Latest news with #SouthAyrshire
BBC News
2 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Watch: Bowls Scotland National Championships 2025
Update: Date: 16:45 BST Title: Bowls Scotland National Championships Content: The Bowls Scotland National Championships are being held at the National Centre for Bowling, Ayr and run from 26 July – 2 August The championships are the largest week-long bowls event in the world with more than 1,316 players from 340 clubs competing and roughly 8,000 spectators attending the South Ayrshire venue. By the end of the week, 25 national champions will have been crowned across the men's, women's, youth, and para disciplines being contested. Last year, Scottish internationalist Iain McLean won the gentlemen's singles title for a record equalling third time. He returns this year looking to become the first person to win four gentlemen's singles crowns since the competition began in 1894. Bowls Scotland National Championships Update: Date: 16:43 BST Title: How to watch Content: Selected finals from the tournament will be shown live on the BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website - all times BST Monday, 28 July: Mixed pairs final [15:55 -19:00] Tuesday, 29 July: Para physically disabled open pairs final [15:25-18:00] Saturday, 2 August: Gents singles final [13:25-15:30] & Ladies singles final [15:30-17:30]
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Sidekick Starmer can't get a word in as The Donald dominates world's most one-sided double act
It had been the very bestest of bigly weekends. Two rounds of golf at his very own course in Turnberry. On the Saturday Donald Trump had broken the record with a round of just 18. A hole in one at every hole. Largely because there had been men stationed about the course to pick up the ball and place it in the hole. Then on the Sunday he had gone one better. A round of 17. The ball had gone straight into the cup at the fourth hole, had rested there for a couple of seconds and then had flown out, soaring over the links and straight into the hole at the fifth. Scottie Scheffler could only dream of such a shot. So The Donald was in an expansive mood as he waited for Keir Starmer and his wife, Victoria, to pay him a visit on Monday morning. Which was more than could be said for the small contingent of the British press who had been sent to the South Ayrshire golf course to cover the meeting. On the table of the games room in which they had been penned, there were plates of sandwiches and biscuits. Just not for them. They were only for the US press corps. The Brits had to bring a packed lunch. Clearly, the special relationship still has a way to go. Keir and Victoria arrived at the main entrance, where Trump was waiting to greet them, along with a bagpiper who drowned out the first couple of minutes of conversation. The Donald went into overdrive. His mum was Scottish, he said several times, as if reminding himself. His attention then turned to Victoria. She was a respected person all over the US. 'I don't want to get myself into trouble,' he added, 'but she's very, she's a great woman.' Victoria looked a little creeped out. Her husband might be a master Trump-wrangler, an expert at sycophancy and genuflection, but she wasn't. She knew that almost no one in the US had heard of her and that's the way she liked it. So she just tried to suck it up. She longed to get inside, away from the cameras. The Donald had other ideas, taking question after question from the gaggle of reporters gathered for the arrival. The US president is like a radio presenter on the graveyard night-time slot. Uncomfortable with silence. Filling the dead air with a long rambling stream of unconsciousness. Saying the first thing that comes into his head. Needy – greedy – for any attention he can get. No longer just the most important person in his own life but the most important person on the planet. Life doesn't get any better than this for the supreme narcissist: he speaks and people have to suck it up and listen. Europe was in a bad place. Almost unrecognisable from the Europe of 10 years ago. Too many foreigners. He didn't know anything about the small boat crossings, he admitted, but he was still sure they were all rapists and murderers. At this point, Starmer interrupted to say that he was very, very tough on irregular migration. Not that anyone was listening. The Donald hardly drew breath. Yes, he did think people were starving in Gaza and Israel would have to allow more aid in. He seemed to want thanks for sending food, rather than seeing it as a legal and moral obligation. Putin had disappointed him. He was going to have to rethink his 50 days. And it was time to acknowledge the six wars he had stopped. Almost one a month. There was Thailand and Cambodia, India and Pakistan, Rwanda and the DRC. He couldn't remember the others. It sounded as if he was nominating himself for the Nobel peace prize. An hour later, Trump and Starmer were gathered in the modestly named Donald J Trump Ballroom for the press conference proper. It was billed as a double act but everyone knew it wasn't going to be that way. Keir was there purely as The Donald's plus one. This was to be The Donald Show, with just the occasional interruption from Starmer to allow the president to draw breath. A series of rambling, self-congratulatory monologues in which we actually learned very little. We started by going over familiar territory that had already been covered in the 10-minute impromptu press conference earlier. Yes, Gaza was bad. Very bad, Keir added. So much so that he had upgraded it from 'appalling but no need to do anything' to 'appalling and something needs to be done'. Trump ignored him. Hamas was bad. He had always said so. Israel must do something. He didn't say what. As for Putin, he would give him 10-12 days. This was said impulsively, on the spur of the moment, rather than as a considered news event. Then an acknowledgment to the British prime minister. He had negotiated a very good trade deal. Though it's still not entirely clear Agent Orange understands that it's US consumers who will pay the tariffs. Moving on. He had also just negotiated the bigliest deal in the history of the world with the EU. Starmer had just been put on notice that the UK wasn't as important as all that. The Donald had been doing us a favour all along. The questions came from all quarters. Anything goes. Windfarms? Hate them. Ugly and expensive. What's wrong with oil? Here, Keir tried to stand up for himself. 'Actually, we like them as part of a mixed energy portfolio. Along with oil.' The Donald didn't seem convinced and started slagging off the London mayor, Sadiq Khan. 'He's a friend of mine,' squeaked Starmer. Trump wasn't bothered. Speak to the hand. Talking of people he didn't like, he moved on to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. And Jeffrey Epstein. 'I'm not a drawing kind of guy,' he said. By now, time was beginning to seriously drag. Almost 70 minutes in and no sign of an ending. The Donald moved on to how he had spent £100m on expensive plywood while renovating the golf club. The Scottish tradesmen must have seen him coming. It looks like Trump has been stiffed. So much for the art of the deal. Keir was just willing the presser to come to an end so that the talks and his confused embarrassment could be kept private. Eventually he got his wish. Trump looked as if he could have gone on for another hour and a half. Still, good to get away to his other golf course in Aberdeen. Maybe he'd complete a round in 16 there.
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Sidekick Starmer can't get a word in as The Donald dominates world's most one-sided double act
It had been the very bestest of bigly weekends. Two rounds of golf at his very own course in Turnberry. On the Saturday Donald Trump had broken the record with a round of just 18. A hole in one at every hole. Largely because there had been men stationed about the course to pick up the ball and place it in the hole. Then on the Sunday he had gone one better. A round of 17. The ball had gone straight into the cup at the fourth hole, had rested there for a couple of seconds and then had flown out, soaring over the links and straight into the hole at the fifth. Scottie Scheffler could only dream of such a shot. So The Donald was in an expansive mood as he waited for Keir Starmer and his wife, Victoria, to pay him a visit on Monday morning. Which was more than could be said for the small contingent of the British press who had been sent to the South Ayrshire golf course to cover the meeting. On the table of the games room in which they had been penned, there were plates of sandwiches and biscuits. Just not for them. They were only for the US press corps. The Brits had to bring a packed lunch. Clearly, the special relationship still has a way to go. Keir and Victoria arrived at the main entrance, where Trump was waiting to greet them, along with a bagpiper who drowned out the first couple of minutes of conversation. The Donald went into overdrive. His mum was Scottish, he said several times, as if reminding himself. His attention then turned to Victoria. She was a respected person all over the US. 'I don't want to get myself into trouble,' he added, 'but she's very, she's a great woman.' Victoria looked a little creeped out. Her husband might be a master Trump-wrangler, an expert at sycophancy and genuflection, but she wasn't. She knew that almost no one in the US had heard of her and that's the way she liked it. So she just tried to suck it up. She longed to get inside, away from the cameras. The Donald had other ideas, taking question after question from the gaggle of reporters gathered for the arrival. The US president is like a radio presenter on the graveyard night-time slot. Uncomfortable with silence. Filling the dead air with a long rambling stream of unconsciousness. Saying the first thing that comes into his head. Needy – greedy – for any attention he can get. No longer just the most important person in his own life but the most important person on the planet. Life doesn't get any better than this for the supreme narcissist: he speaks and people have to suck it up and listen. Europe was in a bad place. Almost unrecognisable from the Europe of 10 years ago. Too many foreigners. He didn't know anything about the small boats crossings, he admitted, but he was still sure they were all rapists and murderers. At this point, Starmer interrupted to say that he was very, very tough on irregular migration. Not that anyone was listening. The Donald hardly drew breath. Yes, he did think people were starving in Gaza and Israel would have to allow more aid in. He seemed to want thanks for sending food, rather than seeing it as a legal and moral obligation. Putin had disappointed him. He was going to have to rethink his 50 days. And it was time to acknowledge the six wars he had stopped. Almost one a month. There was Thailand and Cambodia, India and Pakistan, Rwanda and the DRC. He couldn't remember the others. It sounded as if he was nominating himself for the Nobel peace prize. An hour later, Trump and Starmer were gathered in the modestly named Donald J Trump Ballroom for the press conference proper. It was billed as a double act but everyone knew it wasn't going to be that way. Keir was there purely as The Donald's plus one. This was to be The Donald Show, with just the occasional interruption from Starmer to allow the president to draw breath. A series of rambling, self-congratulatory monologues in which we actually learned very little. We started by going over familiar territory that had already been covered in the 10-minute impromptu press conference earlier. Yes, Gaza was bad. Very bad, Keir added. So much so that he had upgraded it from 'appalling but no need to do anything' to 'appalling and something needs to be done'. Trump ignored him. Hamas was bad. He had always said so. Israel must do something. He didn't say what. As for Putin, he would give him 10-12 days. This was said impulsively, on the spur of the moment, rather than as a considered news event. Then an acknowledgment to the British prime minister. He had negotiated a very good trade deal. Though it's still not entirely clear Agent Orange understands that it's US consumers who will pay the tariffs. Moving on. He had also just negotiated the bigliest deal in the history of the world with the EU. Starmer had just been put on notice that the UK wasn't as important as all that. The Donald had been doing us a favour all along. The questions came from all quarters. Anything goes. Windfarms? Hate them. Ugly and expensive. What's wrong with oil? Here, Keir tried to stand up for himself. 'Actually, we like them as part of a mixed energy portfolio. Along with oil.' The Donald didn't seem convinced and started slagging off the London mayor, Sadiq Khan. 'He's a friend of mine,' squeaked Starmer. Trump wasn't bothered. Speak to the hand. Talking of people he didn't like, he moved on to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. And Jeffrey Epstein. 'I'm not a drawing kind of guy,' he said. By now, time was beginning to seriously drag. Almost 70 minutes in and no sign of an ending. The Donald moved on to how he had spent £100m on expensive plywood while renovating the golf club. The Scottish tradesmen must have seen him coming. It looks like Trump has been stiffed. So much for the art of the deal. Keir was just willing the presser to come to an end so that the talks and his confused embarrassment could be kept private. Eventually he got his wish. Trump looked as if he could have gone on for another hour and a half. Still, good to get away to his other golf course in Aberdeen. Maybe he'd complete a round in 16 there.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump brands Khan a ‘nasty person' as Starmer jumps to Mayor's defence
Donald Trump has described Sir Sadiq Khan as a 'nasty person' who has done 'a terrible job', as Sir Keir Starmer jumped to his defence. The US President said he was 'not a fan' of London's Labour Mayor, when asked if he will visit the UK's capital city. Speaking to reporters at his Turnberry golf resort in South Ayrshire, Mr Trump said: 'I'm not a fan of your mayor. 'I think he's done a terrible job, the Mayor of London … a nasty person.' The Prime Minister intervened to say: 'He's a friend of mine, actually.' Mr Trump went on to add: 'I think he's done a terrible job. But I would certainly visit London.' In response to comments made by Mr Trump during a press conference on Monday, a spokesperson for the Mayor said: 'Sadiq is delighted that President Trump wants to come to the greatest city in the world. 'He'd see how our diversity makes us stronger not weaker; richer, not poorer. 'Perhaps these are the reasons why a record number of Americans have applied for British citizenship under his presidency.' This is not the first time the president has hit out at Sir Sadiq after he previously branded him a 'stone cold loser' and challenged him to an IQ test. Sir Sadiq has also previously described Mr Trump as 'a poster boy for racists'.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump Has Not Stopped Making News Since Getting To Scotland. Here's 9 Things We've Learned So Far
Donald Trump is on day three of his four day visit to Scotland – and clearly in the mood to make some waves. Here primarily for nothing other than a golfing holiday at his two Scottish resorts in South Ayrshire and Aberdeenshire, Trump has also squeezed in several visits with international leaders. He has already sat down with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and UK prime minister Keir Starmer. A separate chat with Scotland's first minister John Swinney is scheduled for this evening. While Stop Trump Coalition protesters have been campaigned against his arrival outside the US consulate in Edinburgh, the president has been making major statements on both domestic and international politics from his Turnberry gold course. Here's everything that has happened through his visit so far: 1. He changed the 50-day deadline for Putin Trump declared he was 'disappointed' with Vladimir Putin's ongoing aggression against Ukraine, especially after giving him 50 days to end the war – or face secondary sanctions. So Trump said he was to cut that time down to 10 or 12 days, adding: 'There's no reason in waiting. I want to be generous but we just don't see any progress being made.' 2. He disagreed with Israel over Gaza Trump distanced himself from his ally Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's claim that there is 'no starvation in Gaza'. He said the situation in the Palestinian territory is 'terrible' and that 'we have to get the kids fed'. He also suggested setting up food centre in Gaza with 'no boundaries'. Trump said Gaza is one of the main reasons for their meeting and that a ceasefire is very much possible. 3. Trump insisted he did not visit Epstein's island Trump claimed he 'never went' to the island owned by the late convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein, also known as Little Saint James, where many of the alleged offences took place. The US president has been facing major backlash in the States, particularly with his MAGA base, recently. It comes his administration announced it would not be releasing any further files on the former financier, who was friends with Trump for over a decade. But Trump told reporters today: 'I did turn it down but a lot of people in Palm Beach were invited to his island. In one of my very good moments, I turned it down. I didn't want to go to his island.' He also claimed: 'For years I wouldn't talk to Jeffery Epstein. I wouldn't talk because he did something that was inappropriate. 'He hired help and I said don't ever do that again. He's stolen people that work for me, I said don't ever do that again. He did it again and I threw him out of the place. I threw him out and that was it.' 4. He weighed in on the small boats crisis When asked how the UK should deal with the migrants who arrive on British shores illegally, he spoke about the US immigration policy and said no one had come into the country illegally in the last month. 'If you're stopping immigration and stopping the wrong people, my hats are off to you,' Trump said. He added that he knows 'nothing about the boats' but he welcomed Starmer's strong opposition to it. 'Anyone here illegally should not be allowed in,' he said. 5. The president casually claimed he's stopped six wars The US president alleged to have stopped six wars since he was sworn into the Oval Office in January, adding: 'I'm averaging around a war a month.' He referred to India and Pakistan, and Congo and Rwanda. It's not clear which other conflicts he is referring to, especially as the Ukraine war and the Israel-Gaza crisis are both ongoing. 6. Trump attacked Sadiq Khan 'I am not a fan of the London mayor [Sadiq Khan]. I think he has done a terrible job. He's a nasty person,' Trump said. Starmer tried to defuse the tension, cutting in: 'He's a friend of mine actually!' But Trump continued: 'No I think he's done a terrible job.' 7. Trump said he liked Nigel Farage Asked for his response on the UK's 'divided' world and Reform UK Nigel Farage, Trump said: 'I like this man [Starmer] a lot and I like Nigel. He said one is 'slightly liberal' and the other 'slightly conservative', but they are both 'good men'. 'Nigel is a friend of mine and Keir is a friend of mine,' he said. Trump was clearly overlooking the major tensions between the two political figures who tend to disagree on almost all subjects. 8. Trump resumed his usual attacks on wind power The US president tore into Scotland's offshore wind turbines, calling the 'ugly' – while also praising the UK government's plans to build three nuclear reactors, calling nuclear power 'safe'. But he claimed the UK could get oil and gas out of the North Sea instead, which he claimed would be cheaper – and less ugly. 'Wind is the the most expensive form of energy and it destroys the beauty of your fields and your plains,' Trump claimed. 9. The US has struck a deal with EU Oh and, before meeting Starmer, Trump also struck a major trade agreement. On Sunday, Trump and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen announced a trade deal with 15% tariffs – half of what he initially threatened – on most goods going into the States from the trade bloc. In exchange, the EU will have to invest in US energy products – which will prevent a potential trade war between the two allies. The UK's trade deal secured a 10% tariff in May, but many European allies suggested it was a bad agreement so are unlikely to be happy with this one. There's already been some backlash from France, Germany and Ireland over the deal. Asked by reporters why the US gave a better deal to the UK than the EU, he said: 'We have a very special relationship with this country.' He said his mother was born there and that it 'always has an impact' and says he 'wants to see this part of the world to do well'. Related... All Eyes On Starmer After Macron Confirms France Will Recognise Palestine State 'Shames Us All': Keir Starmer Is Now Facing Pressure Across Political Spectrum To Act On Gaza How Starmer Told His Cabinet To Stop Beating Themselves Up – Then Cracked The Whip On Rebel MPs
