31 h. ago Readers’ letters: The SNP are the biggest obstacle to a second Indyref

The SNP has proved it is not capable of effective government, a reader argues

Politics

3 d. ago Readers' Letters: Greens south of the Border are the future of UK politics

The rising force in UK politics isn’t Reform, says reader

Politics

4 d. ago Readers' Letters: Edinburgh City Council could solved Swinney's cash problems

A reader has advice for John Swinney as he stares into a financial black hole

Politics

4 d. ago Readers' Letters: Edinburgh City Council could solve Swinney's cash problems

A reader has advice for John Swinney as he stares into a financial black hole

Politics

5 d. ago Readers' Letters: Leadership poll shows members' lack of faith in Greens 'cabal'

New leadership won’t make Scottish Greens more popular, reckons reader

Politics

6 d. ago Readers' Letters: As Scotland cries out for government, SNP wants to talk Gaza at Holyrood

MSPs have no business spending parliamentary time on Gaza, says reader

Politics

8 d. ago Readers’ letters: If we remain silent about Gaza we are complicit in cruelty

History will remember the people who turned their backs on starving children, a reader says

Politics

9 d. ago Readers' Letters: MSP should show his faith in Reform by standing for re

Defected MSP Graham Simpson should put his money where his mouth is, says reader

Politics

1 week ago Readers' Letters: It's no surprise immigration is voters' priority

Politicians don’t understand concerns of regular people, says reader

Politics

1 week ago Readers' Letter: Single sex policy for toilets isn't a simple thing

Getting the balance right when it comes to toilet provision is a headache for architects, says reader

Events

1 week ago Australia stack up runs and salvage pride with huge win over South Africa

3rd ODI: Australia, 2-431, bt South Africa, 155, by 276 runsTravis Head hits 142, one of three home centurionsTravis Head, Mitchell Marsh and Cameron Green smashed blistering hundreds as Australia steamrollered South Africa by 276 runs in the third and final one-day international of the series in Mackay.South Africa had already clinched the series, leaving the 50-over world champions to play for pride in the last match. Australia’s opening pair set the tone with a 250-run partnership between player-of-the-match Head (142) and Marsh (100), before an incendiary unbeaten 118 from Green powered Australia to a mammoth 2-431. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago The Guardian view on Africa and maps: drawn true, its scale and promise can’t be ignored | Editorial

The push for fairer cartography rejects colonial shrinkage of a huge continent by the Mercator projection. This is not pedantry. It’s politicsThe African Union wants to replace the world’s most popular map with one that more accurately represents the continent’s size. This demand may seem better suited to geography departments than heads of government. Yet in politics, symbols matter. And the Mercator projection, devised in the 16th century to help European sailors navigate their way to conquest and commerce, has quietly shaped how we see the world for centuries.By stretching the higher latitudes and squeezing the equatorial belt, the Mercator projection distorts the relative size of continents. Europe and North America loom vast, while Africa and South America shrink. Greenland often appears roughly the same size as Africa, when in reality the continent is 14 times larger. The impression is that the north is large and central, the south peripheral and marginal. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Readers' letters: Devolution has failed, whatever Henry McLeish thinks

A reader says Henry McLeish correctly listed the shortcomings of the Holyrood parliament but failed to draw the obvious conclusion

Events

2 w. ago Readers' Letters: Will youngest voters fall for dubious promises of parties?

Young people must use new voting rights with care, says reader

Politics

2 w. ago Readers' letters: Salmon farmers care deeply about standards of animal welfare

The Chief Executive of Salmon Scotland rebuts criticism aimed at welfare standards on fish farms

Politics

2 w. ago Readers' letters: Trump is best hope we have of securing peace in Ukraine

A reader suggests Donald Trump may get a peace deal where other leaders have failed

Politics

2 w. ago Readers' letters: The Kirk may be dying, but the need for faith remains

A retired minister has little faith in the future of the Church of Scotland but believes people still need something to believe in

Events

2 w. ago Readers' letters: Vladimir Putin got everything he wanted from Alaska summit

A reader says Vladimir Putin was the clear winner in the Alaska summit on the fate of Ukraine

Politics

3 w. ago Readers' letters: Deluded gender activists need to be brought to book

A reader hits out at the National Library of Scotland’s decision to pull The Women Who Wouldn’t Wheesht from its ‘Dear Library’ centenary exhibition

Politics

3 w. ago African Union joins calls to end use of Mercator map that shrinks continent’s size

Member states back Correct the Map campaign that urges governments and organisations to use more accurate mapThe African Union has backed a campaign to end the use by governments and international organisations of the 16th-century Mercator map of the world in favour of one that more accurately displays Africa’s size.Created by the cartographer Gerardus Mercator for navigation, the projection distorts continent sizes, enlarging areas near the poles like North America and Greenland while shrinking Africa and South America. “It might seem to be just a map, but in reality, it is not,” the African Union Commission deputy chair, Selma Malika Haddadi, told Reuters, saying the Mercator fostered a false impression that Africa was “marginal”, despite being the world’s second-largest continent by area, with more than 1 billion people. The union has 55 member states. Continue reading...

Politics