LINCOLN, Neb.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 9, 2023--

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Food can bring people comfort in the darkest times, and for Imad Alarnab, this time came when he was stranded as a refugee in Calais for more than two months. A hot plate had been donated, people collected leftovers from supermarkets, and having been a successful chef back in Damascus – with three restaurants, and a string of cafes and juice bars – Alarnab did what he did best, night after night, he cooked. “It was just something I felt like I needed to do, because you get to make a lot of people happy. Especially at that time, they needed something to be happy about,” says the 45-year-old, who would feed as many as 400 people at a time. The overcrowded camp that became known as The Jungle was close by, but Alarnab says it was too terrifying and overcrowded, so he and a group of several other Syrians slept on the steps of a church instead. And it was here he cooked the food of home – adapted, of course, depending on what they had. “To have a decent warm meal – for people whose lives have been on hold, they can’t cross to safety – was a big deal for all of us,” says the father-of-three. In fact, it was the first time he’d cooked for lots of people since all of his businesses were bombed within a week in 2012, in the country’s civil war, and this was the moment hope returned. “I think it restored all of the faith that things could, and would, get better,” Alarnab writes in his debut cookbook, Imad’s Syrian Kitchen. By July 2015, he’d made the painful decision to leave his wife and three daughters in Damascus to make the treacherous journey via Lebanon, Greece and North Macedonia, to the UK, where they had relatives. With his children too young to make the journey, the family planned to join once he’d been granted asylum. “If I had any other choice, I would have definitely taken it. [Fleeing] wasn’t the easiest but it was somehow the safest,” he says. “When I was in Syria during the war, people were saying, ‘It’s not safe to go out of the house because maybe you’re going to die’. But I needed to feed my family, if I stayed in the house they would die from hunger. There’s no good choice or bad choice, but maybe it’s the only one you can make. “When I was leaving Damascus, my oldest daughter made me promise I would see her within one year. I said, ‘Yes, I promise,’ but I wasn’t really sure if I was going to keep that promise or not.” And during the three months before he reached the UK – walking hundreds of miles on foot, on train, in the back of cars, on push bike, at the mercy of smugglers, with false IDs and the kindness of strangers – there were moments of doubt, like when he was crammed in the back of a lorry in Turkey for seven hours. “There were about 95 of us, I felt it was a stupid decision, risking my life so much. I believe the driver was so scared, or maybe drunk – the speed was absolutely scary. I thought we were not going to make it.” His journey ended eventually by using a fake passport to cross the Channel in October 2015 (the moving, often harrowing, story is weaved through his new cookbook), and first finding work illegally in a car wash, where he also slept as an overnight security guard, sending money home. After his family were able to emigrate (just under the year he’d promised his daughter) someone introduced him to the Cook For Syria scheme – and soon he was hosting super clubs at his house. By May 2021, he’d opened his London restaurant, Imad’s Syrian Kitchen. His first cookbook is a combination of dishes served up at the restaurant and his late mother’s recipes. “Almost every single dish is somehow related to my mother – I keep seeking her approval in everything I do in life, but especially with cooking,” he says. It was his mum, Summer, who first taught him to cook. “Even if you create your own recipes, somehow you will [always] be inspired by your first teacher”. She died very suddenly while Alarnab was living alone in a caravan in west London. Syrian food at its heart is “simple, first of all, and affordable for everyone”, he says. “We use a lot of mild spices, not very hot spices.” They’re mostly things you’ll know; “cumin, mint, garlic, nothing really special about it. [but] you put it together in a special way”. Middle Eastern in identity, much of it might feel familiar; tabbouleh, hummus, baklawa; while traditional dishes include buttered halibut, jaj bailfurn (grilled chicken thighs) and kippeh (lamb and bulgur wheat dumplings). Lunch is typically a feast of many dishes. “We’re a family of five and we never ever have one dish for lunch,” says Alarnab. “And we don’t throw anything away.” Before the war – which began as an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad in 2011 but has since involved a complex number of groups fighting one another, including so-called Islamic State, leaving at least 11 million people displaced – Alarnab was one of the lucky ones, he says. “We had a comfortable life, but most people in Syria were suffering. When you have a dictatorship for more than 50 years, of course people will be suffering. You cannot explain life without freedom to someone who’s lived all of their life with it. “People keep asking me silly questions – ‘Why did you have to go to 10 different countries to come to the UK? You could just get a plane ticket straight from Lebanon to Heathrow’. No, it doesn’t work like that. As a Syrian, my passport takes me to three countries – war zone countries. Even if I wanted to go to every country supporting Assad, I’d still need a visa.” Once the fighting started, food, that once brought him so much joy, lost all meaning. “I don’t know how to describe it, but the food tasted like blood. I know it’s disgusting, but nothing tasted the same. When you live in fear for your family, when your daughters are not safe to go to school, food will taste [bad], nothing can make you happy.” Cooking Syrian food now makes him feel “connected” to his home country, of course, “but it also makes me feel part of this unique community in the UK”. Arriving in London, he says: “I felt safe, I felt ‘I can be different, I can be myself, no one cares’. Everyone’s so different, it makes all of us lookalike.” Even after starting from scratch in a new country after losing everything, with a highly-acclaimed restaurant and now a cookbook, he’s most proud of his daughters. His eldest is studying at Warwick University after gaining straight As, his middle child is a talented artist. “The youngest [13] is the naughty one still,” he laughs. “But you can feel they appreciate their life – they are so happy about it.” ‘Imad’s Syrian Kitchen’ by Imad Alarnab (HQ; £26). Read More The National Portrait Gallery’s new restaurant is fabulous upgrade The dish that defines me: Alex Outhwaite’s Vietnamese bun cha 3 TikTok-approved recipes for picnic season It’s easier to make baklava at home than you might think Get set for Wimbledon with top pastry chef’s strawberry recipes Pinch of Nom: Healthy eating doesn’t have to cost the earth

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Lando Norris was highly critical of Sergio Perez after the pair collided in Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, insisting “he crashes into a lot of people.” As the race entered its final stages, Red Bull driver Perez looked to take fourth place from the Brit at turn six, diving down the inside. The pair touched, with Norris taking to the escape road, and Perez was later given a five-second time penalty due to “causing a collision.” McLaren driver Norris was unequivocal afterwards about who was at fault. “I was expecting it to be honest – it was nothing new,” Norris said afterwards. “He crashes into a lot of people so not something new for anyone to know. “But I did give him a lot of space. And so it didn’t change my race at the end of the day. It was a tough day, we just didn’t have the pace we wanted.” Norris finished the race in fifth, with Perez overtaking him comfortably on the next lap. It meant the Brit finished sixth in the drivers’ standings, while McLaren beat Aston Martin to fourth in the constructors’ championship. “I’m still happy we as a team beat Aston Martin, that was our target and we achieved it,” he added. Perez, however, was furious and was given a formal warning after describing the stewards’ decision as a “joke”. The Mexican doubled down on the criticism afterwards: "I think the stewards were very poor today in my opinion. "We’ve seen a lot worse, we touched tyre to tyre, Lando cut the corner and I still had the penalty." Perez, despite dropping from second to fourth as a result of his penalty, comfortably finished second in the drivers’ championship for his best-ever season finish in F1. Read More Williams boss refuses to confirm Logan Sargeant’s seat for 2024 F1 2023 season report card: Red Bull flourish but what about Mercedes and Ferrari? Toto Wolff sees ‘Mount Everest’ ahead as Mercedes seek to end Red Bull’s domination When does the 2024 F1 season start? F1 Abu Dhabi GP LIVE: Race results and reaction at Yas Marina Relegation and promotion in F1? An alternative reality to reinvigorate Abu Dhabi

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Former president Donald Trump is taking credit for the US Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade last year by claiming he nominated the justices who did not agree with the 1973 precedent. On Tuesday night’s episode of Rob Schmitt Tonight on Newsmax, Mr Trump compared his action against abortion to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’, saying he has done more for pro-life people. “First of all, I’m the one that got rid of Roe v. Wade and everybody said that was an impossible thing to do,” Mr Trump boasted. Mr DeSantis recently signed into law a six-week ban that prevents anyone from seeking an abortion after six weeks of gestation, with the exception of cases where ending a pregnancy would save the mother’s life. As of now, Florida allows abortions for pregnancies involving rape or incept until 15 weeks of gestation, so long as the mother can provide documentation such as a restraining order or police report. But despite Florida’s harsh move to restrict abortion access, Mr Trump believes he should be receiving more credit for the work he’s done. “What I’ve done is given the pro-life people, who are wonderful people and loving people, I’ve given them the power of negotiation. Because now they’re able to negotiate something that is going to be very important,” Mr Trump said. During his presidential term, Mr Trump nominated three Justices to the Supreme Court - Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. All three Justices joined the majority opinion of Dobbs v Jackson last summer to help overturn Roe v Wade as well as Planned Parenthood v Casey. This returned the legality of abortions to each state individually. As of May 2023, 19 states have banned abortions either fully or restricted until a certain week of gestation, including Florida. “DeSantis, or Ron Desanctimonious as I call him, he came out with the six weeks — other people agree with and a lot of people don’t,” Mr Trump said. The former president used Mr DeSantis’ recent ban to highlight how unpopular he is with female voters — indicating the ban is too restrictive. “Ron, if you take a look, he’s losing women voters like crazy,” Mr Trump said before citing several news stories about Mr DeSantis’ unpopularity with women. The former president has been comparing himself positively to Mr DeSantis in the last few months as rumours are swirling that Mr DeSantis is preparing to announce his bid for Republican presidential candidate. “I don’t do it for the women, for the men, I do what’s right,” Mr Trump added. It is thought that Mr DeSantis could be a leading contender for Republicans, making him a possible threat to Mr Trump’s campaign. As of recently, any opportunity Mr Trump has to criticise Mr DeSantis, he takes it — as evidenced by the Newsmax interview. Mr Trump both credited himself with overturning Roe v Wade while asserting that Mr DeSantis was unpopular with women due to Florida’s six-week ban. Mr Trump has changed his opinion on abortion throughout his life. In the 1990s the former president claimed he was pro-choice but by 2015 he told reporters he was pro-life. In 2016, Mr Trump said he would have “preferred” if abortion were up to the States but accepted the federal law. After implementing the three Justices who overturned Roe v Wade last year, Mr Trump took credit for the decision. But since then, the former president has never made it clear at what point in gestation abortions should be illegal. Read More DeSantis reacts to Trump implying Florida abortion ban is ‘too harsh’ as 2024 fight heats up Abortion after 12 weeks banned in North Carolina after GOP lawmakers override governor’s veto Abortion pill case moves to appeals court, on track for Supreme Court Ivanka and Jared split over attending Trump 2024 launch – follow live Why was Donald Trump impeached twice during his first term? Four big lies Trump told during his 2024 presidential announcement