Le Journal

Survey finds rising numbers of reception pupils struggling with basic life skills such as eating independentlyAbout one in four children who started reception in 2025 were not toilet trained, a survey of teachers has found, prompting warnings that growing numbers of pupils are struggling with basic life skills.In an annual survey of primary school staff in England by the early years charity Kindred Squared, teachers estimated that 26% of the children in their reception class were having frequent toilet mishaps, rising to more than one in three (36%) in the north-east. Continue reading...

Test yourself on topical news trivia, pop culture and general knowledge every Thursday. How will you fare?Thursday comes around again, and thanks to the whimsical illustrations of Anaïs Mims, it is time to find out whether you are the shiny red apple of knowledge or the awkward little question mark worm wriggling inside and ruining it. Fifteen questions on the week’s headlines, pop culture and general knowledge await. There are no prizes, but at least you can use the comments to let us know which side of the fruit bowl you fell on. Allons-y!The Thursday news quiz, No 231 Continue reading...

This bean and pasta dish has always taken on variations from around Italy – and even ThailandThroughout the 1990s and into the early 2000s, under the banner of story, art and folklore, the Roman publishing house Newton Compton published a series of 27 books about regional Italian cooking. Some, such as Jeanne Carola Francesconi’s epic 1965 La Cucina Napoletana, were reprints of established books, while others were specially commissioned for the series. There is considerable variation; some of the 20 regions occupy 650 densely filled pages, sometimes spread over two volumes, while other regions have 236 pages with larger fonts, with everything in between. All of which is great, although I can’t help feeling affectionate towards the regions with 14-point font.In the face of the vast variation of regional culinary habits, knowledge and rituals, I also feel affectionate towards the common traditions; those that are specific to a place, but at the same time that cross local and national borders, as well as for the stories of the ingredients. Take pasta e fagioli, for which beans are boiled in water with fat, maybe fragrant herbs and vegetables, then pasta is added for a dense dish that probably needs a spoon. Almost all regions (and towns and individuals) have a version that is both extremely general, and specific – white beans, potato, no rosemary in Lazio, say; lardo, sage and plenty of rosemary in Piedmont; nutmeg, bread and pasta in Liguria; lardo, marjoram, tomato and chilli in Abruzzo – inviting a sort of pick and mix. And the embracing of new ideas, too, because cooking is a living, evolving thing. Continue reading...

This ancient Scottish tavern was a raucous, cross-generational hangout where everyone – young and old, locals and tourists – sang themselves hoarse to Fairytale of New YorkThis is said to be one of Scotland’s most haunted pubs, but for me it’s haunted with happy memories, the ghosts of hazy nights out, the spectre of my younger self, and of course the cantankerous clergyman who stalks its walls from beyond the grave. Continue reading...