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Scottish Sun
13 hours ago
- Politics
- Scottish Sun
Our Auld Enemy rivalry will always be part of our DNA — but look to the US and Canada for the next great national drama
ZARA JANJUA Our Auld Enemy rivalry will always be part of our DNA — but look to the US and Canada for the next great national drama Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) WE Scots pride ourselves on being world-class grudge holders. For centuries, the English have been our go-to national frenemy — the original source of cultural, political and footie-based beef. But while we've been locked in this existential tug-of-war with England, another rivalry has been quietly gathering momentum across the Atlantic. 4 Scottish Sun columnist Zara Credit: The Sun 4 Our Auld Enemy rivalry with England will always be part of our DNA Credit: PA 4 Donald Trump with new Canadian PM Mark Carney Credit: AP 4 Matthew Tkachuk of Team USA fights with Brandon Hagel of Team Canada during the first period in the 4 Nations Face-Off game Credit: Getty And I hate to say it, but it might just outdo ours in both stakes and pettiness. I speak, of course, of Canada vs the United States — a feud with the energy of a polite street fight outside a farmers' market, but one that could soon eclipse our age-old Anglo-Scottish sparring. One close point from the US to Canada is the border between Detroit, Michigan (US) and Windsor, Ontario (Canada), which spans the Detroit River. This week I flew to Detroit and crossed the border by car into Windsor. On one side, muscle cars and MAGA hats; on the other, maple leaves and passive resistance. Landing in the US, I found myself wondering: Have I ever tweeted something spicy enough to be flagged by Homeland Security? I'm a liberal Pakistani-Scottish woman with a fondness for human rights and sarcasm — so, probably. I even censored myself mid-flight while chatting to the woman beside me, just in case my views got me deported before I'd even finished my pretzels. As it turned out, I sailed through immigration. But the process felt Orwellian — less Big Brother, more Big Border Patrol. It was the first time I felt that my politics, passport and profile picture might be under review by an algorithm with a grudge. Trump crushes hopes of 'peace talks' call with Musk as he insists Elon has 'lost his mind' after feud went nuclear Last week King Charles and Queen Camilla landed in Ottawa, 400 miles from Windsor — like some royal advance party sent to remind Canada they're not available for franchise. Charles was there to open Parliament and, unofficially, to stick a diplomatic elbow between Canada and Trump's vision of turning it into a Walmart with trees. Trump had recently floated the idea of Canada becoming the 51st US state — a suggestion so absurd it made The Handmaid's Tale look like a romcom. But Canadians, long stereotyped as gentle pacifists with a fetish for fleece, have started pushing back with the Elbows Up movement. Time to tan and pair up again TEN years. That's how long Love Island has been thrusting bronzed 20-somethings into a villa armed with veneers, trust issues, and bikinis smaller than their moral compasses. And somehow, despite the rise of AI lovers and Hinge horror stories, the show's stayed loyal to its original premise: couple-up or get dumped. In this economy? That's practically a marriage vow. Tomorrow, the 12th series washes ashore – and just like your ex, it'll turn up every weekday at 9pm, whether you want it to or not. But credit where it's due: in an age of ghosting, orbiting and situationships, the transactional honesty is almost refreshing. Find someone hot. Stay together. Win. If only the rest of us had a narrator explaining where we went wrong with that man from Fife who 'wasn't ready to label things'. 'Elbows Up, Canada!' is their national pep talk, a slogan born from ice hockey legend Gordie Howe, who once said: 'If a guy slashed me, I'd pull him close and elbow him in the head.' And now the nation has adopted that spirit. It features in a video campaign with new Prime Minister Mark Carney and actual national treasure Mike Myers, whose shirt: reads: 'NEVER 51.' That's the mood now — polite defiance in plaid. It's a masterclass in soft power. The Scottish-English tension may have Brexit baggage, but this? This is a full-blown cold war of the niceties. Miley is the adult now THERE are things no one prepares you for in life: pandemics, the rise of Crocs, and your dad dating Liz Hurley. But here we are – Miley Cyrus, patron saint of post-trauma empowerment, has broken her silence on her da Billy Ray's new love interest. Not a line-dancing divorcee or a country starlet, but the one and only safety-pinned icon of the Nineties. Yes, that Liz Hurley. Now, if you thought family drama peaked with Meghan and Harry, hold Miley's gluten-free beer. The former Disney rebel has navigated her parents' split, gone no-contact with Dad, and now emerged with the kind of perspective that costs thousands in therapy. 'I'm being an adult about it,' she told the New York Times, as if she's not clearly the only adult in the room. Should we have opinions on our parents' love lives? Absolutely not. Do we? Always. Especially when their new flame once dated Hugh Grant and probably owns lingerie more expensive than most mortgages. But Miley's honesty hits a nerve. That moment you realise your parents are fallible, with achy breaky hearts and questionable taste in post- divorce rebounds. It's disarming, dignified – and depressingly mature. Still, if anyone can make blended family dysfunction look glam, it's Liz bloody Hurley. And if Miley can 'wish happiness' to the chaos, maybe there's hope for the rest of us. Next year construction is due to finish on the Gordie Howe International Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, named after the elbow-throwing icon. But this isn't just infrastructure — it's metaphor. A physical link between two nations increasingly trying to figure out how to stay connected without being consumed. The old Auld Enemy rivalry will always be part of our DNA — but if you're looking for the next great national drama, look to the US and Canada. It's neighbour vs neighbour, lumber vs logic, satire vs statecraft and Mike Myres vs Trump.
Scotsman
09-05-2025
- Health
- Scotsman
Lonely hilltop hospital run by 300 medieval monks to get anti-vandal protection
Vandals targeted the hilltop site where monks dispensed herbal and plant medicine from the 12th Century. Sign up to our History and Heritage newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... It is a lonely hilltop site that provided refuge and medical care for wayfarers and the needy for hundreds of years. Now, protection of Soutra Aisle in Midlothian, where a vast medieval hospital and friary once stood, is to be 'maximised' after vandals damaged stonework and signage at the isolated site. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Soutra Aisle in Midlothian, the site of a medieval hospital and friary. | National World The House of the Holy Trinity at Soutra, around 17 miles south of Edinburgh, served travellers on the main Anglo-Scottish highway from the 12th to the 17th century. Today only a family tomb - Soutra Aisle - remains at the spot where it is estimated 300 monks dispensed care to those who needed it. Seeds and plants - some of them exotic for the time - teeth, human bones and traces of disease have all been discovered at the site. The hospital became a huge draw in the landscape during the medieval period, and served as the main infirmary for Edinburgh. But today the building's remoteness has attracted a different kind of caller - the vandal. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Richard Pont, of Fala, Soutra & Distric History and Heritage Society, said the organisation had raised £4,500 to fix damage caused to Soutra Aisle and the associated signage. An application to Historic Environment Scotland for scheduled monument consent said the work would 'maximise protection' of the site by reducing signage and using vandal-proof materials. Mr Pont said: 'The aisle itself has suffered a bit of damage and stones were taken off the roof. Whoever did this just took them off the roof and threw them to the ground. The display area was seriously damaged.' Stones taken from Soutra Aisle, part of the original hospital chapel, will be returned to the building, which later served as a burial vault for the Pringles of Soutra. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Signage will be reduced, with visitors directed to the full history of the site via a QR code, which links to the Sutra Aisle website. The new display will be manufactured in vandal-resistant material with security screws to fix it to concrete slabs. The hospital was founded by an order of Augustinian monks at the request of King Malcolm IV around 1160. Following its heyday from the middle of the 12th century to the mid-15th century, the hospital and firary was shut down completely in 1640. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Soutra Aisle has attracted rising numbers of visitors in recent years. Research by archaeologist Dr Brian Moffat has done much to illuminate life at the site, where the clay ground has been particularly effective at preserving waste from the hospital. Stone ditches, which served as the infirmary's plumbing network, also holding clues to the medicines and treatments used. Many plants at the site have come originally from across three continents, with a number still growing there, including highly-toxic hemlock. The plant was earlier discovered at the site along with the seeds of opium poppies and black henbane, with the trio offering a remarkable insight into surgical practices at the hospital. Dr Moffat earlier concluded there was only one recipe where the three toxic plants were mixed together - with it administered before the amputation of limbs. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Analysis of plants and seeds found at the site suggest that a range of conditions were treated and managed - from famine to childbirth, dentistry and psychiatric illness.
The Independent
27-01-2025
- Climate
- The Independent
Fresh travel chaos for Heathrow passengers and morning commuters as Storm Herminia sweeps in
Severe weather continues to make travel in January a lottery. At London Heathrow, 36 arrivals and departures have been cancelled after air-traffic controllers asked for a reduction in the number of flights on Monday. Strong winds are predicted to reduce the 'flow rate' of aircraft movements at Europe's busiest airport. British Airways has so far cancelled 26 flights to and from London Heathrow, including domestic links to and from Belfast City and Edinburgh. European flights serving Barcelona, Berlin, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Zurich are also grounded. British Airways has more than half the slots at Heathrow and is always impacted most heavily by air-traffic control restrictions. But other airlines including Aer Lingus, Iberia, KLM and Lufthansa have cancelled flights to and from their hubs. An estimated 5,000 passengers are affected. Under air passengers' rights rules, travellers whose flights are cancelled are entitled to be flown to their destination as soon as possible on any airline, and to be provided with meals and hotels until they get there. All the routes are served by multiple daily departures, and the airlines will aim to rebook passengers on adjacent flights. Rail passengers face another day of disruption. Transport for Wales has issued a 'Do Not Travel' warning for the Heart of Wales line between Swansea and Crewe. In England, fallen trees have halted rush-hour trains south of Guildford in Surrey and north of Hastings in East Sussex. The Great Western Railway between London Paddington and Plymouth is flooded between Reading and Taunton. National Rail warns: 'Trains may be delayed by up to 20 minutes, cancelled or diverted. Disruption is expected until 11.30am.' No trains are running between Manchester Victoria and Blackburn due to flooding at Darwen. Elsewhere in northern Britain, rail services are gradually returning to normal. At London King's Cross, the first train to Edinburgh since Thursday departed on schedule at 5.48am. All Anglo-Scottish trains were cancelled on Friday because of Storm Eowyn, and planned rail engineering work closed the East Coast main line between Peterborough and London all weekend. Some trains that did run from further north in England made it to Scotland – but one Lumo train from Newcastle to Edinburgh arrived in the Scottish capital five hours behind schedule. The West Coast main line, connecting London Euston with southern Scotland, reopened earlier than expected on Sunday evening. Most trains are likely to be cancelled next Sunday when strikes by Avanti West Coast train managers resume. Scotland was worst hit of the UK nations by extreme weather. David Ross, communications director for ScotRail, told BBC Radio Scotland more than 120 trees had fallen onto Scottish rail lines since Storm Eowyn began. In addition, debris such as trampolines had blocked tracks. He said: 'The vast majority of our routes are up and running. 'There are some parts of the country where it won't be a quick fix and it will take a few days.' Replacement buses will run on a number of routes west and southwest of Glasgow, but Mr Ross said it had not proved possible to procure road transport on all disrupted routes.
