Latest news with #Scotland
The Sun
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Music superstar backs Nigel Farage saying voters ‘should give him a chance'
SIR Rod Stewart says voters should 'give Nigel Farage a chance'. The 80-year-old rocker slammed Prime Minister Keir Starmer's policies on fishing rights in Scotland as he revealed he thinks the Reform leader is "coming across well". 2 2 New polls suggest Reform is on track to win the next election - with more than a third of voters saying they will support the right-wing party. And Rod 'The Mod' is no different. Ahead of his Glastonbury set this Sunday, the Maggie May singer insisted that despite his 'extreme wealth', he is not out of touch. Sir Rod was asked in an interview with The Times where he sees Britain's political future heading. He responded: "It's hard for me because I'm extremely wealthy, and I deserve to be, so a lot of it doesn't really touch me. But that doesn't mean I'm out of touch. "For instance, I've read about Starmer cutting off the fishing in Scotland and giving it back to the EU. That hasn't made him popular. We're fed up with the Tories. We've got to give Farage a chance. He's coming across well." "What options have we got? I know some of his family, I know his brother, and I quite like him. "But Starmer's all about getting us out of Brexit and I don't know how he's going to do that. Still, the country will survive. It could be worse. We could be in the Gaza Strip." It comes after the music legend hit out at Farage last June after he claimed that the West provoked Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Stewart previously said he was "outraged and dumbfounded" after Farage argued that the EU and NATO had given Putin a "reason" to tell his people "they're coming for us again'. We previously told how Sir Rod lifted the lid on exactly how much he is getting paid to play at Glastonbury this year - as well as how much money he'll lose. He is set to return to Worthy Farm for the first time in decades, having last performed on the Pyramid Stage 23 years ago. He's performing as this year's Legends slot act, joining a long list of iconic acts who've taken on the prestigious role.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
'I left Shetland to hunt whales in the Antarctic'
Gibbie Fraser was a teenager when he decided the best way to afford a motorbike like his friends on the west side of Shetland was to join the crew of a whaling vessel. Months later, at the age of 16, he was battling rough seas and violent storms in relentless pursuit of the largest animals on earth, 8,000 miles (13,000 km) from home in the South Atlantic ocean. Gibbie is one of several former Scottish whalers contributing to a new digital time capsule exploring the country's forgotten history in modern whaling. The Whalers' Memory Bank, launched in Dundee, aims to capture a snapshot of life onboard the whale-catching vessels around South Georgia and Antarctica between 1904 and 1965. "It was the highlight of my life," said Gibbie, who is chairman of the Shetland ex-Whalers Association. "I knew boys who had gone before and they came home the following summer with really nice motorcycles and I thought 'that's the way to do it'. "It was an adventure and when you are young, it is like a bit of a drug." 50 years on: Scots whaling recalled Now 83, he was among hundreds of Scots who joined boats along with largely Norwegian crew in the post-war years, when work was scarce. Many, like him, had grown up in small, coastal communities on Shetland, while others came from the Leith, in Edinburgh. The Edinburgh-based firm, Christian Salvesen, operated whale processing ports at the aptly named Leith Harbour at Stromness Bay in South Georgia, a British overseas territory about 870 miles (1,400 km) from the Falkland Islands. Gunners would fire harpoons aimed at killing and capturing blue, fin and humpback whales, which were brought aboard and processed at a centre in the island's main settlement, Grytviken. Gibbie began his career cooking and serving meals for the crew and cleaning the boat as a mess boy in the late 1950s. As the only non-smoker, he would also be sent above deck to steer at night while shipmates stayed below to play cards for cigarettes. He remembered the conditions on board being hard, but said there was a sense of "camaraderie" among the crew. "The catchers were wonderful boats and came through a lot of heavy weather, but you never walked along the aft end along the main deck, you had to go via the lifeboat deck because the main deck was awash most of the time," he said. "When you were in bed, you were not far from where the gun platform was. You were about a foot-and-a-half from where the sea was. You could hear it rushing by. "And it was daylight right round the clock. If you were among whales, then you kept going, you never stopped. It was right around the clock until the whales had disappeared." On one occasion, he recalled pursuing a fin whale in straight line for four hours before it was eventually captured. He said he "felt sorry" for the whales that were caught, adding he never wanted to see them suffer. "I realise that it was a warm-blooded animal that could feel pain like I could, and probably fear too," he said. "You always hoped that when the harpoon went in, that would kill it, it was never nice to see it struggle for a while." Gibbie completed four seasons aboard the boats and was only prevented from returning for a fifth when he suffered an arm injury in a crash involving his motorbike and a school bus at home in Shetland. The industry began to crumble in the early-1960s against the backdrop of more stringent government regulation and early environmental campaigns against the killing of the animals. However, by that point, whale stocks had become so low that the practice was "no longer deemed economically viable". The Edinburgh-based firm, Christian Salvesen, wound down its whaling operations in 1963. It is estimated about 176,000 whales were slaughtered and processed in South Georgia between 1904 and 1965. Historian Dan Snow helped launch the memory bank aboard the RRS Discovery in Dundee. The boat was built in the city as a research vessel which ferried explorers Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton to the Antarctic in 1901. Dundee was centre of Scottish whaling throughout the 19th century when whale oil became an essential component for the softening of fabrics during jute production. Snow says elements of the Discovery's construction were inspired by the whaling vessels arriving in the city during that period. He told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland: "Discovery was an Antarctic survey vessel built in Dundee because it had that whaling expertise, built with all sorts of features that they learned from whaling ships. "It had things like rudders that lifted up into the hull and special strong hulls. "Through the memory bank, we've been able to save these stories, these testimonies about what it was like to go down there for months on end through the eternal summer of the Antarctic and chase whales, using world war two ships and radar equipment, it was like they were waging war on these whales." The memory bank has been produced by the South Georgia Heritage Trust and the South Georgia Museum. They worked with former whaling communities across Scotland to collect archive pictures and film, alongside several hundred items and oral histories and create a digital database, which can be viewed online. Helen Balfour, assistant curator of the museum, whose great-grandfather and grandfather were both whalers in South Georgia, said: "To understand more about what they saw, what they experienced and how they, their colleagues and families back home must have felt, is incredibly special. "It is amazing that over 60 years on from the whaling the camaraderie that exists between the whalers is just as strong." Whalers' Memory Bank
BBC News
2 hours ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Should Hearts' Shankland stay or should he go?
Heart of Midlothian travel to Spain for a pre-season training camp this weekend, just over two weeks out from their opening match of the new season against Dunfermline Athletic on 12 the travelling group, one name is conspicuous by its absence, that of talismanic striker Lawrence Shankland, whose contract with the club expires at the end of this month. Since Hearts brought Shankland back to Scotland in 2022, he has established himself as one of the most reliable goalscorers in Scotland's top has scored 68 goals in Hearts colours in 137 appearances across all competitions. There's an old adage about good strikers scoring one in two - and Shankland does that. That form, along with Shankland's contract situation, explains the long-standing speculation over the Scotland international. A mooted move to Rangers never transpired and links to West Bromwich Albion appear to have gone Hearts head coach Derek McInnes has made no secret of his desire to keep Shankland in Gorgie and tie him down to a new deal, with conversations between player and club is rife among Hearts supporters after Brighton and Hove Albion owner Tony Bloom completed a £9.86m deal to buy a 29% stake in the Edinburgh will Shankland hold out for a move to England or back overseas? Or will he want to be part of Bloom's "disruption" and lead the line in maroon again next season? Hearts can offer 'security' & ambition The fact that Shankland has not made it clear he is leaving is cause for optimism for both McInnes and Hearts is evidently and understandably excited at the prospect of working with the 29-year-old, but will Shankland sign on the dotted line to link up with the club's new team boss?Hearts will hope the chance to be part of their new project, with tried-and-tested performer McInnes in the dugout and Bloom's gravitas in the boardroom, is enough to persuade their star uncertainty over Shankland's future has been clouded further still as McInnes heads to Spain without him."I really feel Lawrence as part of a strong Hearts team can elevate himself," McInnes said earlier this week. "I think he's capable of scoring 25-30 goals a season in the right team and used in the right way."We can offer security. We can offer building a team and being part of a team that's trying to be successful."With Bloom aiming to "disrupt the pattern of domination which has been in place for far too long" in Scottish football, there is an expectation Hearts will attack the transfer Christian Borchgrevink, winger Alexandros Kyziridis, striker Claudio Braga, centre-half Stuart Findlay and midfielder Oisin McEntee have already signed in the early knockings of the window, while Elton Kabangu joined permanently after last season's loan the ambition of the McInnes-Bloom project, the prospect of playing under the immediate gaze of Scotland head coach Steve Clarke would be another perk of staying in Edinburgh for Shankland. Why do Hearts want to keep him? One word. Goals."When you get the ball into dangerous areas, Lawrence Shankland will score," former Hearts midfielder Michael Stewart said on Sportscene at the end of last season."A guy that is capable of banging in 20-plus goals a season doesn't grow on trees."Stewart is right. Shankland has passed the 20-goal mark in the Premiership twice in the past three seasons - no other player has done Furuhashi did it once for Celtic, Cyriel Dessers once for Rangers and Kevin van Veen once for Motherwell. Beyond that, Shankland brings experience and leadership, having captained Hearts during goalkeeper Craig Gordon's long injury has amassed more than 150 Premiership appearances in addition to 16 Scotland caps. Shankland 'looking to maximise earning potential' Had Shankland's contract expired 12 months prior, the suitors would have been piling up to sign him on a free given his goal-scoring feats in the 2023-24 season, during which he bagged 31 goals in all season just gone was less prolific and, as he approaches 30, Shankland is likely considering how many high-profile moves or high-paying contracts he has left in his career."He's at a stage in his career where he's looking to maximise his earning potential, which is completely understandable," Stewart explains why Hearts are yet to hear from him regarding the offer on the no deal has been done, suggesting any alternative offers received by Shankland were not to his liking. With pre-season about to get under way, things will come to a head in the coming Naismith, who was Hearts boss during Shankland's free-scoring 2023-24 season, added: "Like any player, there are more options when you're out of contract."It gives you a chance to sit and think what's best for you at this stage in your career, but he'll want it sorted before pre-season starts."
BBC News
2 hours ago
- General
- BBC News
Whaling Archive: 'I left Shetland to hunt whales in the Antarctic'
Gibbie Fraser was a teenager when he decided the best way to afford a motorbike like his friends on the west side of Shetland was to join the crew of a whaling later, at the age of 16, he was battling rough seas and violent storms in relentless pursuit of the largest animals on earth, 8,000 miles (13,000 km) from home in the South Atlantic is one of several former Scottish whalers contributing to a new digital time capsule exploring the country's forgotten history in modern Whalers' Memory Bank, launched in Dundee, aims to capture a snapshot of life onboard the whale-catching vessels around South Georgia and Antarctica between 1904 and 1965. "It was the highlight of my life," said Gibbie, who is chairman of the Shetland ex-Whalers Association."I knew boys who had gone before and they came home the following summer with really nice motorcycles and I thought 'that's the way to do it'."It was an adventure and when you are young, it is like a bit of a drug." Now 83, he was among hundreds of Scots who joined boats along with largely Norwegian crew in the post-war years, when work was like him, had grown up in small, coastal communities on Shetland, while others came from the Leith, in Edinburgh-based firm, Christian Salvesen, operated whale processing ports at the aptly named Leith Harbour at Stromness Bay in South Georgia, a British overseas territory about 870 miles (1,400 km) from the Falkland would fire harpoons aimed at killing and capturing blue, fin and humpback whales, which were brought aboard and processed at a centre in the island's main settlement, Grytviken. Gibbie began his career cooking and serving meals for the crew and cleaning the boat as a mess boy in the late the only non-smoker, he would also be sent above deck to steer at night while shipmates stayed below to play cards for remembered the conditions on board being hard, but said there was a sense of "camaraderie" among the crew."The catchers were wonderful boats and came through a lot of heavy weather, but you never walked along the aft end along the main deck, you had to go via the lifeboat deck because the main deck was awash most of the time," he said."When you were in bed, you were not far from where the gun platform was. You were about a foot-and-a-half from where the sea was. You could hear it rushing by."And it was daylight right round the clock. If you were among whales, then you kept going, you never stopped. It was right around the clock until the whales had disappeared." On one occasion, he recalled pursuing a fin whale in straight line for four hours before it was eventually said he "felt sorry" for the whales that were caught, adding he never wanted to see them suffer."I realise that it was a warm-blooded animal that could feel pain like I could, and probably fear too," he said."You always hoped that when the harpoon went in, that would kill it, it was never nice to see it struggle for a while." 'No longer viable' Gibbie completed four seasons aboard the boats and was only prevented from returning for a fifth when he suffered an arm injury in a crash involving his motorbike and a school bus at home in industry began to crumble in the early-1960s against the backdrop of more stringent government regulation and early environmental campaigns against the killing of the by that point, whale stocks had become so low that the practice was "no longer deemed economically viable".The Edinburgh-based firm, Christian Salvesen, wound down its whaling operations in is estimated about 176,000 whales were slaughtered and processed in South Georgia between 1904 and 1965. Historian Dan Snow helped launch the memory bank aboard the RRS Discovery in boat was built in the city as a research vessel which ferried explorers Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton to the Antarctic in was centre of Scottish whaling throughout the 19th century when whale oil became an essential component for the softening of fabrics during jute says elements of the Discovery's construction were inspired by the whaling vessels arriving in the city during that period. He told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland: "Discovery was an Antarctic survey vessel built in Dundee because it had that whaling expertise, built with all sorts of features that they learned from whaling ships."It had things like rudders that lifted up into the hull and special strong hulls."Through the memory bank, we've been able to save these stories, these testimonies about what it was like to go down there for months on end through the eternal summer of the Antarctic and chase whales, using world war two ships and radar equipment, it was like they were waging war on these whales." The memory bank has been produced by the South Georgia Heritage Trust and the South Georgia worked with former whaling communities across Scotland to collect archive pictures and film, alongside several hundred items and oral histories and create a digital database, which can be viewed Balfour, assistant curator of the museum, whose great-grandfather and grandfather were both whalers in South Georgia, said: "To understand more about what they saw, what they experienced and how they, their colleagues and families back home must have felt, is incredibly special."It is amazing that over 60 years on from the whaling the camaraderie that exists between the whalers is just as strong."
BBC News
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Austitic teenager from Sanquhar dreams of big screen career
An autistic teenager from the south of Scotland is hoping to pursue a career in filmmaking after picking up a prize for his Ryan, 14, from Sanquhar, won the audience award at the recent Into Film event in received his honour from actor Andy Serkis and presenter Edith told BBC Scotland News he hoped to turn his passion for movie-making into a job in later life. Edward was born in Inverness and grew up in Forres but has lived in Sanquhar for almost a organisers of the awards described them as "celebration of talent" but also a "clear statement of intent".They said they wanted to show that the UK film industry "values, nurtures and believes in the voices of the next generation".Among those voices is Edward's. "I'd always loved making and building with Lego when I was younger and I wanted to make these Lego people and characters and things come to life," he said."So I then started to make stop-motion animations with these Lego characters and buildings and things like that, make little movies with them."Then I would then progress my skills with that and then get different equipment and better equipment."The Sanquhar Academy pupil was given a laptop by the local council for his school work which he started to use for making films and it has "progressed and progressed" from award-winning film - More Than One Way To Go Home - tells the story of a young autistic girl who has to find her own way home when her brother leaves her to fend for herself. He said winning the prize for his work was a special moment."It felt great, it was just overwhelming with all the support that I got from loads of people voting me for this award."It was just great. I am still in shock that I won."All the support from my community of Sanquhar, it's just been absolutely brilliant and I'm so grateful for all of it."It has fuelled his passion to pursue a life in cinema after he finishes his education. "I really want to go into the industry and hopefully become a director of photography," he said."That's my dream goal. So I'm hopefully just going to stick in and then go to college and university and just work my way up until I'm a director of photography and do what I want to do."His mother Jess said the whole family was "incredibly proud" of what Edward has achieved."He was a nominee in the best story category as well and even though he didn't win that prize it was still just an incredible achievement to be chosen," she said."That was a new category this year that the judges chose out of all the films that were entered."So it was an honour to know that he was chosen to be part of the best story category up against other filmmakers that were 18 or 19 years old.""We're just really, really proud of him and very thankful for the support the community gave him." She said the fact that he was autistic made it all the more remarkable."He's obviously had to overcome a lot of different challenges in his day to day life," she said."Filmmaking has been a way for him to express himself in ways that he has otherwise found difficult."It's been a really good outlet for him." She said she believed he could go further in the field where he has already started to thrive."We just feel proud and we just hope that he can continue on and achieve his goals and his dreams of one day being a director of photography," she said."I don't see why he can't, to be honest, he's got his sights set on the big screen."He's got a lot of hard work ahead of him, but he seems really enthusiastic for it."
