Callum Mason

Journalist working at i. Formerly of MoneySavingExpert.com and Tes.

Edinburgh Evening News •

Russian news site Pravda set to open office in Edinburgh

IT was once the mouthpiece of the Soviet Union during the Cold War – now news organisation Pravda is due to open an office in Scotland.

The Russian media giant is due to come to Edinburgh next January. Bosses at the online news site insist that they have no “Cold War propaganda campaign” planned and are no longer connected to the Communist Party.

UK editor Oliver Haste said that the publication is coming to Scotland to give Russia’s foreign strategy “more influence” among the UK’s media.

Mr H
Deadline News •

Cockroaches and silverfish among 10 hygiene fails at one of biggest hospitals in Scotland

COCKROACHES, silverfish insects and black mould were all found in the kitchen area of a major Scottish hospital during a random check.

The kitchen area of the Western General in Edinburgh – one of the country’s major cancer treament centres – was judged to be an “ideal habitat” for cockroaches.

And following the inspection, the hospital was marked as ‘Improvement Required’ by Food Standards Scotland.

The check was carried out in April this year but has only now been revealed following a Freed
Mirror •

Young woman hired as man's cleaner on Gumtree reveals graphic sex texts he sent

A shocked student was bombarded with a string of vile text messages from an old man after accepting a part-time cleaning job from him online.

Kirsty Glen, from Johnstone, Renfrewshire, is warning other women to take care when responding to adverts on Gumtree, and has reported the incident to the police.

She initially accepted the cleaning job at the Giffnock home of a "wee old man" known only as David, the Daily Record reports.

The man behaved impeccably during the first stage of the intervie
Edinburgh Evening News •

Simon Cowell apologises to X-factor hopeful’s mum over audition

SIMON Cowell sent the mum of an X Factor hopeful a video message apologising for making him miss her wedding rehearsal.

Edinburgh barman Jamie Lee Morley is expected to make his appearance on the show tonight, sailing through the auditions and making it to boot camp.

The 28-year-old was due on the day of recording to be at mum Pam’s wedding rehearsal but had not told her he had entered the show.

Jamie did not get his slot in front of the judges in Edinburgh until 7.30pm and missed the wedding
Mirror •

Shoppers are angry at this department store selling battered trainers for £450

A luxury department store has been accused of insulting the poor by selling a "distressed" shoe "styled with duct tape" for £450.

Barneys New York , whose products have been promoted by Jay Z and Justin Bieber, is selling the pairs of sneakers online at $585 a time.

Scottish comedian Limmy is one of those critical of the product which he called "poverty appropriation".

Limmy tweeted: "This is poverty appropriation. I've got a pair of Adidas Sambas that are in that state. The sole has a hole i
Mail Online •

Nurse faces being struck off for death of premature baby boy

A nurse has admitted ‘causing or contributing’ to a premature baby’s death after forgetting to turn on a humidifier.

Craig Wilson was working as a neo-natal nurse when he failed to activate the machine to help the newborn breathe.

His mistake happened just before he took a break and it was a colleague who discovered the infant was cold.

When he returned from his break, Wilson swore and said: ‘I forgot to turn it on.’

The baby, born 13 weeks early, died later the same day from hypothermia.

A
The Times •

Snap up your own islands in the sun in 2-for-1 deal

Inner and Outer Holm Islands off Orkney are up for sale. Inner Holm houses a six-bedroom bungalow Not known

A buy-one-get-one-free deal is available on a pair of Scottish islands for only £300,000.

The islands — off Stromness, Orkney — are being sold in a deal that will make the new owner the ruler of their own private archipelago.

The 4.9-acre island of Inner Holm houses a six-bedroom bungalow, the ideal isolated getaway because it can be reached only on foot at low tide.

The new owner will
Daily Record •

DWP force autistic, blind teen to attend eligibility check for his benefits

A teenager who is blind, severely autistic and barely able to speak has been ordered to attend a meeting – to check if he should continue to receive benefits.

Ciaran Vassie, 16, was told four years ago that he would receive disability living allowance for life as his condition won’t change.

But now that benefit is being replaced by the personal independence payment, which is for a maximum of £141.10 a week, he needs to be reassessed – and faces going through the process every three years.
Mirror •

Harry Potter star slams theatre for 'racist' production with an all-white cast

Harry Potter actress Katie Leung has slammed a leading theatre for putting on a play set in China - with an all white cast.

Katie, who plays Cho Chang in the Potter series, has said it is “unacceptable” for the London theatre to use no East Asian performers in the production.

The Print Room is putting on a production of Howard Barker’s In the Depths of Dead Love in January, which according to their website is “set in ancient China”.

Characters in the play include Mrs Hu, Lord Ghang and Lady H
Herald •

Dubai bureau offers different exchange rates for 'Scottish pound' and pound Sterling

A DUBAI bureau de change has raised eyebrows by offering different exchange rates for the pound sterling and the "Scottish pound."

A photo of a screen at Dubai Airport, taken on December 18, shows a currency exchange service which values the pound sterling higher than the "Scottish pound."

The bureau offers to buy the pound sterling for 4.31300 United Arab Emirates dirham but will buy the "Scottish pound" for just 4.30200 dirham.

The board also states that the exchange service sells the "Scot
Deadline News •

Aussie spends 30 months and £20K getting to London - without using a plane

AN intrepid Australian spent £20,000 on an incredible two-and-a-half year odyssey from Oz to London – without once using a plane.

Ty Dalitz left home without any firm travel plans and winged his way for 60,000km (37,000 miles), diving out of the way of trains and bribing immigration officials along the way.

The 29-year-old also was shipwrecked in an Indonesian village, endured hours of grilling by police in Minsk and the grabbed the steering wheel of a Bulgarian’s car after realising his drive
Deadline News •

Greenpeace removing tuna from shelves in protest against fishing techniques

ENVIRONMENTAL campaigners have been taking John West tuna from the shelves of Sainsbury’s in protest against fishing techniques.

Members of Greenpeace say that John West tuna is not caught “sustainably” and they want the supermarket to stop stocking it.

Campaigners have been going round several stores in Edinburgh and Glasgow to remove the product from shelves.

They have also put signs up around the stores which appear to mimic Sainsbury’s branding to suggest that the supermarket no longer st
The Times •

Twitter’s worst hatemongers are Scottish

Twitter trolls in Midlothian and East Ayrshire post more racist tweets than anywhere else in Britain Getty Images

The UK’s worst areas for racist and homophobic tweets are in Scotland, research has indicated.

Twitter trolls in Midlothian and East Ayrshire post more racist tweets than anywhere else in Britain.

Dundee sends the most homophobic tweets, matched only by the Welsh county of Denbighshire.

The study, carried out by Ditch the Label, an anti-bullying charity, and the social media moni
Daily Record •

'I'm deep fry the s**t out calzone haggis' Scots challenge fatty Swedish dish

Scots are seething after discovering that Swedes have invented an artery-bursting snack even more deadly than the deep-fried Mars bar.

The Nordic nation enjoys a wholesome image as the land of Abba, smorgasbord and social justice but a dietary dark side has now emerged.

A monster dish called a calskrove is a calzone - a folded-over pizza - with a burger and chips plus extra ham for good measure tucked inside.

The calskrove contains up to 2,000 calories, making it far worse than the 1,200 calo
The Scotsman •

Polar bear remains ‘found washed up on Colonsay’

Scottish islanders claim to have found the badly-decomposed remains of three polar bears washed up on a beach.

Three giant corpses washed up at different points on the west coast of Colonsay, in the Inner Hebrides, in August.

Nobody was able to confidently identify the bodies at the time, as they were covered in debris and smelled so bad that nobody wanted to approach them.

After being left for three months the debris has blown away to reveal the animals have white pelts, and locals are convi
Deadline News •

Scot who put a punt on Trump donates £500 winnings to refugee charity

A PUNTER who won £500 by betting on Donald Trump for president has handed the lot to a charity working with refugees.

Andrew Brown put £100 on Trump at odds of 5/1 following a tip by comedian Limmy.

The 33-year-old decided to donate the profits the Glasgow-based Refuweegee because they are the “exact opposite of what Trump believes in”.

Refuweegee said the donation was the single biggest they had received in their 10-month history.

Andrew, an auditor with KPMG, said he had a “horrible feelin
Daily Record •

Shamed headteacher told schoolboy he was 'too sexy' during school trip

SHOCKING details have revealed how a headteacher "held her breasts and made comments about them" and told a schoolboy his body was "too sexy".

Gillian Rew also told a student that his chest "was better than her husband's" whilst drunk on a school trip to Lockerbie in September 2014.

During the weekend away, the former Arbroath High School headteacher pulled herself up from the floor by holding onto a pupil's ankles and held crisps between her breasts.

Despite the revelations, she has not been
The Sun •

Scotland fans don't see point in qualifying for Qatar 2022 World Cup... after ban on public boozing is confirmed

Tartan Army aghast after authorities confirmed on that ban on drinking in public places would not be relaxed

Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)

Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)

THE Tartan Army has reacted with disbelief to the confirmation of a total ban on public drinking at the World Cup in Qatar.

Fans took to social media to say there was no point in Scotland even trying to qualify for the 2022 competition.

Th
Mirror •

MasterChef contestant put through to quarter-finals despite serving RAW chicken

BBC’s MasterChef is involved in a row with the Master Chefs of Great Britain who have cried fowl over the TV show putting a contestant who served raw chicken through to the quarter-finals.

George McIvor, the chairman of the organisation promoting British recipes, suppliers and chefs, accused programme-makers of putting good television ahead of common sense.

A MasterChef hopeful, known only as Visha, served a plate of undercooked poultry to judges Greg Wallace and John Torode earlier this month
Load More