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Peter Pan brings Christmas cheer to Sick Kids

December 20, 2011 By edinburghnapiernews Leave a Comment

Edinburgh’s sick children got a dose of Christmas cheer yesterday when 100 free copies of children’s classic, Peter and Wendy, were delivered to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children.The much loved tale about the boy who never grew up celebrates its publishing centenary this year.And to mark the milestone MSc Publishing students from Edinburgh Napier University have produced a new edition of J.M. Barrie’s magical tale.

The book has been published with the permission of Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital, who Barrie gave his Peter Pan works copyright to in 1929.

Avril Gray, Programme Leader for Postgraduate Publishing at Edinburgh Napier University, said: “The new book will be delivered to children’s hospitals across the UK to bring the magic of Peter Pan to children at a time when they often feel sad or afraid.

“It’s a beautiful edition of a well-loved children’s classic and this donation of 100 copies is a very fitting finale to the celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of Peter and Wendy first being published.”

Janice MacKenzie, Chief Nurse, Royal Hospital for Sick Children said: “We are delighted to be the first hospital to benefit from this lovely gift.

“The excitement of Peter and Wendy, pirates and fairies is sure to produce smiles across the hospital, particularly at this time of year when being in hospital is even harder to bear.”

The centenary edition of Peter and Wendy has been published by Merchiston Publishing – the imprint of the Scottish Centre for the Book based at Edinburgh Napier University.

The University now offers two masters in publishing – MSc Magazine Publishing and MSc Publishing. This year MSc Publishing became the first and only publishing course in the UK to be accredited by the Periodicals Training Council.

English football’s losing European dominance- subbed

November 29, 2011 By markmckinlay Leave a Comment

Leading The New Age Photo: courtesy of FC Barcelona

The reign of terror is over. After years of dominating the later stages of the Champions League it appears that the Premier League stranglehold over the competition is coming to an end.

With Manchester City unlikely to progress and struggling Chelsea now facing a daunting final game against Valencia, there is a real possibility that only two English clubs will stumble through to the knockout stages of Europe’s premier club competition. Such an unlikely event has not occurred since the competition’s later stages were reorganised in 2002.

So what has gone wrong? The Premiership is constantly heralded (by Sky) as the greatest league in the world, showcasing the best players, managers and matches.

And it appears the league has become complacent in it’s own hype.

The traditional European powerhouses of Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United have all seen their squads decline in recent years. Cesc Fabregas and Cristiano Ronaldo are two of the most notable casualties of this talent exodus, both preferring to ply their trade in the warmer and less frenetic climate of Spain. Debutants Man City have failed to transfer their historic league form to Europe, with their array of superstars struggling to gain traction against seasoned European campaigners. Arsenal and Man United have both replenished their line-ups with youngsters, who are inexperienced and often ill prepared for the challenges continental teams possess. Chelsea face the opposite problem, with the spine of their team creaking from years of exertion and firmly past their Mourinho prime.

The very nature of the Premiership itself has contributed to the problem. League campaigns have descended into wars of attrition, with the physicality of constant domestic battles sapping both strength and desire for foreign adventures. Key players are often rested in midweek group-stage games, with Chelsea and Man United’s patchy form testament to the dangers of such a strategy.

This brutality has also inhabited their style of play (perhaps excluding Arsene Wenger’s expansive philosophy) with results taking precedence over skill. Thus, when facing the patience of a Spanish attack or the rigour of an Italian defence, English teams are increasingly finding themselves unable to adapt and overcome as they once did.

The story of football is one of rise and fall. Whilst the Premiership hardly resembles the last days of Constantine’s Rome it does need to reassess its strength. Spain, the reigning World and European champions, now possess the world’s finest league and in Real Madrid and Barcelona contain the red-hot favourites for the Champions League. The English have learnt the hard lesson that it’s easier to get to the top in football than stay there.

Filed Under: Headlines, Sports

Edinburgh first to back global Occupy movement

November 24, 2011 By Alexandra

Edinburgh Council has become the first political body to officially back to worldwide Occupy movement.

The council this afternoon voted in an overwhelming majority to redirect economic decisions to be more focussed on the needs of the 99% in an attempt to reduce the “inequitable gap” between the rich and poor.

The SNP, Liberal Democrats, Labour and the Greens, all voted in favour of the motion, with the Conservatives the only party to reject it.

During the debate, Councillor Chapman of the Scottish Green Group said: “Next week workers will go on strike to protect pensions whilst the 1% continue their parasitic feasting on the commonwealth.”

Labour Councillor Gordon Munro, who is an advocate of the Robin Hood Tax, added: “Occupy Edinburgh is a civilised response to the irresponsible actions of global bankers.”

Conservatives voiced concern over the safety of the Edinburgh camp based at St Andrew’s Square, citing anti-social behaviour and a risk to public safety. They also felt that a vote to back the movement would suggest that Edinburgh was closed to the needs of businesses.

Councillor Chapman responded: “This is not about saying Edinburgh is closed to business. It’s about representing the interests of the people.”

Background to the Occupy Movement

St Andrew’s Square has seen an influx of approximately 300 protestors since October 15 calling themselves Occupy Edinburgh. The demonstration, inspired by the Occupy Wall Street protests in America, has seen campaigners rally against the influence of the ‘one per cent’ of wealthy individuals and companies over the ’99 per cent’ of the general public. Their mantra, ‘We are people over profit’, reflects their protests against cuts to education, disability benefits and the NHS. Dozens of students, working mothers, trade unionists and other campaigning groups have set up camp and made a call for social equality and corporate responsibility.

The non-violent protests in Edinburgh are among a small minority of the demonstrations which have gone smoothly with little disruption.

Filed Under: All Politics, Headlines Tagged With: 1%, 99%, council, Councillor Chapman, councillors, Edinburgh, Edinburgh Council, Gordon Munro, green, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Occupy, Occupy Edinburgh, Occupy Movement, Occupy Wall Street, rich and poor, Robin Hood Tax, Scottish Green Group, SNP, St Andrew's Square

Council scraps environmental privatisation plans

November 24, 2011 By Alexandra Leave a Comment

The council has scrapped plans to outsource its environmental services to private firm Enterprise.

The move means that services such as bin collection, recycling and responsibility for public spaces including parks will remain with the council.

The decision came this afternoon after SNP councillors won a majority vote against their Liberal Democrat coalition partners who were in favour of privatisation. The SNPs were backed by both Labour and the Green Party, while the Conservatives supported the Liberal Democrats.

However, not all Liberal Democrat councillors were in favour of outsourcing. Councillor Gary Peacock was applauded by the public gallery for voting against privatisation, saying: “I believe that waste and parks should remain in the public sector”, but added that it wasn’t a decision he took lightly.

Today’s vote is seen as significant in keeping other council services out of the public sector.

During today’s debate, Councillor Burgess of the Green Party said: “The Liberal Democrat motion, if approved, would see a large proportion of council services handed over to the private sector.”

The privatisation plans alone have cost the council £3.6million over the last two years, but the council’s director of Services for Communities, Mark Turley – who last year was paid £120,513 – said that a positive vote could have saved the city £27 million at a time that serious cuts are having to be made.

Councillor Mowat of the Conservatives warned councillors before the vote: “If you vote against Enterprise, you can go and justify it to the people who lose their jobs next year.”

There are now unconfirmed reports that the vote may lead to a collapse in the Lib Dem/SNP coalition.

More background on today’s decision is available here.

Filed Under: All Politics, Headlines Tagged With: bin collection, bins, Coalition, conservatives, council, Councillor Burgess, Councillor Mowat, councillors, Edinburgh, Enterprise, Gary Peacock, Green Party, Labour, Lib Dems, liberal democrat, Mark Turley, parks, privatisation, public spaces, Recycling, SNP

New future ahead for Spain after the General Election Day?

November 24, 2011 By Natalia R.D. 1 Comment

by Natalia Rodríguez Domínguez

Mariano Rajoy, new president of Spanish Goverment

Will Spanish General Election results mark the beginning of a new era for the country to get over its worst-ever economic crisis?

This year’s elections have been dominated by Spain’s deepest debt crisis. In his victory speech, Mariano Rajoy, new President of the Spanish Government stated: “There won’t be any miracles. We never promised any”. However, despite the seriousness of the current situation, he also expressed his optimism: “As we have said before, when things are done properly, the results come in.”

Rajoy has encouraged all Spanish citizens to join together and act as a whole nation in order to fight against the crisis and try to restore Spain’s financial health. His advice is to work as a unit and try to gain back respect in Europe.

Last Sunday, 20th November, Spain’s Conservative Popular Party won overwhelming victory over the then-ruling Socialist Party, which suffered its worst defeat since the start of Spanish Democracy. The Popular Party won about 45% of the votes (10,830,693) while the Socialists received only 29% (6,973,880).

The landslide victory of opposition leader Mariano Rajoy meant that his Popular Party won 186 seats in parliament, compared with the 154 they had in the last administration. As far as the Socialists are concerned, their party dropped from 169 to 110 – their worst performance in parliament since records began. The Socialist Party, which has governed in Spain since 2004, had no choice but to concede to a crushing defeat.

As the final report for the count of votes was revealed, many citizens have expressed their indignation against the method traditionally used for allocating the lower house seats in Spain.

The D’Hondt method is party-list system based on proportional representation, it was first conceived by the Belgian mathematician Victor D’Hondt, in 1878. This system slightly favours large parties and coalitions over small parties regardless of the number of votes. This means that parties with the highest number of votes do not necessarily get the most seats.

In the case of Spain’s latest General Elections, the use of this method has meant that UPyD Centre Party only won 5 seats at the Parliament despite having received 1,140,242 votes. Whilst other parties with less votes have been allocated a higher number of seats; AMAIUR Party was voted by 333,628 people, but thanks to the D’Hondt Method, they won 7 seats (2 over UPyD).

The voting system has come under scrutiny from the Spanish public with critics claiming the old system is undemocratic. Pressure is mounting to adopt a new method, which gives a fairer representation of seats, based on the number of votes cast.

Filed Under: All Politics, Headlines Tagged With: D'Hondt Method, Mariano Rajoy, Popular Party, Socialist Party, Spain General Elections, Spanish Government, Union Progress and Democracy, UPyD Centre Party, Victor D'Hondt

Court hears phone abuse evidence in murder case

November 24, 2011 By stuffinedinburgh Leave a Comment

A millionaire made infuriated threats in an enraged phone call to his brother, Toby, hours before Toby was killed, the high court heard.

Later that day, Toby Siddique, 38, was murdered in his flat on Forres Drive in Glenrothes on October 25 2010. His brother, Mo Siddiq, 34, was charged with murder and conspiracy to murder last year. The accused, Mo Siddique, was arrested under suspicion of hiring assassins. Two Bulgarian men, Tencho Andonov, 28, and Nikolov, 27, were accused of carrying out the murder.

The third brother Aleem Siddique, 40, gave evidence this week. Yesterday he told the high court that his brother had made a phone call to him after a dispute about a BMW. Mo said, “I’ll hit him.”

Advocate depute John Scullion, prosecuting, then read out his statement from October 2010 recounting the same phone call. “He’s not my brother blah, blah, blah, I’ll kill him.”

Much discussion followed on the similarity of the words “hit” and “kill” in Punjabi. At one point the judge stepped in, telling Siddique that he was right to object to the prosecution’s ‘confusing’ questions.

He said, “It’s a bit of a coincidence that the police have noted down the translation of the similar word in Punjabi that is the word for kill?”

Mr Scullion said, “I’m asking you about how the words came to be on that page. Is it your evidence on oath that the police who noted this statement simply made up these words?”

Aleem said, “I’m not saying the police officer lied but I did not say those words. Whatever happened on the 26th, the mistake is the police officer’s, the mistake is not mine.”

Derek Ogg QC, defence for, then asked “Do you feel in a difficult position coming to court with one brother murdered and one accused?”

In tears, Mr Siddique replied, “I just want justice, that’s all that matters”.

He agreed with Mr Ogg that “you would not tell lies for Mo but wont tell lies against him either”.

The examination went on to reveal that it seemed the accused had been sleeping on the night of the murder, when the witness woke him up. He said he had to repeat the news a couple of times to Mo who “didn’t register”.

The court heard that Mo was “in shock” and crying when both brothers visited their widowed sister-in-law’s house immediately to pay their respects.

Ogg then focussed on inheritance motives. “Did Toby’s wife say things to you about her suspicions that each brother had a will that would inherit the other brother if they died? She told me Mo would get everything.

“You asked Mo if he stood to gain. At Toby’s house you had been constantly told gossip by… I need you to say the words.”

Aleem Siddique said, “His wife and mother.”

The trial continues.

Filed Under: Courts and Crime, Headlines Tagged With: Courts, Crime, Glenrothes, High Court, kirkaldy, Mohammed Siddique