drinking

A historic drought in the country has culminated in a ‘100 percent drop in precipitation’ in the Tehran region.

The main source of drinking water for residents of the Iranian capital Tehran is at risk of running dry within two weeks, according to state media, due to a historic drought plaguing the country.

The Amir Kabir Dam, one of five that provide drinking water for Tehran, “holds just 14 million cubic metres of water, which is eight percent of its capacity”, the director of the capital’s water company, Behzad Parsa, was quoted as saying by the IRNA news agency on Sunday.

At that level, it can only continue to supply Tehran with water “for two weeks”, he warned.

The announcement comes as the country experiences its worst drought in decades. The level of rainfall in Tehran province was “nearly without precedent for a century”, a local official declared last month.

The megacity of more than 10 million people is nestled against the southern slopes of the often snow-capped Alborz Mountains, which soar as high as 5,600 metres (18,370 feet) and whose rivers feed multiple reservoirs.

A year ago, the Amir Kabir dam held back 86 million cubic metres of water, Parsa said, but there had been a “100 percent drop in precipitation” in the Tehran region.

Parsa did not provide details on the status of the other reservoirs in the system.

According to Iranian media, the population of Tehran consumes around three million cubic metres of water each day.

As a water-saving measure, supplies have reportedly been cut off to several neighbourhoods in recent days, while outages were frequent this summer.

In July and August, two public holidays were declared to save water and energy, with power cuts an almost daily occurrence amid a heatwave that saw temperatures rise beyond 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in Tehran and exceed 50C (122F) in some areas.

“The water crisis is more serious than what is being discussed today,” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned at the time.

Water scarcity is a major issue throughout Iran, particularly in arid provinces in the country’s south, with shortages blamed on mismanagement and overexploitation of underground resources, as well as the growing impact of climate change.

Iran’s neighbour Iraq is experiencing its driest year on record since 1993, as the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, which flow into the Persian Gulf from West Asia, have seen their levels drop by up to 27 percent due to poor rainfall and upstream water restrictions, leading to a severe humanitarian crisis in the country’s south.

‘We can talk about culture, churches, monasteries, whatever, but the main thing here is eating and drinking.” My guide, Loreto Esteban Guijarro, is keen to ensure I have my priorities straight. I’m with Loreto to discover the food and wine culture of Spain’s Burgos province, a high-altitude area ringed by distant mountains. In summer the days are hot, and at night temperatures plummet. To thrive in these extremes, the food, the wine, and even perhaps the people, are robust and straight-talking.

I’m staying deep in wine country at the rural Posada de Pradoray, built as a hunting lodge for the Duke of Lerma in 1601. The thick stone walls, dark polished wood and heavy doors leading to simple rooms with vineyard views suggest little has changed in this landscape for centuries. Burgos is part of the Ribera del Duero wine region which stretches for 71 miles following the Duero River through the provinces of Burgos, Segovia, Soria and Valladolid.

Since the appellation was recognised in 1982 the region has seen huge changes, with the number of wineries increasing from nine to more than 300. Now, there’s a wine route to help explore villages, wineries, restaurants and visitor experiences across the region, with plenty of sampling. My hotel is just outside Aranda de Duero, the main town in the region (population 33,000), 62 miles east of Valladolid and 102 miles north of Madrid. From here I’m following the river on day trips to get a taste of what’s on offer.

Bodegas Portia is built on the edge of the tiny town of Gumiel de Izán, eight miles (13km) north of Aranda. Designed by Norman Foster, it’s one of the new wave of wineries in the region, with a futuristic trefoil shape, like a spaceship that’s landed in these sun-scorched fields. It’s built partly underground to meld into the landscape but also in recognition of the area’s unique winemaking traditions.

Later, I meet the mayor of Gumiel de Izán, Jesús Briones, at his home – a tour with Loreto opens many doors, she knows everyone. “You’ve seen the wine cathedral [as local people refer to Portia], now see the caves,” he says. Jesús invites us into his garage from which, between tins of paint and boxes of faded Christmas decorations, stone steps twist underground. A single bulb illuminates a rough hewn cave full of barrels, dating back hundreds of years. Traditionally, wine in this region was made and stored in deep, hand-dug caves where the temperatures are stable.

Jesús’s basement isn’t unusual: underneath these streets is a warren of caves, some used, some forgotten. Down here glasses are eschewed in favour of a porrón, a glass jug with a long, narrow spout designed for sharing wine. To drink from it is a leap of faith, pouring wine above your mouth, avoiding speckling your face and clothes with crimson Tempranillo and without the porrón touching your lips. I manage it (mostly).

Gumiel de Izán has seen a recent uptick in visitors thanks to a National Geographic article that noted visual similarities between the baroque facade of the town’s Iglesia de Santa Maria, and “the treasury” rock-cut tomb in Petra, Jordan. Gazing up at the intricate sandstone carvings from the village square, I’d say here’s definitely a resemblance, and it’s helped to put the town on the map. “Anything that brings visitors,” says Jesús. “We need reasons for young people to stay.”

At Nabal winery a few miles along the road I meet one young person who’s done just that: Luz Briones studied translation but became fascinated by wine in her early 20s. She leads us through vineyards ranging from 30 years old to more than a century. “We believe in the power of time,” Luz says. “Time in vineyards, time in barrels, time in bottles.” Grapes have to work hard here, developing thick skins to cope with temperature fluctuations and creating rich, tannic wines. In the storeroom, Benedictine chanting is played to the maturing barrels, an acknowledgment of centuries of wine-making by monks. Luz says security guards report lights and music turning on when the building is empty and shows us a large stain that has appeared on the wall resembling, if you squint, a monk drinking wine. The angels’ share perhaps?

We travel downstream, the Duero snaking just out of sight, its presence marked by rippling valleys covered in vines, all benefiting from the river’s proximity. Early in the year the land looks barren, with spiky bare vines and cracked red earth, but in summer fields of lavender and sunflowers create a colourful patchwork with the green of the grapes. In the village of Moradillo de Roa, south of Aranda, we meet Paola González Ortiz carrying a porrón. She’s part of a young team offering tours of a tiny winery museum, demonstrating the heavy labour and huge weights once needed to crush grapes. The village is famed for its grassy hillocks full of wine cellar entrances, often compared to Tolkien’s The Shire. Ducking low, I follow Paola down winding steps into the hillside (being Hobbit height would help). As we share wine from the porrón, a little light filtering through the air vents, Paola says she hopes increased tourism, whether for food and wine or scenic lookalikes, will help create more year-round jobs here. Moradillo de Roa has 157 wine cellars, and a population of 162. To attract young people, the village has started hosting porrón singles nights in the town square.

I end my tour back in Aranda, with a final wine cellar, this one beneath Don Carlos wine shop. Through a dynamic tasting, Cristina López Nuñez tells stories of wine and winemakers, and why the region needs both traditions and youthful innovation. “It’s like wine. Younger grapes have more energy but fewer stories like children,” she says. “The older grapes have less energy but much better stories, like older people. The old vines with deep roots give complexity, the younger vines with shallow roots are juicy. We need both.”

When I emerge back above ground, the sleepy town has transformed. Before I saw only old men sipping coffee and smoking at wine-barrel tables, and a gaggle of children chasing a football past the imposing gothic churches. At dusk, everything changes as the bars switch from coffee to wine. “We never entertain at home,” says Loreto. “Why would we?”

At El Lagar de Isilla, the bar fills with people of all ages in office attire, hi-vis jackets, or dressed for a night out. We feast on bechamel-topped salt cod, gildas with fat olives and anchovies, and octopus cooked with potatoes and sweet paprika. The wine is cheap and delicious, straight from the restaurant’s own vineyard, and the atmosphere is lively. Loreto is satisfied: “I told you, it’s about eating and drinking – and who you share it with.” I can drink to that.

The trip was provided by the Ribera del Duero Wine Route. Double rooms at La Posada de Pradoray from €80 B&B, including wine on arrival

Milo Boyd from the Mirror’s travel desk headed down to Brixham in Torbay, Devon to check out the town’s pub, restaurant, fishing and music scene over a long October weekend

Milo Boyd is a Digital Travel reporter who covers aviation news, the environment, the cruise industry and much else including travel tips, bargain holiday suggestions and inspirational global trips.

Brixham is a small town on the Devon coast that may be the perfect place to go on holiday.

That’s because it is not your typical UK seaside destination. It is a whole lot more interesting, prettier and unexpected than that.

Historians will tell you that William of Orange first put Brixham on the map when he landed his army there in 1688, before marching off to London to claim the throne and mark the Glorious Revolution as a “big success”.

A short 111 years later, Parliament approved the construction of its fish market, which grew to be the biggest in England. Back then, 270 sail-operated decked trawlers and 1,600 seamen battled the elements to land thousands of tonnes of fish, which steam trains chugged up the railways to the Capital.

Today, a post-Covid online auction system means buyers across the world order some of the £25 million of catch landed annually at England’s most valuable fish market.

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But for me, and I suspect most holidaymakers who visit Brixham, it isn’t the royal connection or fishing that make the town an excellent place to visit. It’s Brixham’s beauty, and how much locals love to party.

On the beauty front, the good looks of Brixham are undeniable. My wife and I stayed in the Petite Maison apartments above the quayside, meaning we awoke each morning to the bucolic scene of fishing boats bobbing on water lit up by the rising sun like a rainbow oil slick.

Brixham climbs up 100m on both of the quay, with rows of cottages perched on the hillside. Traditionally, these were painted different colours so sailors could find their way home on poor visibility days at sea (or so a cabby told us). In recent years, the Light Up Brixham community group has encouraged homeowners to turn their properties pastel. The effect is an exceptionally pretty place that looks more than a little like Balamory.

While most will visit during the summer when Brixham’s quayside chippies, rock shops and arcades are fully staffed and bustling, a winter stay is an intriguing option.

Thanks to Light Up Brixham, the town is bejewelled in Christmas lights throughout the festive season, turning it into a blinking beacon of fairy lights and waving Santas that returning fishermen would struggle to miss even on the stormiest of nights.

In November, the town gathers to remember those who have died on the waves, paying their respects to the sound of Abide With Me, which was written by local Reverend Henry Francis Lyte weeks before his death.

“One of the most moving moments of the year for me is Remembrance Sunday when the town band plays Abide With Me and it coincides with the lifeboat going out to sea to lay a wreath for the merchant navy seamen lost at sea,” explains local Paul Jolly on the Brixham Today podcast.

Trips to Brixham have changed quite a lot in recent years. The town was home to three holiday parks, including a Pontins, which closed in 2014 and was subsequently destroyed by an arson attack. Today, long caravanning breaks have been swapped for weekend stays in Airbnbs and guest houses.

But that doesn’t mean that the lively heart of Brixham won’t be opened to you. Community is found in plentiful supply in the town’s pubs, which are some of the booziest and most raucous I’ve visited in a long time.

On Friday night, local funk duo The Schofields brought The Bullers alive, coaxing punters into makeshift Cossack dancing with a slap-bass version of Rasputin. A day later, guitarist Oli Syrett inspired those in the Golden Anchor to provide backing vocals to AC/DC’s Thunderstruck. After he finished off the set with an acoustic cover of Insomnia, we headed to Liberty – a cocktail bar where they’ll emboss a picture of your wife’s face onto her drink for just £1.50.

The merrymaking continued in less obvious spots. To coincide with the Tory Party Conference in Manchester, my wife and I decided to break the habit of a lifetime when in Rome and visit the Brixham Conservative Club.

There, the 80- and 90-year-old players of Odds and Ends brass band delivered a mix of 60s and 70s classics as punters necked £3.50 pints and disco lights swirled.

Our trip into the foreign political lands came to a sudden end when two friendly men from Herefordshire sandwiched us on the banquette, asked if we were “young Tories” and then explained why Keir Starmer was “rotten to the core”.

My wife and I escaped for dinner at the charming Olive on the seafront. The small plates restaurant has a lively atmosphere, a very extensive wine list, and perhaps the best fried halloumi I’ve ever had.

The next morning we shook off our hangovers and headed out to sea at 6.50 am aboard the Dolphin Explorer, for a fry-up and some porpoise spotting – all for £12.50. We’d been invited along by a charming local we met during an incredibly boozy bar and restaurant crawl in Torquay the day before.

“It’s my birthday in two weeks,” she explained while filling up four glasses with fizz as the sun rose above the horizon. “What people need to know about Brixham is it’s a drinking town with a fishing problem.”

Charlie Sheen wants to free himself from feeling like he’s being held hostage by his private life.

To shed that sensation, the “Wall Street” star decided to talk about his sexual past in his memoir, “The Book of Sheen,” which comes out Tuesday.

People from his past “had video things or whatever and had stuff over me,” the actor told Michael Strahan on “Good Morning America.” “So I was kind of held hostage, you know, and that’s just a bad feeling.”

Sheen talked Friday on the morning show about how his drug addiction led him to have sex with men — he called it “the other side of the menu” — and how he was forced to pay people to keep those sexual encounters out of the public eye.

Cherlie Sheen on his sexual encounters with men and feeling hostage by his private life.

He also hit on less salacious revelations like the connection between his stutter and his drinking. In the book, Sheen writes about masking his inability to pronounce certain words and sounds with drinking alcohol. “Drinking soften the edges,” he told Strahan. “It gave me freedom of speech.”

After joining the ABC show “Spin City” in 2000 and reading the script, he said, Sheen stopped hiding his speech impediment and asked for help.

“When in doubt, just be human enough to be vulnerable,” he told “GMA.”

Sheen also reveals in the book that some folks wanted to expose his HIV-positive diagnosis before he went public with it in 2015, according to People. Sheen said on “GMA” that finally revealing his diagnosis was a “tremendous relief.”

The “Two and a Half Men” actor — whose paycheck for the sitcom was estimated at as much as $2 million per episode — infamously landed in rehab in 2010 after threatening his ex-wife Brooke Mueller with a knife, trashed his room at the Plaza Hotel in New York and in 2011 was fired from his CBS sitcom amid a meltdown of epic proportions.

During the “GMA” interview, Strahan asked the actor if he had any regrets.

“I do,” Sheen said, “but there’s no value in them.”

A documentary about the actor’s life, “aka Charlie Sheen,” will premiere Wednesday on Netflix. Sheen, who has been sober for eight years, told People he decided to be vulnerable about his past because he wants to own his truth and his stories.

“The stories I can remember anyway,” he said.

Visitors to the town of Portofino, on the Italian Riviera, will have to abide by new local ordnance that prohobits several common activities enjoyed by holidaymaking Brits

A sun-drenched holiday hotspot could fine rulebreaking Brits more than £400 after it introduced sweeping bans restricting a slew of typical summer activities.

Italian officials in Portofino, a stunning coastal town on the country’s Riviera in Liguria typically swimming with thousands of tourists at a time, have introduced bans after growing weary of the massive activity. From today, new ordinance will prevent the up to 100,000 people who travel there a year from walking barefoot, enjoying picnics, and drinking booze on the community’s streets.

The ordnance, which has been introduced to protect the “peace and quiet of residents and tourists”, also introduces a series of other bans.

READ MORE: Brits abroad warned to brace for more summer holiday protests from anti-tourists

Signed by Mayor Matteo Viacava, it prevents people from walking through the town barefoot, topless, or while wearing nothing more than swimwear.

Per the rules, alcohol can only be consumed in restaurants, bars and designated areas, with begging and lying on the streets, walls, sidewalks and in local parks also banned. The new rules come into effect immediately, and will last throughout the summer season, when thousands of Brits will be mingling with the roughly 400 locals during a picturesque summer break.

Those who break the rules will risk a potential hefty fine, with penalties ranging from as low as £22 to up to £433 as Italian officials try to discourage unruly tourists.

Portofino has jostled with problem visitors for years, with the increasingly popular town having hit headlines years ago for similar restrictive measures. In 2023, officials banned tourists from visiting several local vantage points, officially citing concerns over local pedestrian footfall.

The earlier crackdown led to the creation of “no-waiting zones” in which tourists were prevented from pausing at locations – usually the most popular ones – deemed especially crowded or prone to bottlenecking.

Much like the latest raft of bans, rule flouters were threatened with hefty – although less pricey – fines. Anyone caught on the wrong side of the ordnance was ordered to pay up €275 (£242), with town administrators stressing at the time that, again like the latest rules, they were meant to protect the local quality of life.

Mayor Viacava told news outlet Leggo the rules were placed after select areas of the Portofino borough became so crowded that police were called in to “control pedestrians”.

He said: “The ordinance prohibits gatherings in certain areas of the borough where getting around is so difficult that police must be called in to control pedestrians. This is a common sense safety measure.” He added in a statement to Il Secolo XIX.: “Our goal is not to drive tourists away or discourage them from visiting.

“Everyone must do their part to contribute to the beauty of Portofino by behaving properly.”