Day: December 2, 2024

Alan Cumming and Paula Hawkins join Val McDermid and Nicola Sturgeon for festive book event

  • Special guests award-winning actor Alan Cumming and bestselling author of The Girl on the Train Paula Hawkins will join book lovers Val McDermid and Nicola Sturgeon for a special festive in-conversation event as part of Edinburgh’s Christmas that explore the joys of reading 
  • Final tickets  on sale now
  • In The Company of Books joins stellar line-up of Christmas Shows at Assembly Hall this year including Jason Byrne, Swamplesque and The Bubble Show 

Edinburgh’s Christmas has announced multi-award winning actor Alan Cumming and author of  bestselling book The Girl on the Train Paula Hawkins will join book lovers Val McDermid and Nicola Sturgeon for a special festive edition of their in-conversation event, In The Company of Books.

This special edition of In The Company of Books reunites friends and book lovers Val and Nicola to discuss all things literary, following a number of sold-out, acclaimed in-conversation events across the UK in recent years. 

Special guests Alan Cumming and Paula Hawkins will join Val and Nicola to explore the joys of reading alongside a few glasses of mulled wine and a lot of festive cheer.

Alan Cumming is the BAFTA Award, Emmy Award, Tony Award, and Olivier Award winning star of stage and screen known for Cabaret on Broadway (1994), Macbeth (2013), GoldenEye (1995), Nightcrawler in X2 (2003), the CBS series The Good Wife (2010–2016) and as host of the Peacock reality game show The Traitors. Plus, the Scottish star was recently announced as Artistic Director of Pitlochry Festival Theatre. 

Paula Hawkins is the author of The Girl on the Train which became a global phenomenon, selling over 23 million copies. Published in over fifty languages, it was a No.1 bestseller around the world and a box-office-hit film starring Emily Blunt. Paula’s most recent thrillers, Into the Water and A Slow Fire Burning, were also instant No.1 bestsellers with her new thriller, The Blue Hour,  published to acclaim earlier in the year. 

Alan Cumming said: “Val and Nicola are both huge inspirations to me, and I can’t wait to share a stage to talk about our shared passion for books.”

Paula Hawkins said: “There are few things I like more than a trawl through someone’s bookshelves, so I’m looking forward to having a good chat with Val and Nicola about the books we’ve loved and been inspired by over the years.”

Val McDermid has sold over 19 million books to date across the globe and has been translated into more than 40 languages. She is perhaps best known for her Wire in the Blood series featuring clinical psychologist Dr Tony Hill and DCI Carol Jordan andis the recipient of six honorary doctorates and an Honorary Fellow of St Hilda’s College, Oxford.

Nicola Sturgeon is the MSP for Glasgow Southside constituency, and the former First Minister of Scotland – the longest-serving and first woman First Minister.

In The Company of Books joins a stellar line-up of performances taking place at Assembly Hall as part of Edinburgh’s Christmas this year.

These include the award-winning, critically acclaimed burlesque and drag parody show Swamplesque, brilliantly funny stand-up comedy from Jason Byrne in Jason Byrne: No Show; plus fun for all the family at the enchanting and inspiring children’s show The Bubble Show. 

For further information and to buy tickets, please go to edinburgh-christmas.com.

Edinburgh’s Christmas attractions are open daily except Christmas Day, with varying opening dates and times available at the official website. 

Police: Have you seen Gary?

POLICE are are appealing for help to trace Gary Coyle, 65, who has been reported missing from Corstorphine.

Gary was last seen around 9.20am on Saturday, 30 November in the Parkgrove area.

He is described as around 5ft 4, of slim build and has long thinning grey hair. It is not known what clothing he is wearing.

Inspector Alison Lawrie said: “Concerns are growing for Gary’s welfare. I am appealing to anyone who might have seen him, knows where he may be, or if Gary himself sees this appeal, to please get in touch with officers.”

Anyone with information is asked to call 101, quoting reference number 3163 of Sunday, 1 December 2024.

UK bolsters humanitarian funding for Gaza

International community convene at Humanitarian Conference in Egypt to collaborate on boosting aid in Gaza

International Development Minister Anneliese Dodds will attend a humanitarian conference in Cairo today [Monday 2 December], meeting with international partners, to discuss how to urgently alleviate suffering in Gaza, as part of a three-day visit to the region.   

The Minister will announce £19 million of funding for Gaza, including £12 million in funding to the United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and World Food Programme (WFP).

The UK has now committed £99 million to the OPTs this financial year, providing vital services to civilians in Gaza and the West Bank delivered through partner agencies. The UK’s humanitarian programme in Gaza has meant half a million people have received essential healthcare. 284,000 people have improved access to water, sanitation and hygiene services. 

To demonstrate the UK’s ongoing commitment to achieving stability in the region and to discuss how to improve economic stability for all Palestinians, Minister Dodds will then travel to the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel.  

The Minister will see first-hand the vital work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) at a refugee camp in the West Bank. She will also highlight the £7m of new UK funding that will go to UNRWA’s Flash Humanitarian Appeal for Gaza. It will support the international response to deliver essential services such as food, shelter and healthcare as winter conditions add to the already dire humanitarian situation.  

To underline UK support for the Palestinian Authority and their essential political and economic reform agenda, the Minister will meet with Palestinian Prime Minister, H.E. Dr. Mohammad Mustafa, and Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, H.E. Dr. Wael Zakout.  

Development Minister Anneliese Dodds said: “The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. Gazans​ are in desperate need of food, and shelter with the onset of winter. The Cairo​ conference will be an opportunity to get leading voices in one room and put forward real-world solutions to the humanitarian​ crisis.

“The UK is committed to supporting the region’s most vulnerable communities, pledging additional funding for UNRWA, and to supporting the Palestinian Authority reforms. 

“Israel must immediately act to ensure unimpeded aid access to Gaza. I will meet counterparts both in Israel and the OPTs to discuss the need to remove these impediments, bring about a ceasefire, free the hostages and find a lasting solution to the conflict.”

The Minister will also confirm the UK has provided £6 million each to the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the Office for Coordinated Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) pooled humanitarian fund. This has gone towards lifesaving health, food, water, sanitation and protection services for Palestinians. 

This year the UK contribution to WFP will enable it to procure 4,465 metric tons of fortified wheat flour, sufficient to cover the needs of more than 451,000 severely food insecure people across Gaza for one month.

Whilst in the OPTs, the Minister will also visit a community in Area C of the West Bank that is subject to settler violence and is at risk of demolition and displacement.

Minister Dodds will then arrive in Israel, holding meetings with Israeli representatives. She will call on Israel to remove impediments to getting aid into Gaza and discuss finding a lasting resolution to the conflict. 

The Minister will also meet the families of UK and UK-linked hostages in Israel and will reiterate that the UK continues to exercise every possible diplomatic lever to see the hostages immediately and unconditionally released. 

Concluding the visit, the Minister will highlight that it is in the long-term interests of the Israelis, Palestinians and the wider region to agree to a ceasefire deal urgently and bring this devastating conflict to an end.