The attacks on black academics are well-funded and relentless, writes DIANE ABBOTT, and they need to be fearlessly resisted by all concerned
Could Scotland be about to gain a new ferry service to Scandinavia?
A lighthouse in Scotland
Extreme hot weather resulting from environmental change needs to be tackled through greater firefighting investment instead of fewer jobs and less resources, writes COLIN BROWN
There are many intricate details about the new Saudi, Turkish and Pakistani alliance we do not yet know, suggests ROGER McKENZIE, but its impact could be considerable
Holyrood incompetence has cost jobs and put the future of Clydeside’s Ferguson Marine shipyard into jeopardy. Its future should have been assured, argues KENNY MACASKILL
Hot and dry conditions are threatening British species unequipped for drought, explains PAUL ASHTON
The Baltic state is set to reverse its constitutional prohibition on nuclear weapons and foreign bases as part of accelerated Nato war preparations, warns TOM UNTERRAINER
JO GRIMOND, the Liberal Party leader from 1956 to 1967, was asked to give the name of his nearest railway station on a form for parliamentary expenses — or so the story goes. Being the MP for Orkney and Shetland, he reportedly wrote “Bergen, Norway.”
Norway’s imperial control of parts of Scotland waned after the inconclusive battle of Largs in 1263, after which King Haakon retreated to Orkney — which, along with Shetland, remained under Norwegian sovereignty until 1468.
But that was not the end of the affinity felt with Scandinavia north of the border. Many Scots words still in common usage — such as bairn and midden — derive from Old Norse. And more recently Scottish crime writers and screenwriters have placed themselves in the tradition of Nordic noir rather than the English golden age of fictional murder.
Similar stories
Holyrood incompetence has cost jobs and put the future of Clydeside’s Ferguson Marine shipyard into jeopardy. Its future should have been assured, argues KENNY MACASKILL
Is the Scottish government in favour of drilling or not? Evasiveness and incoherence are the order of the day, argues KENNY MacASKILL
