44 minutes ago School strikes in John Swinney's constituency start today amid payment dispute

The strikes targeting Perth and Kinross over the next fortnight come after Unison members in non-teaching roles rejected a pay deal#.

Events

83 minutes ago Dumfries and Galloway councillor feels leisure review should include full disclosure checks for groups

North West Dumfries Councillor Paula Stevenson wants the council to ensure clubs have the correct disclosures in place when they're using council facilities

Politics

96 minutes ago The Browns’ sad and seedy Deshaun Watson era nears its predictable endpoint

The QB’s injury confirmed what most of us already knew: the Browns decision to give him $230m was the worst in NFL historyCleveland’s fanbase came into Sunday’s home Browns-Bengals showdown steeped in feelings. Some of them greeted their own quarterback, Deshaun Watson, with deafening boos as he ran on to the field. If there was any doubt about how many fans feels about Watson, the same crowd showered running back Nick Chubb with cheers at an even higher decibel as he made his return from a lengthy injury layoff.Watson looks like he is headed for a lengthy period on the sidelines himself: in the second quarter, he went down with what the Browns fear is a torn achilles. Probably out for the season. Possibly the end of Watson’s career – the quarterback’s play has declined and achilles inj...

Politics

2 hours ago The tears flowed as the Queen stood alone at the remains of the school in Aberfan where 116 children died

October 21, 1966, started out as any other normal day for me. I was working for the BBC in Cardiff and I was in the studios in Stacey Road just after 9 o'clock. I was the only one present.

Politics

2 hours ago As a recent migrant to Germany I say this: the border clampdown is an insult to the values championed here | Bonita Dordel

Even as I am taught about the German credo of tolerance and compassion, the government is betraying it to pander to the far rightI live in a small, quaint old town in north-west Germany, and every day I attend four hours of German and integration lessons. I attend because I am an immigrant: I am South African, and moved to Germany three months ago, along with my German husband and our children. These classes, which will take 700 hours to complete, are a requirement of my staying here for more than a year.The course takes place at the local Volkshochschule (VHS – “the people’s high school”), a network of about 900 public adult education centres that offers a wide range of courses, including languages and vocational training. The schools are deeply rooted in Germany’s commitment to lifelo...

Events

2 hours ago Billi Mucklow 'supporting' fellow WAG Annie Kilner amid Kyle divorce: 'She knows how it feels'

EXCLUSIVE: As Annie Kilner files for divorce from Kyle Walker, a source tells OK! the WAG is being supported by Billi Mucklow as they bond over their shared relationship woes

Politics

3 hours ago The 'domino effect' of Labour VAT charge feared for Scottish private schools, house prices and catchment zones

Schools in Scotland already said to be ‘experiencing a reduction in their rolls’

Economics

3 hours ago Scottish private school heads warn VAT timetable creating 'unreasonable challenge'

January implementation date of Labour policy has ‘surprised’ many schools

Events

3 hours ago Why can’t politics in the UK or US get to grips with Taylor Swift? Because she is a force in her own right | Gaby Hinsliff

On each side of the Atlantic, so much rests on what she says, positions she takes and who meets her approval. She is where pop meets politics nowWhen people say that music can change the world, they don’t usually mean songs that capture with bright, sharp intimacy how girls feel.They mean protest songs, political songs, anthems against the Vietnam war; not the soundtracks to aching teenage summers or to eight-year-olds’ dance routines in the playground. They don’t, in short, mean Taylor Swift songs. But that was what Malala Yousafzai, the Nobel peace prize-winning campaigner for women’s right to an education, used to sing with her friends growing up in Pakistan. Music, she posted on Instagram, after attending one of Swift’s London gigs this summer, “made me and my friends feel confident...

Politics