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‘I never imagined such pleasure could be had from the simple sardine’: readers’ favourite foodie experiences in Europe

Your top culinary discoveries, from Bled cake in Slovenia to sardines in Portugal and seafood soup in Spain • Tell us about autumn days out in the UK – the best tip wins a £200 holiday voucher Last August, the smoky aroma of grilled sardines drifting over the beach in Portimão woke me up from my sunbathing on the beach. Attracted by the aroma of barbecued fish, we found ourselves in the old port where, for €12, I was served two delicious sandwiches on rustic bread of sardines in garlic and olive oil, with a small cold beer. I sat down, ate and chatted with locals on benches at simple communal tables. The important thing seemed to be to enjoy food together. The next morning, a reenactment of the fishing boats arriving loaded with fish, as they once were, was a real spectacle – complete with guitar playing, drum-banging and excited seagulls whirling and wailing above in the hope of a feast. Later, concerts and dancing animated the town as the party for the sardine festival went on well into the night. Cooking demos and dishes including sardine-based soup and salads, added to the enjoyment. I never imagined such pleasure could be had from the simple sardine. Joe Continue reading...

The GuardianThe GuardianGuardian readers11 Sept

A Thought Without Collision by Adrian Duncan review – a brilliant interrogation of philosophy and wonder

With a character inspired by Wittgenstein, this exploration of the mysteries of the universe draws on multiple philosophical traditions For several years I ran community groups that involved reading books aloud with other adults. Sharing the experience of reading in that way made me notice how, when one or more of us was baffled by a story, this bafflement was rarely experienced without an accompanying sense of mild anger. It was so easy to make us, the readers, angry – at the characters; at the author; perhaps even at the nature of this reality on which we’d lost our grip. We were confronted with the fact that our capacity to understand the world was limited. We didn’t like that. Irish author Adrian Duncan’s fifth novel, A Thought Without Collision, takes risks with this bafflement: it relates and conveys an experience of being mystified by the universe. As it opens, in Ireland in 1923, it is becoming apparent that six-year-old Catherine has exceptional academic gifts, and that her father’s farm is failing. In the next chapter, set in 1951, Dr Josef Alois, a Tyrolean émigré academic in his mid-50s, is living in his self-built house on the east coast of Scotland. He is alone until Catherine reappears, “a handsome woman in her mid-thirties”, and now an Oxford professor. The second chapter ends starkly: Alois “is more unwell than he believes and will perish in one month and eleven days”. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe GuardianDaisy Hildyard11 Sept

A Thought Without Collision by Adrian Duncan review – a brilliant interrogation of philosophy and wonder

With a character inspired by Wittgenstein, this exploration of the mysteries of the universe draws on multiple philosophical traditions For several years I ran community groups that involved reading books aloud with other adults. Sharing the experience of reading in that way made me notice how, when one or more of us was baffled by a story, this bafflement was rarely experienced without an accompanying sense of mild anger. It was so easy to make us, the readers, angry – at the characters; at the author; perhaps even at the nature of this reality on which we’d lost our grip. We were confronted with the fact that our capacity to understand the world was limited. We didn’t like that. Irish author Adrian Duncan’s fifth novel, A Thought Without Collision, takes risks with this bafflement: it relates and conveys an experience of being mystified by the universe. As it opens, in Ireland in 1923, it is becoming apparent that six-year-old Catherine has exceptional academic gifts, and that her father’s farm is failing. In the next chapter, set in 1951, Dr Josef Alois, a Tyrolean émigré academic in his mid-50s, is living in his self-built house on the east coast of Scotland. He is alone until Catherine reappears, “a handsome woman in her mid-thirties”, and now an Oxford professor. The second chapter ends starkly: Alois “is more unwell than he believes and will perish in one month and eleven days”. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe GuardianDaisy Hildyard11 Sept

UK GDP report to show if economy kept growing in July –business live

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy. We’re about to learn how the UK economy fared in July, during the summer heatwave. 7am BST: UK GDP report for July 7am BST: UK trade report for July 1.30pm BST: US CPI inflation report 3pm BST: University of Michigan’s US consumer confidence report Continue reading...

The GuardianThe GuardianGraeme Wearden11 Sept

TV tonight: Lenny Henry and Joanne McNally pop into the Lycett Arms

They join pub landlord Joe for more a night of more convivial chaos. Plus: cosy crime in Brooke Shields’ You’re Killing Me. Here’s what to watch this evening 10pm, Channel 4 It’s opening time once again at Joe Lycett’s paisley-carpeted boozer, and even though the pub is only open for an hour a week, Lycett isn’t a man to do things by halves. Accordingly, the premises are legit, the bevvies are real and hopefully so is the atmosphere of convivial chaos. This week, Joe welcomes Lenny Henry, who offers Brum solidarity as temporary bar manager, and comic Joanne McNally, who proves a lively punter. Phil Harrison Continue reading...

The GuardianThe GuardianPhil Harrison, Ali Catterall, Hannah J Davies and Graeme Virtue11 Sept

Ashes legal dispute: Hampshire damages claim led to lack of 2027 Test in north of England

Hampshire paid £1m by ECB after missing out in 2023 County challenged decision to give Headingley match The lack of Ashes cricket in the north of England next summer is the result of a legal dispute that followed the allocation of venues for the 2023 series against Australia, which also involved the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) paying about £1m in damages to Hampshire. The Guardian can reveal that Hampshire brought a legal challenge against the ECB after missing out on hosting the Ashes in 2023 to Yorkshire, who staged the third Test – which England won by three wickets – at Headingley. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe GuardianExclusive by Matt Hughes11 Sept

Benjamina Ebuehi’s recipe for ricotta, blackberry and lemon cake | The sweet spot

Make the most of the early-autumn glut of fruit with this quick, squidgy-crumbed bake that’s bursting with berries Every year, I get annoyed with myself for not making the most of blackberry season, and then it’s gone before I’ve had a chance really to enjoy them. They’re such great berries to bake with, and here I’ve scattered them in a simple ricotta cake. It’s a quick, one-bowl bake with a perfectly squidgy crumb that’s bursting with fruit. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe GuardianBenjamina Ebuehi11 Sept

The ‘great grid upgrade’ is off track – ministers should spell out the risks for bills | Nils Pratley

National Audit Office calls for greater transparency on £70bn programme that is running over budget and behind schedule Speed up electricity grid upgrade or else face higher bills, warns UK watchdog It’s an open secret in the energy industry that “the great grid upgrade” – the £70bn programme to rewire the nation’s electricity transmission network to enable clean power by 2030 – is running over budget and behind schedule, and may end up costing consumers and businesses more in their bills than advertised. How far behind? How much more? It is impossible to get straight answers from the bodies overseeing the massive spending programme, which may continue at an even greater scale into the 2030s. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (Desnz), its in-house body, the National Energy System Operator (Neso), and Ofgem, the supposedly independent regulator, publish acres of information on narrow matters, but none provides a clear big-picture assessment: how is the grid upgrade really going? Continue reading...

The GuardianThe GuardianNils Pratley11 Sept

Diana’s ‘revenge dress’, worn when Charles revealed infidelity, up for auction

Christina Stambolian dress from 1994 has defined a whole category of fashion and is expected to fetch up to £220,000 The dress that Diana, Princess of Wales wore one September evening in 1994 would have been memorable for its design alone – black, fitted, off-the-shoulder, skintight and short. However, it has another distinction, of defining a whole category of fashion – what has since become known as “revenge dressing”. Worn by Diana the same night Charles would reveal his infidelity on TV, the dress was quickly labelled “the revenge dress” by the media. It has its own Wikipedia page , with the same title. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe GuardianLauren Cochrane11 Sept

Speed up electricity grid upgrade or else face higher bills, warns UK watchdog

National Audit Office says failure to implement £70bn modernisation would also hold back economic growth The ‘great grid upgrade’ is off track – ministers should spell out the risks for bills Consumers will pay higher energy bills unless the UK government speeds up work on a vast programme of upgrades to the electricity grid to enable the switch to renewables, the public spending watchdog has warned. The National Audit Office (NAO) said that without faster action the extra costs associated with managing the ageing power network, which are ultimately passed on to the public, could reach £7.8bn a year by 2030. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe GuardianAlex Daniel11 Sept

Diana’s ‘revenge dress’, worn when Charles revealed infidelity, up for auction

Christina Stambolian dress from 1994 has defined a whole category of fashion and is expected to fetch up to £220,000 The dress that Diana, Princess of Wales wore one September evening in 1994 would have been memorable for its design alone – black, fitted, off-the-shoulder, skintight and short. However, it has another distinction, of defining a whole category of fashion – what has since become known as “revenge dressing”. Worn by Diana the same night Charles would reveal his infidelity on TV, the dress was quickly labelled “the revenge dress” by the media. It has its own Wikipedia page , with the same title. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe GuardianLauren Cochrane11 Sept

Speed up electricity grid upgrade or else face higher bills, warns UK watchdog

National Audit Office says failure to implement £70bn modernisation would also hold back economic growth The ‘great grid upgrade’ is off track – ministers should spell out the risks for bills Consumers will pay higher energy bills unless the UK government speeds up work on a vast programme of upgrades to the electricity grid to enable the switch to renewables, the public spending watchdog has warned. The National Audit Office (NAO) said that without faster action the extra costs associated with managing the ageing power network, which are ultimately passed on to the public, could reach £7.8bn a year by 2030. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe GuardianAlex Daniel11 Sept

Iceland to submit bill that could ban whaling in its waters

The country is one of just three that still permits commercial whaling, while its government has faced mounting pressure to ban the practice Iceland will submit a bill in February 2027 which could permanently ban whaling in its waters, a move that would leave Norway and Japan as the only two countries to permit commercial whaling. Whaling in Iceland has been put under intense scrutiny since a government-commissioned report was published in 2023 that found harpooned whales took two hours to die. The report led to a temporary suspension of the hunt that year. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe GuardianKaren McVeigh11 Sept

Iceland to submit bill that could ban whaling in its waters

The country is one of just three that still permits commercial whaling, while its government has faced mounting pressure to ban the practice Iceland will submit a bill in February 2027 which could permanently ban whaling in its waters, a move that would leave Norway and Japan as the only two countries to permit commercial whaling. Whaling in Iceland has been put under intense scrutiny since a government-commissioned report was published in 2023 that found harpooned whales took two hours to die. The report led to a temporary suspension of the hunt that year. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe GuardianKaren McVeigh11 Sept

Weatherwatch: soil moisture deficit – how dry are the UK’s thirsty soils?

SMD is the moisture the soil must make up until it is at capacity, with very dry conditions over most of England and Wales When the ground is thoroughly wet, after excess rainwater has run off it is said to be at field capacity. Meteorologists describe drought in terms of soil moisture deficit (SMD) from field capacity. The SMD is a measure of how thirsty the soil is, expressed as how many millimetres of rain it would take to top it up to field capacity. In southern England, the SMD tends to hover around zero in winter when fields are wet. In summer it may be about 100mm, going up to 150mm or more in a dry year. The extreme of dryness, when soil has no water accessible to plants, is known as the permanent wilting point or PWP. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe GuardianDavid Hambling11 Sept