Second cities can be more welcoming and fun than capitals, perhaps nowhere more so than Porto, with its less manicured charm

If you walk along the south banks of the Douro River in Vila Nova de Gaia, opposite Porto city, towards the sea, the scene will be classic Portugal for a while: a lot of waterside restaurants, a lot of grilled chicken, some stalls selling unlikely items made of cork (aprons?). A little further back are the showcase port houses: Sandeman, Fonseca, Taylor’s – we’ll come back to those.

Keep on walking westwards along the river, away from the pretty Dom Luís I Bridge and towards the sea, and you reach Afurada, a fishing village. It’s famous for people grilling fish in the street and because it’s apparently not possible to eat badly there, the fish being so fresh and all the restaurants so close together, they’re in a race to the top. Or do we just call that a race? A Margem restaurant has a funny, boxy front like an Amazon drop-point and serves incredible polvo à lagareiro (octopus, olive oil, potatoes and garlic).

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Americans voted for the far right without necessarily wanting to endorse a far-right mandate. Trump will claim one anyway

The blame game’s in full swing. Armchair campaign strategists just know that Kamala Harris should have thrown Joe Biden under the bus, or gone on Joe Rogan, or – the perennial favorite among self-declared centrists – trashed identity politics . Of course, it matters a great deal to find out why people who voted for Democrats in 2020 failed to turn out; of course, there needs to be an explanation (not freewheeling speculation) about Trump’s gains among Latino men in particular.

Yet one larger question deserves at least as much attention: why does anything recognizable to international observers as a center-right option seem to have disappeared from our politics? Why was the only 2024 choice between the far right and a vaguely progressive (not progressive enough for progressives, to be sure) center party?

Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of politics at Princeton University and a Guardian US columnist

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Incoming manager likes a 3-4-3 formation but the players he will have available do not look obviously suited to it

Rúben Amorim has already flagged his greatest challenge when taking over Manchester United on Monday: to make the club of Billy Meredith, George Best, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo play again in the tradition of these irresistible attacking forces.

The “wow” factor has been missing from those donning United colours for most of the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era. Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s off-the-cuff counterattack play apart, the teams of David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, José Mourinho and Erik ten Hag lacked the dizzying fizz of United’s finest vintages.

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More than half of households cite rising living costs as reason for not heating homes, while quarter of pensioners blame loss of winter fuel payments

More than 1.7 million households say they will not turn on their heating this winter, according to research by comparison site Uswitch. This has risen sharply from the 972,000 who said they took this drastic step last year.

The research reported that 55% of households cited rising living costs as the reason they would hold out on heating their homes, while a quarter of pensioners put it down to the loss of winter fuel payments , despite it being a potential health risk.

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From euphoric cold-water swimming to a headstone-istic wander through a cemetery, how to go deep on the cheap

• How much does dating cost – and who pays the bill?

You certainly don’t need to spend a fortune to have a fun and romantic time, whether it’s your first date or the 101st. There are lots of things you can do that are either free or won’t break the bank.

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Some dos and don’ts when it comes to portable heaters, electric blankets and real fires in winter

If you’re looking for ways to stay warm this winter, here are several checks you should make to stay safe.

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The best literary comfort reads rebuild our strength so we can face reality, argues novelist Francesca Segal. She picks her ultimate reading list – with help from Nick Hornby, Sathnam Sanghera and Naomi Alderman

“Life is short and the world / is at least half terrible,” observes the poet Maggie Smith. But which are the books to reach for when the terrible half is in the ascendant? I’ve come to treasure a particular category I’d define as the literary comfort novel: elegant and beautifully written stories that renew our faith in humanity, that leave us better than they found us, that work – and thus expand – the muscle of the heart. Lately, I’ve come to realise that I want to read one story: despite everything, it is going to be OK .

That “despite” is key. Solace is distinct from escape, and I’d define a literary comfort novel as distinct from pure escapism. I don’t want the narcotic and temporary palliative of the soap opera – without judgment, I should add – but, perhaps because I have been aged or wounded out of fairy stories, I want a more convincing consolation, grounded in real life. The best books rebuild our strength so we can face reality, and maybe even fight to change it. I don’t want briefly to suspend my disbelief. Instead, I long to believe again.

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When we met, Arlo was a charming and adventurous photographer. Then the pandemic hit and he fell for fake news, financial scams and flat-Earthers

It’s a unicorn of a summer’s day in 2020; the kind that demands factor 50 and flip-flops. I’m being driven around my neighbourhood by my husband, Arlo, my hair pulled up off my neck and a cool can of something fizzy in my hand. My daily medication has kicked in: a serotonin reuptake inhibitor that I’ve taken for 15 years to ease my low-level anxiety. Without it, I’m no longer sure I can stay with this man I have loved for 12 years. I am mute and smiling passively.

“There’s another one!” he points to the right. “At least it’s not disguised as a tree.” He shakes his head. “Do they think we’re idiots?”

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Cambridgeshire trial found workers’ performance improved and staff turnover fell, while London Underground also plans to introduce four-day week option

Councils will have the right to adopt a four-day working week after the government dropped concerns raised by the Conservatives when they were in power.

For more than a year, South Cambridgeshire district council has defied Conservative opposition to its policy to introduce a four-day working week, after a controversial 15-month trial indicated in March that the performance of its workers mostly improved or remained the same, while the council simultaneously saved more than £370,000 in a year.

Staff turnover fell by 39%, helping save £371,500 in a year, mostly on agency staff costs.

Regular household planning applications were decided about a week and a half earlier.

Approximately 15% more major planning application decisions were completed within the correct timescale.

The time taken to process changes to housing benefit and council tax benefit claims fell.

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