by Anna Fenton

After 35 years of running a helpline for gay and lesbian people in Edinburgh and the Lothians, Lothian Gay & Lesbian Switchboard (LGLS) takes its last calls at the end of October. Taking over the running of the helpline from November 4th will be the LGBT Centre for Health and Wellbeing. Read More

by Anna Fenton

Liverpool-based business woman Tracy Whittaker has launched lip gloss- drug testing kit. The testing kit is a simple pink taper, which tests for the common street drugs GHB and Ketamine, two widely available substances known to be used in bars and clubs. Read More

Students protest tuition fee increase (image courtesy of BBC)

The Conservatives have said they will increase tuition fees to £7,000 if they take power at the next general election, which has to be held by next June. That will see tuition fees for undergraduates studying in England and Wales more than double. The fees are currently capped at £3,300 in England and Wales, with no tuition fees for Scottish students in Scotland.

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Walking around Edinburgh during the festivals it can be very easy to be overcome by all the people, all the noise and all the flyering. Everyone needs there own time to just take a breather and relax. An afternoon story-telling show on the Royal Mile should fit the bill.

George, Steven and Louise graciously invite you into their home to take part in their own storytelling adventures. They use cake, tea and glitter dust to brew together own stories and tell the adventure of their friend ‘Twine’, a live-action puppet, who leaves their cozy environment in order to find a new place to call home.

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On Friday the 13th of March, Michael Palin met up with Fresh Air journalist Richard Vause and Hannah Carr, a journalist from Edinburgh University’s student newspaper ‘Student’, and had a brief chat before his talk for the Royal Scottish Geographic Society.

Listen to the full and exclusive interview. Hear Michael’s views on the world today, his early career, his future and more.

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by Stevie Kearney, Head of News

As far as sports go, few have managed out-point boxing in the realm of self-promotion and hyperbole.  This week has seen British heavyweight David Haye become the latest fighter to proclaim upon himself the status of ‘the saviour of boxing’. Read More

by Erin Brown, Science Correspondent

When it comes to politics, finding the meaning behind words can be a lot trickier than it seems.

It’s no big news that politicians frequently use language to influence public opinion.  Successful ones cleverly choose words that convey a message simultaneously ambiguous enough to avoid offending those who disagree and substantive enough to create the appearance of having actual ideas and convictions.

Examples of insidious or inane political language abound.  Usually reporters can be trusted to parse public statements and hold speakers accountable for their words.  Sometimes, however, those watchdogs of the political circuit miss the mark. Read More

by Erin Brown, Science Correspondent

Youth just got a lot shorter, as far as mental life is concerned.

That mental abilities tend to suffer as we get older, particularly after the age of 60, is a well-established fact.  But according to a recent report in the journal Neurobiology of Aging, cognitive function appears to begin its decline at around 27, an age much earlier than traditionally accepted.
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by Joe Duggin, FreshReporter

The home of the disgraced former head of the Royal Bank of Scotland has had his Edinburgh home vandalised early this morning.  Windows were smashed and his Mercedes S600 was also damaged.  Lothian Borders Police were called to the scene at 4:35am.

An unnamed group have claimed responsibility for the attack, contacting The Scotsman and the Edinburgh Evening News early this morning stating:
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By Stevie Kearney, Head of News

Ahead of next week’s G20 summit in London, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) has called on the police to adhere to the findings of a parliamentary report and respect ‘the right to peaceful protest’.

The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights report issued today described police management of recent protests as ‘increasingly heavy handed’ and said anti-terror legislation had been ‘misused’ by police to restrict protests. Read More

by Stevie Kearney, Head of News

Google Street View is just experiencing ‘teething problems’ and has many positive uses, according to one leading figure in the property insustry.  The defence of the Street View tool, launched in the UK last week, comes amid significant amounts of publicity questioning the application’s legality and ethical basis.

The technology is a photographic mapping extention of the online service Google Maps.  Once an area has been mapped by Google’s camera vans, users can log on and see pictures of any street or property by simply typing in an address or post code, or by using the zoom tools from the map. Read More

Talib Kweli Interview
with DJ Matt Werner on Fresh Air: The Alternative
Phone interview recorded on March 3, 2009, show aired on March 10, 2009.

Keep an eye on the website for the audio of this interview, which will be posted up soon

DJ MATT WERNER: This is DJ Matt Werner on Fresh Air: The Alternative. We’re coming at you from Edinburgh, Scotland, and we have Talib Kweli with us on a phone interview. And so Talib, you’ve been very active this last year, and I’ve read most of the interviews you’ve conducted this last year online: on everything from your song about Lauren Hill, J Dilla, MCEO, and other projects, so I don’t want to repeat questions that’ve already been asked in these other interviews. But my listeners here in Scotland have had two main questions for you. One is on… Read More

By Stewart Primrose

Hibernian won the Edinburgh derby for the first time in five attempts as they strengthened their hopes of a top six finish.

A Steven Fletcher goal early on was enough to give the green half of the city the bragging rights. The game was not immune from incidents with both teams having a man sent off.

The match was fairly evenly balanced throughout with both sides going close before Fletcher struck on 14 minutes. He got on the end of a cross from Alan O’Brien and the ball went in off the bar. Read More

by Joe Duggin, FreshReporter

The Barclaycard Premiership race was reinvigorated over the weekend as Manchester United were bruised in a 4-1 thrashing against main title rivals Liverpool.  Liverpool fell behind after 23 minutes after Pepe Reina brought down Ji-Sun Park inside the box leaving Christiano Ronaldo to bag his 13th of the season.  The penalty meant United looked on course to extend their advantage at the top of the table over their Merseyside rivals.
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by Andy Blair, Chief Sports Correspondent

British teams had a successful first knockout stage in the Champions League this week with all four yet again making it to the second stage.  Liverpool and Manchester United made it to the second knock out stage in the most comfortable fashion with 5-0 and 2-0 aggregate victories respectively.
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