by Kirstyn Smith Last year, the AQA was moved to withdraw her poem Education for Leisure from the GCSE English exam, due to its supposed insinuations of knife crime. Her unashamed relationship with fellow writer Jackie Kay was allegedly considered by Tony Blair to be too unconventional for Middle England. An emotional and forthright poet, Carol [...]
by Rory Reynolds Over the last seven weeks at the High Court in Edinburgh, a jury has heard the prosecution case against eight men aged between 23 and 46 who face a range of 44 charges relating to child pornography and sex abuse. Neil Strachan, 41, from Edinburgh, James Rennie, 38, from Edinburgh, Ross Webber, 27, from [...]
By Domenica Goduto The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) has expressed concerns over multiple safety lapses at a naval base near Faslane which resulted in radioactive coolant leaking into the Firth of Clyde on three occasions. The environmental watchdog is concerned over the breaches of procedure at HM Naval Base Clyde that resulted in the [...]
By Elizabeth Gorrie Health officials say Britain is well placed to cope with the outbreak of the deadly swine flu. More than 100 people have died in Mexico. It has also spread to America and Canada, whjle there are suspected cases in Europe. New Zealand, Isreal and Brazil. Two people in Scotland will find out [...]
By Elizabeth Gorrie Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced a new strategy today to deal with terrorism, as he warned of a “chain of terror” breaking out in the mountainous region of Afghanistan and linking to capital cities worldwide. Brown called for British provinces to be handed over to the Afghanistan Government as happened in Iraq. He also wants to expand the [...]
By Sarah Mackinnon The Whisky industry is bucking the trend of the recession by focussing on the younger drinker and is in turn challenging traditional views of the market. Listen Here:
by Steven A Kearney 2009 is being hailed as the year Edinburgh gets a live music scene to match its capital status and it is old fashioned song writing techniques which are behind the revival. For years Scotland’s capital has played second fiddle to the Glasgow music scene, but in recent times it seems that bands [...]
by Steven A Kearney Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre has announced the staging of a pioneering urban show which will feature the world’s top breakdancers. Breakin’ Convention will feature “the world’s hottest poppers, lockers, b-boys and b-girls” all showing off their moves in a highly competitive international hip hop dance competition set for the 18th and 19th [...]
By Sarah Mackinnon A robust band of campaigners are fighting to have their own vision for the huge gap site left by the the now defunct Caltongate development realised. The £300 million Caltongate project involved the regeneration of a large Old Town site, with a five-star hotel, office blocks, 200 homes, bars, restaurants and cafés planned. [...]
By Phyllis Stephen Justice Ngema pleaded guilty to 14 charges, including abduction and robbery, when he appeared at Linlithgow Sheriff Court. He was remanded back into custody to be sentenced in July. Detective Inspector Alan Sommerville, who led the investigation, said: “Justice Ngema is a manipulative individual motivated by his own greed, and it is [...]
by Domenica Goduto and Kirstyn Smith What is swine flu?Swine flu is a respiratory disease which infects pigs, a new strain of the H1N1 influenza virus which is also derived in part by the human influenza virus Type A. Most outbreaks occur in late autumn and winter on farms, killing between 1% and 4% of animals it [...]
By Domenica Goduto The Scottish National Party has refused offers of financial advice from the Treasury, despite concerns about the Scottish Government‘s ability to make appropriate spending cuts in the face of the recession. Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy claims that the SNP Administration is “the least efficient of all four UK governments.” He offered First [...]
By Laura McLean The British farming industry faces huge losses as thousands of bee-hives are stolen around the country. A number of recent break-ins has caused farmers across the UK to fear there may be an apian black market in operation. The value of the common Honeybee has risen dramatically in the last year following a reduction in [...]
Car Club street sign in Edinburgh city centre By Elizabeth Gorrie Membership of pay-as-you-go car rental service City Car Club has rocketed as Edinburgh drivers look for alternatives to private car ownership. The Edinburgh based club, which also operates in seven cities across the UK, has ”hundreds” of cars parked across the capital which can be booked for as [...]
By Jodi Mullen Governments and health officials around the world are battling to contain the spread of a new strain of swine flu, amidst fears that the virus could become a global pandemic. More than 1,600 cases of the illness have been reported in Mexico, where the first outbreaks of the virus occurred, [...]
by Kirstyn Smith Harry Hill won Best Entertainment Performance for the second year running at last night’s Bafta awards. His show, Harry Hill’s TV Burp, which takes a light-hearted look at the week’s television, beat off competition from popular rivals Stephen Fry (QI), Ant and Dec (Saturday Night Takeaway) and the ever-controversial Jonathan Ross (Friday Night with [...]
By Phylis Stephen Mark Porteous Funeral Directors are demanding a plan of action regarding grave toppling in Edinburgh’s graveyards. Despite acknowledging that this is a health and safety issue the funeral directors have accused this as being “disrespectful” adding: “more kids have fallen off a school roof than been crushed by a headstone”. [...]
By Vikki Graves The Equality Bill receives its first reading in Parliament today. The Bill will impose legislation forcing companies which employ over 250 workers to declare average hourly rates of pay for men and women and the government will be able to take legal action if these declarations do not take place. Equalities minister [...]
By Phyllis Stephen It is always fascinating to find out how the really rich have made their money. Even now, as we rail against the rich bankers who have retained their wealth even in disgrace, we are still captivated by the list prepared each year by the Sunday Times. The collective wealth of the top [...]
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