Is the Saudi occupation of Bahrain a line in the sand?
Far from bringing calm to the Middle East, the Saudi occupation of Bahrain – for that is what it is – is likely to prolong instability in the region. The deployment of 1,000 troops is a clear sign of...
View ArticleHow the horrors in Japan connect with concerns closer to home
The images from Japan rattle around the head, sparking off all manner of associations. The sight of towns completely levelled inescapably evokes Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The miasma of murky debris...
View ArticleLess blood-and-snotters, more shots and passes: a few football tips
By Stuart Crawford I was never a great footballer as a younger man, but my Dad was, and he seems to have passed on his ability to my son, which goes to prove that talent can indeed skip a generation....
View ArticleAm mìnich na pàrtaidhean co iad?
Chan eil rian gur e dìreach mi fhìn a th’ ann. Tha taghaidhean Pàrlamaid na h-Alba a’ teannadh oirnn is cha mhòr gu bheil guth againn air. Ann am beagan seachdainean, bidh an strì mhòr a’ dol eadar...
View ArticleCould a duty-freeze on Scotch whisky help to stop binge-drinking?
It is one of the most infuriating yet intractable problems in Scottish politics: everyone agrees that something has to be done to tackle Scotland’s booze culture, but nothing has really ever been done....
View ArticleRobinson makes one change as Scotland aim to avoid wooden spoon
Scotland coach Andy Robinson has decided to stick with the majority of the team which lost at Twickenham for this Saturday’s wooden spoon decider with Italy at Murrayfield. He has made only one...
View ArticleCouncils and Lloyds TSB combine to offer first-time buyer help
It’s not an easy time to enter the housing market. House prices may have fallen by 1.4 per cent in January throughout the UK, but the Department for Communities and Local Government reports that, in...
View ArticleGirls just wanna have the no.1 slot – and almost all of the top ten
This is a man’s man’s man’s world. The City, executive salaries, most of the political jobs outside Rwanda. In general, those have their fair share of testosterone. Not in the charts. Across the...
View ArticleBack from Blantyre: Annie Lennox briefs MSPs on AIDS and Africa
By John Knox The Scots singer Annie Lennox has used a visit to the Scottish parliament to appeal to the men of Malawi to change their sexual ways and prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS. Lennox has...
View ArticleIslay array tidal energy project given green light by Scottish ministers
Anyone who has travelled the short distance between Islay and Jura knows how strong the pull of the Atlantic can be in this most intriguing of sounds. The little Port Askaig car ferry often has to...
View ArticleBenghazi in the balance as UN imposes a no-fly zone over Libya
Libyan dictator Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi, whose forces have been closing in on the rebel capital of Benghazi, has been further isolated by the international community after the United Nations...
View ArticleWindscale, Three Mile Island, Tokaimura – earlier nuclear incidents
A week on from the devastating earthquake, there is no shortage of Japan-related news and analysis – but a few less high-profile pieces are worth flagging up as of particular interest. The documentary...
View ArticleNewts, pelicans and wigmakers: the joys of dentistry, medieval-style
By Elizabeth McQuillan Going to the dentist is never going to be an event to get enthusiastic about. On arrival, there is the hard sell dental plan to once more politely decline. Then there is having...
View ArticleArise, Sir Kenneth Loach? Well, perhaps not, but he deserves it
Birmingham must feel left out. Liverpool is the setting of the latest movie from Ken Loach, Route Irish, which arrives in cinemas this weekend. Loach favours big British industrial cities for his...
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Cameron upbeat on Libya despite the doubts and the ghosts of Iraq
“May I congratulate the Prime Minister on his breathtaking degree of courage and leadership”… David Cameron looked positively prime ministerial as members of the Commons took turns this morning to...
View ArticleWeir’s Week: Tattoo You, The View and Maurice Edu
By Stewart Weir Saturday If at any time on your travels you come across a pile of tattoos, there is a fair chance that underneath them all you will find a sportsman hiding. Pain and the buzz of a...
View ArticleNo worries – but plenty of potholes – on a useful Highland road
Word came in a couple of weeks ago of a possible access problem on the Lairig nan Lunn road that links Glen Lochay with Glen Lyon. Talk of a new gate being put in, which might at times be locked, plus...
View ArticleIain Gray’s speech to the Scottish Labour spring conference
The address given by Iain Gray to the Scottish Labour spring conference held in Glasgow, 19 March 2011. Conference, thank you. And thank you to Fiona [O'Donnell] for that introduction. I do believe...
View ArticleScotland win at last – but what shape is the side in for the World Cup?
After Nikki Walker had done his best traffic-policeman act and waved Andrea Massi through for Italy’s first-half try at Murrayfield yesterday, a friend turned to me and suggested that the Ospreys...
View ArticleRed noses all round for the parliamentary sketch-writers
From Ronnie Reagan to The Governator to Law & Order star Fred Thompson, actors have always been able to enter stage-right to the top table of US politics. The concept of actor-turned-politician in...
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