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Mar 11, 2024 | 
bbc.co.uk | Craig WilliamsBbc Scotland |Craig Williams
Film actor Paul Giamatti has revealed that he is descended from Malcolm III, the king who defeated Macbeth. The Oscar-nominated star, who missed out at the weekend on a statue for his film The Holdovers, has described his love of all things Scottish. Speaking on his podcast Chinwag, Giamatti, 56, also admitted a life-long desire to own a kilt. But he said he was too "intimidated" to have one made on a recent trip to Scotland.
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Mar 7, 2024 | 
bbc.co.uk | Craig WilliamsBbc Scotland |Craig Williams
One of Scotland's most beloved literary characters is returning to the nation's television screens this spring. The BBC has announced a new adaptation of Sir Ian Rankin's best-selling Inspector Rebus novels. The six-part crime series was filmed in Edinburgh and Glasgow last year. It will star Outlander star Richard Rankin in the lead role - Det Sgt John Rebus - and is adapted by Black Watch author Gregory Burke.
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Mar 4, 2024 | 
bbc.co.uk | Craig WilliamsBbc Scotland |Craig Williams
First Minister Humza Yousaf has dismissed suggestions that SNP MPs would withdraw from Westminster after the next general election. He said the party's MPs would "stand up for Scotland" and "advance the case for independence" if elected. He was responding to questions after his deputy, Keith Brown MSP, floated the idea in a weekend newspaper column. Mr Brown wrote that the issue of taking up seats needed to be "re-examined" in the wake of the Gaza vote controversy.
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Feb 12, 2024 | 
bbc.co.uk | Craig WilliamsBbc Scotland |Craig Williams
Writer and activist Simon Fanshawe has been named as the new rector of the University of Edinburgh. The former comedian, who now works as a consultant on diversity and inclusion, will take up office on 4 March following an uncontested election. Mr Fanshawe won a Perrier Award - awarded for the best comedy show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe - in 1989. He was one of the six co-founders of LGBT rights charity Stonewall but has recently criticised the organisation.
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Jan 31, 2024 | 
bbc.co.uk | Craig WilliamsBbc Scotland |Craig Williams
The widow of a civil servant who died after catching Covid has accused ministers of putting more effort into hiding mistakes than learning from them. Louise Slorance's husband Andrew contracted the virus while being treated in hospital for cancer in 2020. Ms Slorance was reacting to Nicola Sturgeon's evidence at the UK Covid Inquiry in Edinburgh. And said she would "never forgive" those involved for what happened.
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Jan 29, 2024 | 
bbc.co.uk | Craig WilliamsBbc Scotland |Craig Williams
Shetland's Up Helly Aa Viking fire festival is taking place in Lerwick - with a new prominence for women at the 143-year-old event. The festival celebrates the Scottish islands' Norse heritage, culminating in the burning of a replica Viking galley. The abolition of gender restrictions began last year, when women and girls first took part in the procession. For the first time, women and girls will now join the main "squad" at the head the procession through the town.
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Jan 15, 2024 | 
bbc.co.uk | Craig WilliamsBbc Scotland |Craig Williams
Bill Douglas made just four fairly obscure films in his 20 year career yet he is venerated by many as one of Scotland's greatest directors. Now, more than 30 years after his death, he is being celebrated with the Glasgow Film Festival premiere of a documentary about his life and the relationship which shaped his development as an artist. Bill's early amateur films, made as he was learning his craft in the late 1960s, will have their public premiere days later at the Glasgow Short Film Festival.
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Jan 8, 2024 | 
bbc.co.uk | Craig WilliamsBbc Scotland |Craig Williams
The SNP's Joanna Cherry has demanded an apology from her fellow MP Mhairi Black after she said some SNP members were too "comfortable" at Westminster. She also called for Ms Black, the SNP's deputy leader at Westminster, to "live up to her responsibilities or give the post over to someone who will". Ms Black, who has been contacted for comment, made the remarks on Times Radio last week. She said the culture of Westminster meant MPs lost touch with reality.
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Dec 27, 2023 | 
bbc.co.uk | Craig WilliamsBbc Scotland |Craig Williams
Zander Murray is excited about his future because his life has already changed so much in the past year. After making the headlines in 2022 as the first player in the senior Scottish game to come out as gay, he has been on a personal journey which now sees him planning a future beyond playing the sport which has dominated his life. "The big thing is, it's my final season as a footballer. I think you just know when your time is up and that's where I'm at.
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Dec 22, 2023 | 
news.zordo.in | Georgia Roberts |Craig WilliamsBbc Scotland |Craig Williams
Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, A protest outside Downing Street in January against the UK government's decision to block gender reform in ScotlandBy Georgia Roberts & Craig WilliamsBBC ScotlandThe Scottish government is looking at new ways to help transgender people after confirming it will scrap an appeal of the UK government's veto of gender reform. The Court of Session ruled that the UK government's use of Section 35 of the Scotland Act had been lawful.
