Building on fire is part of 109-112 Princes Street complex, ex River Island + Levi's (next to Debenhams), all closed. Site owner Criterion Capital plans to build Zedwell hotel there. Linked to row of tax-evading gift shops: edinburghminute.com/tax-evading-... exposed by @jim.londoncentric.media:

The tax-evading Princes Street shops costing taxpayers thousands

Dodgy dealings at former Debenhams

edinburghminute.com

EdinburghMinute.com@edinburghminute.com · 2mo ago

☀️  Good morning Edinburgh. Thursday’s headlines: Major fire overnight on Princes Street, work on new concert arena has stalled, Cameron Toll confusion after dodgy paint job + can you help a local charity find a new home? ⏰ Edinburgh’s ad-free local news: www.edinburghminute.com/the-edinburg...

A building on Edinburgh’s most prominent street that housed a series of tax-evading gift shops (London Centric came across it while investigating a connected network of gift shops in London’s Trocadero building) suffered a severe fire last night.

EdinburghMinute.com@edinburghminute.com · 2mo ago

Building on fire is part of 109-112 Princes Street complex, ex River Island + Levi's (next to Debenhams), all closed. Site owner Criterion Capital plans to build Zedwell hotel there. Linked to row of tax-evading gift shops: edinburghminute.com/tax-evading-... exposed by @jim.londoncentric.media:

Any chance someone can get him riled about hydration breaks?

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2mo ago

Trump: "I didn't know what the hell a red card was. When I found out, I said, 'You gotta be kidding!'"

Do NOT fuck with Belgium when it comes to regulations.

Sam Kunti@samindrakunti.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Statement from Belgian FA.

Who'd have thought an organisation that gave a peace prize to Donald Trump would care so little about sporting integrity? Belgium should refuse to play www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...

World Cup 2026: US striker Folarin Balogun's one-game red card ban suspended by Fifa

Folarin Balogun is available to play for the United States in their World Cup last-16 tie against Belgium after his one-game ban is suspended by Fifa.

bbc.co.uk

UN Ambassador Matt Whitaker: "People are enjoying the United States of America because it's an awesome place. We have extraordinary things like Buc-ee's and Chick-fil-A, very convenient to eat in your car while you're having a phone call. It's an amazing country."

Stuart Cosgrove: Douglas Ross's Off the Ball appearance led to unprecedented levels of audience 'feedback' www.holyrood.com/inside-polit...

Stuart Cosgrove: Douglas Ross' Off the Ball appearance led to unprecedented levels of audience 'feedback'

For more than 30 years Stuart Cosgrove and his co-presenter Tam Cowan have been fixtures not only of the BBC Radio Scotl...

holyrood.com

Those who argue mainstream political figures should remain on X / Twitter to counteract far-right hate speech fail to understand how the platform (and the way its algorithm works) has changed in recent years. Hopefully we see more of this www.holyrood.com/news/view,li...

Lisa Nandy announces government department will leave X

The Department of Culture, Media and Sport is the second to do so

holyrood.com

Lisa Nandy - and the department she leads - leaves X, saying the platform "isn't healthy for our democracy" www.holyrood.com/news/view,li...

Lisa Nandy announces government department will leave X

The Department of Culture, Media and Sport is the second to do so

holyrood.com

I'd suspect the UK public mainly think it's fair for the media to scrutinise the extent and origin of the wealth of someone hoping to be prime minister, especially when it includes elements like undeclared £5m gifts from overseas-based billionaires who would become even richer under Reform policies.

NEW: A David Bowie treasure trove spanning his entire career is to go on display in Scotland after V&A Dundee secured the premiere of an exhibition which will tour across the UK. Full details: www.heraldscotland.com/news/2624100... @heraldscotland.bsky.social

Sweden trying to stop France

C'mon Canada, make it happen...

Scott Bryan@scottygb.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Canada is to enter the Eurovision Song Contest in 2027, EBU announces.

Weird how the right both believe Thatcher's council house sale is the best policy in history and that anyone who benefitted from it is bad and wrong.

Adam Bienkov@adambienkov.bsky.social · 2mo ago

So it turns out the massive scandal here is that Bridget Phillipson's mum bought a council house for £9k in 1990 and then sold it *33 years* later for £99k. That's the entire story

Former SNP deputy first minister Kate Forbes spoke at this conference, dubbed the "anti-woke Davos" which also platformed Farage, climate scepticism, and was attended by members of European far-right parties www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Nigel Farage to join populist and rightwing figures at ‘anti-woke Davos’ in London

Exclusive: Event co-founded by Jordan Peterson will bring together rightwing figures, US state officials and anti-abortionists in London

theguardian.com

Meet James Purnell. Andy Burnham's chief of staff. In earlier incarnation, he supported the Iraq invasion; was chairman of Labour Friends of Israel; said that Winter Fuel Allowance and free bus passes should not be sacred; supported PFI, lie-detector tests for benefit claimants. What next?

Andy Burnham picks former Blair minister James Purnell as chief of staff

Decision is one of Makerfield MP’s most significant since his Westminster return as he builds his team for government

theguardian.com

"If he thinks violence in this city is funny, I am outraged." Labour MSP Daniel Johnson says Reform MSPs risk inciting violence with their language.

Great cover

Scotland's newspaper editors have written a joint letter to tell their journalists to defy Holyrood's new media "pen", warning the restrictions bring Parliament "into disrepute" www.heraldscotland.com/news/2621982...

Scottish newspaper editors tell journalists to defy Holyrood 'pen'

Every major Scottish newspaper editor has ordered journalists to defy a controversial new 'pen' at Holyrood, warning that the restrictions…

heraldscotland.com

"Even the judge at the High Court in Edinburgh had to say that he was left wondering just why the former chief executive of the SNP embezzled more than £400,000 from the party he led." Good piece on the Murrell scandal by @kirsteenpaterson.bsky.social www.holyrood.com/comment/view...

Peter Murrell sentencing leaves questions unanswered for SNP

Even the judge was left wondering why the former chief executive of the SNP did it. How he did it is another matter.

holyrood.com

📺 NEW: Edinburgh has lost its TV Festival to Greater Manchester after hosting the event for half a century. 📺 Full details: www.heraldscotland.com/news/2621844... @heraldscotland.bsky.social

From Israeli disinformation campaigns against John Swinney to Tommy Robinson sharing Russian psyops, UK politics has a problem with foreign interference www.holyrood.com/comment/view...

Viral infection: Foreign states are sowing fear and division on our streets via social media

Whether it works or not the social media ban won’t address the problem of fully-grown adults being fed a diet of conspir...

holyrood.com

Peter Murrell sentenced to five years and three months for a crime described as "not particularly sophisticated" by judge Lord Young. We know how he did it but still no further forward as to why www.holyrood.com/news/view,fo...

Former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell jailed for embezzlement

Nicola Sturgeon's estranged husband had previously admitted to stealing over £400,000 from the party

holyrood.com

When did things go wrong for the beleaguered PM? The answer is: almost immediately. Labour’s honeymoon period was small, cut short in part by a statement from Chancellor Rachel Reeves who warned of “incredibly tough choices” ahead. Things did not improve from there www.holyrood.com/inside-polit...

Keir Starmer: Where did it all go wrong?

It’s remarkable that a man who won such a huge majority in the House of Commons less than two years ago has ended up her...

holyrood.com

Without an inquiry, the Murrell scandal will continue to dog John Swinney www.holyrood.com/inside-polit...

Without an inquiry, the Murrell scandal will continue to dog John Swinney

Peter Murrell, former SNP chief executive and estranged husband of Nicola Sturgeon, will this week be sentenced for embe...

holyrood.com

Whether it works or not the social media ban won’t address the problem of fully-grown adults being fed a diet of conspiracy and disinformation online, writes @chrismarshll.bsky.social www.holyrood.com/comment/view...

Viral infection: Foreign states are sowing fear and division on our streets via social media

Whether it works or not the social media ban won’t address the problem of fully-grown adults being fed a diet of conspir...

holyrood.com

Exc: First Government department quits Twitter over racism and violence concerns Richard Hermer sent a directive to staff last week saying the Attorney General's Office would be coming off the platform observer.co.uk/news/politic...

First government department quits X over racism and viole...

Concern about the spread of misinformation from right-wing figures prompts Richard Hermer to pull Attorney General’s Office off platform

observer.co.uk

A generation of children confined to exclusively posting on LinkedIn, humbled to share that they have been recognised as thought leaders in vertically integrating your mom's supply chain.

Bill Gates is the first billionaire to say publicly what many in New York business circles have talked about for years: Epstein blackmailed many of the world’s wealthiest men, he operated like Russian intelligence, gathering kompromat through his network. www.thetimes.com/us/news-toda...

Bill Gates: Epstein blackmailed me over affairs

The Microsoft founder was speaking before he faced questioning by a US government committee over his relationship with the sex offender

thetimes.com

An Israeli firm spread misinformation about John Swinney before the Holyrood election, according to the French authorities. www.holyrood.com/news/view,is...

Israeli tech firm targeted John Swinney in election misinformation campaign, France says

Claims are 'deeply concerning', FM says

holyrood.com