE: Oct. 11, 2023, 1:50 a.m. EDT This story has been updated with new top

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Healthcare providers caring for pregnant patients in the months after the US Supreme Court’s decision to strike down Roe v Wade have been unable to provide standard medical care in states where abortion is effectively outlawed, leading to delays and worsening and dangerous health outcomes for patients, according to an expansive new report. In the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling last year, individual reports from patients and providers have shed some light on the wide range of harm facing pregnant women in states where access to abortion care is restricted or outright banned. But a first-of-its-kind report from the University of California San Francisco captures examples from across the country, documenting 50 cases in more than a dozen states that enacted abortion bans within the last 10 months, painting a “stark picture of how the fall of Roe is impacting healthcare in states that restrict abortion,” according to the report’s author Dr Daniel Grossman. “Banning abortion and tying providers’ hands impacts every aspect of care and will do so for years to come,” he said in a statement accompanying the report. “Pregnant people deserve better than regressive policies that put their health and lives at risk.” The report collected anonymised narratives from providers who observed complications facing their patients. The most common scenario involved preterm pre-labor rupture of membranes (PPRM), in which the amniotic membrane surrounding the fetus breaks. In several of the cases, patients developed a severe infection, including cases that put patients in hospital intensive care units. Patients in many cases were instead sent home and told to return to a hospital when labor started or when they experienced signs of an infection. In one case, a patient returned to a hospital’s intensive care unit two days after her water broke at roughly 16 to 18 weeks of pregnancy in a state where abortion is banned. “The anesthesiologist cries on the phone when discussing the case with me,” the physician wrote, according to the report. “If the patient needs to be intubated, no one thinks she will make it out of the [operating room].” The report notes that “miraculously” the patient survived. Following the termination of the pregnancy, the patient asked the doctor whether any of them broke the law. “She asks me: could she or I go to jail for this?” the doctor said, according to the report. “Or did this count as life-threatening yet?” Providers also described other cases where patients showed evidence of inevitable pregnancy loss, but their care teams had their “hands tied” under state laws. Health providers also submitted stories of patients experiencing ectopic pregnancies. Delays to treat one patient resulted in a ruptured ectopic pregnancy that required surgery to remove her fallopian tube. Another patient was denied an abortion for a Caesarean scar ectopic pregnancy, a life-threatening condition where a pregnancy implants in the scar of a prior Caesarean section. Other physicians reported the inability to treat patients with fetal anomalies and patients who faced delays receiving treatment for miscarriages. “Unfortunately, this report confirms that our fears about abortion bans are valid,” said Dr Chloe Zera, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist and associate professor at Harvard Medical School. “As someone who cares for patients who have high-risk pregnancies, I need to be able to provide care consistent with evidence-based guidelines,” she said in a statement accompanying the report. “This research underscores the completely preventable harm that is now happening to our patients because of barriers to abortion care.” The report also outlines the moral dilemmas facing physicians operating in states or treating patients from states that have outlawed the potentially life-saving care they previously provided. Some physicians said they were considering quitting or relocating, or noted the immense coordination required between health providers in multiple states to treat patients, and outlined the ways in which restrictive state laws have complicated other care unrelated to abortion. In one case, a physician refused to remove an intrauterine device for a patient who was between 10 and 12 weeks pregnant, despite the partially expelled IUD posing a risk for infection or miscarriage. “The doctor did not feel comfortable” removing the IUD, one physician wrote, according to the report. “The context provided was concern over the recent changes in law that create [the] possibility for felony charges for providers causing abortion in our state shortly after the Roe decision was overturned.” During a “heated exchange” among health providers, “the doctor [said] the patient had... been examined by the nurse practitioner, who was unable to visualize the IUD, and that ‘even if I could see it and it was easily removable, I wouldn’t remove it because of the law,’” according to the physician’s description in the report. “Abortion bans that block providers from offering standard medical care have the greatest impact in states like Texas that have some of the poorest indicators of maternal health,” according to Dr Kari White, lead investigator of the Texas Policy Evaluation Project at The University of Texas at Austin. “Pregnant people should be able to rely on their healthcare provider to provide the best possible care, regardless of where they live,” she said in a statement accompanying the report. More than a dozen states, mostly in the South, have effectively outlawed or severely restricted access to abortion care after the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization last June. Read More Alabama Republicans would charge abortion patients with murder under proposed legislation Louisiana Republicans refuse rape and incest exceptions to state’s sweeping anti-abortion law North Carolina governor vetoes 12-week abortion ban, launching Republican override showdown A Texas man sued his ex-wife’s friends for allegedly helping her with an abortion. Now they’re suing him Supreme Court preserves abortion drug approval as legal case plays out

India’s central bank is expected keep its benchmark rate and policy stance unchanged for a third consecutive meeting

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Amid the maelstrom swirling on the other side of the Ferrari garage in the last few days at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc has been razor-sharp. Fastest in the sole practice session on Friday, the Monegasque is so often ice-cool on the tight, twisty street circuits that so regularly crop up now in Formula 1. Such was his confidence – and previous qualifying form in similar conditions – Leclerc was actually favourite with the bookies for pole position ahead of Max Verstappen. The Ferrari man proved them right, sealing a Ferrari one-two with Carlos Sainz qualifying in second. Unfortunately however, the Spaniard will not be starting alongside his team-mate for the inaugural Saturday night race. Sainz’s ridiculous 10-place grid penalty for exceeding his gearbox allocation – which only came about due to the FIA’s incompetence after manhole-gate on opening night – has wiped out Leclerc’s most helpful aid to win the 50-lap race. For those desperate for an engrossing battle at the front, not least F1 and LVGP chiefs, it is a bitter blow. Leclerc will have to break an unwelcome streak, too. Since his last win 16 months ago in Austria, the 26-year-old has been on pole position eight times. Rather excruciatingly, six of those eight have still resulted in podiums. Ferrari’s race-pace has been their Achilles’ heel but Leclerc is optimistic after Sainz was victorious on a similar track layout in Singapore in September. “The race is where we lack performance so I hope we can put it all together,” he said post-qualifying. “We know that Red Bull are going to be very strong, but we’ve had positive signs on the high fuel [in practice] – hopefully we can convert that pole position to a win. “I think we are closer [to Max] than other races. If there’s one race to win [this year] other than Singapore, it’s this one.” Leclerc will need two things that have deserted him in order to taste victory in Nevada tomorrow: a peerless strategy and just a bit of luck. From lights out, Leclerc must get off to an exemplary start, while hoping Verstappen – who compared the track to the National League after qualifying – on the dirtier side of the track falls back into the pack. Early on, staying outside the DRS window of Verstappen behind ahead of the Vegas strip section – now the second-longest straight on the calendar – is imperative. But Ferrari must be bold with their tactical calls from lights out. The Scuderia have hampered themselves since producing a title-winning car at the start of 2022 with daft decisions from the pit lane. In a battle between Ferrari strategists and their rivals at Red Bull, there has been no contest. It is unlikely, given Red Bull’s outstanding race pace and straight-line speed. But Verstappen’s day to forget in Singapore two months ago should give Leclerc and the rest of the pack hope, even if it is simply a glimpse of an opportunity. TOP-10 - LAS VEGAS GRAND PRIX QUALIFYING 1. Charles Leclerc 2. Max Verstappen 3. George Russell 4. Pierre Gasly 5. Alex Albon 6. Logan Sargeant 7. Valtteri Bottas 8. Kevin Magnussen 9. Fernando Alonso 10. Lewis Hamilton Earlier in the day, Formula 1 and Vegas GP management did their no reputation no good with a lengthy statement explaining Thursday night’s titanic mess, which saw ticket holders witness just eight minutes of cars on track. Perplexingly, in amongst 600 words, there was no apology and no refund offered; instead, a $200 voucher to use at the Las Vegas Grand Prix gift shop. After a jumbled-up order in the final practice session, there was a sense of mystique surrounding who was the quickest team around this 3.8-mile street circuit. A circuit which, despite this week’s shenanigans, looks absolutely stunning from the sky. Think Singapore and Jeddah on steroids. On the track, Lando Norris admitted this week he “did not mind” where his first win comes – but it won’t be this weekend. Both McLarens, surprisingly short of pace, were knocked out in Q1 – Norris will start tomorrow’s race in 15th, Oscar Piastri in 18th. A recovery drive will be in order on Saturday night. It was also another day to forget for Lewis Hamilton. The seven-time world champion failed to qualify for the final session and will start the Vegas race in 10th. Resigned to his fate afterwards, he simply stated to race engineer Peter Bonnington: “Couldn’t go faster mate.” But his team-mate George Russell could – the Brit will start behind the top-two in third tomorrow and will be looking to steal a march on Verstappen heading into turn one. Yet the standout team in Vegas qualifying was Williams, with Alex Albon starting fifth and rookie driver Logan Sargeant producing his best qualifying performance of the season for sixth. And with it, the American could well have sealed his 2024 seat. Read More Charles Leclerc lights up Las Vegas to claim pole position for Ferrari Verstappen criticises Vegas GP: ‘Monaco is Champions League, this is National League’ F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix LIVE: Qualifying times and results in Sin City ‘It happens’: F1 fail to apologise or issue refunds to Las Vegas fans When does the Las Vegas Grand Prix start and how can I watch? F1 grid: Starting positions for Las Vegas Grand Prix

Government bonds fell while stocks ended the day higher as traders speculated central banks will keep interest rates

Hailey posed for a series of snaps in which she showcased her outfit prior to the event

Purchasing a special item on behalf of another is a lofty task that is even more daunting when the recipient in question is your dad. Father’s Day gifts can be a pain for those of us who no longer live at home and are unsure if Dad’s hobbies still revolve around lawn care and cocktail peanuts. So, when in doubt, we recommend going the already-curated-for-him Father’s Day subscription box route.