Need advice for winter illnesses such as coughs or colds? Get the advice you need quickly and easily with NHS 24’s digital services.
From symptom checkers to pharmacy finders, you’ll get all the right answers from the experts at NHS 24.
Find out more: nhsinform.scot/winter
Thousands of UK personnel will continue to deploy to Europe in the next two months to spearhead a major NATO exercise.
Leading from the front, the UK is providing the largest contribution of forces with over 2600 personnel, and 730 vehicles deploying to NATO’s eastern flank.
Throughout January and February 2025, NATO will conduct Exercise Steadfast Dart 25 to practice the deployment of the new Allied Reaction Force, which can rapidly reinforce NATO’s eastern flank. These important exercises will showcase the Alliance’s readiness, capability, and commitment to defend every inch of NATO territory.
The UK’s 1st Division will be in command of all of NATO’s land forces in the exercise, continuing Britain’s proud tradition of leadership in NATO and demonstrating this government’s unshakeable commitment to the Alliance.
The exercises will see the UK Armed Forces join thousands of personnel from ten NATO Allies, operating across Romania and Bulgaria coinciding with the anniversary of Russia’s illegal full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Minister for the Armed Forces, Luke Pollard MP, said: “This Government wants the UK to be NATO’s leading European nation.
“Exercise Steadfast Dart demonstrates our unshakeable commitment to NATO and highlights the UK key leadership role in the Alliance.
“As we approach the three-year anniversary of Russia’s illegal full-scale invasion of Ukraine, we must continue to strengthen our collective defences together to deter Putin effectively.”
Keeping the country safe is the Government’s first priority, and an integral part of its Plan for Change. The work of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force, is critical to the security and stability of the UK, supporting all of the Government’s five missions in its plan.
This exercise will help to improve co-ordination and cooperation between NATO Allies, particularly in the early phases of deployment. The ability of NATO to rapidly deploy is reliant on nations being able to seamlessly operate alongside each other.
Having a high-readiness forces that can operate across land, air, and sea to respond to emerging threats is a critical component of NATO’s defensive plans.
The new Allied Reaction Force will not only support the Alliance’s defence in times of crisis but strengthen deterrence against our adversaries – including Russia.
It will ensure that forces from across the NATO alliance can come together at shorter notice that has ever been possible before.
730 vehicles including Foxhound and Jackals will deploy by road, air, and sea to Eastern Europe where they will conduct two exercises before returning to the UK at the end of February.
Westminster’s Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC) will hold the first public evidence session of their inquiry into the 2024 general election on 7 January.
The inquiry, which was launched by the Committee in December 2024, will review the administration, process and conduct of the most recent national election.
The Chair and Chief Executive of the Electoral Commission will answer questions on the Commission’s report evaluating the general election and May local elections.
The report, published in November of this year, highlighted ‘a number of significant improvements necessary to support participation and trust in future elections’.
The report references issues with postal voting, overseas voting, and intimidation of candidates and campaigners. The Committee are likely to explore the scale and context of these issues.
The Committee may also consider the Commission’s earlier report on the requirement for voter ID to be show for the first time at a UK general election. The Committee is also likely to build on previous committees work and consider the overall state of the UK’s electoral law and administration.
Witnesses:
This month, Central Library have some of their beautiful artists’ books on display. They are also holding four bookbinding workshops with the artist and printmaker, Susie Wilson.
The exhibition is showing in the Mezzanine glass cabinets beside the Music Library – one floor down from street level – and it showcases some of the many gems that we have in our Art and Design Library collections.
Central Library began collecting artists’ books in the 1990s, and we now hold over 200 items from around the world. Our earliest books date from the 1960s, and include notable works in the history of the artists’ book – works by Ed Ruscha, Sol LeWitt, Hamish Fulton and Ian Hamilton Finlay, for example. More recently, the focus for acquisitions has been on books by artists working in Scotland, or with a connection to Scotland.
Artists’ books are pieces of art in book form, and they are as varied as artists are varied. They differ from a sketchbook in that they are made to be seen; they are an artist approaching the book as their artwork and art practice. They may be a means of expressing different forms and textures – like a sculpture, how might the book change when it moves; how might you handle it; how might the light fall on it; what materials is it made from? Or perhaps the artist is exploring text and image relationships, narrative or sequence.
Artists have always been involved in book production, but the artists’ book is generally associated with the second half of the 20th century, and with the artist very much determining the book’s final outcome. Often editions are small, or the books are one-offs. And often they are made to be viewed outside of a gallery space, and all that that might entail.
An artist’s involvement in bookmaking, in making decorative letters or in painting borders, is hundreds of years old. And as technology has changed, so too has an artist’s relationship to book production.
We can see roots of the artists’ book as we know it, in artists such as William Blake (1757 – 1827) and his Songs of Innocence and Experience, or in William Morris (1834 – 1896) and his founding of the Kelmscott Press in 1890. William Blake wrote, designed, printed, coloured, and bound his own books, with the help of his wife, Catherine.
And William Morris saw the spread of print production around him as distancing the role of the artist too much. Instead, he wished to see the artist’s hand in every part of a book’s making, in its typography, page design, illustration, and even its text.
In the late 19th, early 20th century, the livre d’artiste or livre de peintre was born. A luxury artists’ book, the livre d’artiste, originated in France as a limited edition, handmade book, with original graphics. It was often a lavish project for a well-known artist.
Books or assemblages that arose out of avant-garde movements in the early 20th century – Expressionism, Cubism, Futurism, Dada and Surrealism, and later Fluxus – can also be seen as forerunners to today’s artists’ books. These books, which were often made to bypass the gallery space, were an exploration of all the many and varied things that a book might be.
Recent acquisitions to the library’s collections include works by David Faithfull, Rosemary Everett, Susie Leiper, Anupa Gardner, DeeOoshee, and Isobel Lewis. We also have books by numerable prominent British and North American artists: the Abstract Expressionist painter, Helen Frankenthaler; the conceptual artists, Susan Hiller and Joseph Kosuth; Natalie D’Arbeloff and Tacita Dean (amongst many more).
Lastly, we’re delighted to announce that we’ll be running a series of bookbinding workshops with the wonderful artist and printmaker, Susie Wilson (@susiewilson_). In celebration of the City of Edinburgh’s 900th anniversary, the workshops take the city as a starting point and inspiration. They will take place in the George Washington Browne Room in Central Library from 10.30am to 1pm on Saturdays in January and February. Tickets can be booked through Ticket Source or phone 0131 242 8040.
Saturday 11 January: Precipitous City: A journey through Edinburgh – a concertina or accordion book
Saturday 18 January: The Map: A Sense of Place – folding
Saturday 25 January: Miniature Theatres: The Tunnel or ‘Peep show’ book
Saturday 1 February: Forecast: A Change in the Weather – folded pocket
Please do explore our library catalogue where all items are listed. We also have a folder of listings up in the Art and Design Library where books are available for pre-arranged viewings (group visits are preferred).
We’re hoping to hold some open viewings of the collections too, so do keep an eye on Ticket Source and posters in the library for dates.
Please come and enjoy!
Scottish Liberal Democrat communities spokesperson Willie Rennie has criticised cuts to local authority funding which have seen the number of public toilets fall by 25% since the SNP came to power and four local authorities no longer having any public toilet facilities.
Analysis of data uncovered through a Scottish Liberal Democrat freedom of information request reveals that:
Commenting on the figures, Mr Rennie said: “Since the SNP came to power public toilets have been shut down left, right and centre.
“This is not just about public convenience. For some older or disabled Scots, a lack of accessible bathrooms can prevent them enjoying public spaces or getting out and about in their communities.
“That’s a depressing state of affairs for our country to be in but it the inevitable consequence of the decisions that successive SNP First Ministers have taken over the past 17 years.
“Scottish Liberal Democrats want to see local authorities handed real financial firepower to rebuild battered local services like public toilets and other essential amenities like electric charging points and waste disposal points.
“Looking ahead there also needs to be a commitment from the next Scottish Government not to treat local authorities as second-class services.”
Pitch to plate with @Scottish Ahlul Bayt Society – SABS is back for 2025!
Our monthly multicultural meal starts for the year next Tuesday at the new Hibernian Community Hub, within the Famous Five Stand at Easter Road.
There is no need to register, you can come whenever you like between 5.50pm at 8pm for great food and even better company!
We look forward to seeing you there for a great kick-start to 2025! 
Responding to new FOI data from the Scottish Liberal Democrats, the British Dental Association Scotland has warned lifetime registration figures are effectively meaningless, and that there can be no complacency from government or opposition over the future of the service.
New figures show nearly 40% of Scots registered with a dentist have not seen one in two years. 39.5% of all those registered with a practice have not been to one in 24 months, and that includes 1.8 million adults and 177,318 children. 80,000 children have not seen a dentist in five years. More than a quarter of adults (28.8%) who are registered with a dentist have not seen one in five years.
Reform to the discredited high volume/low margin model of care NHS dentistry in Scotland works to took place in November 2023. However, official data shows access problems remain the norm and the oral health gap between rich and poor is widening.
Research last summer found that no practices were able to take on new adult NHS patients within three months in Argyll and Bute, Dumfries and Galloway, Inverclyde, Orkney, Perth and Kinross and Shetland.
David McColl, Chair of the British Dental Association’s Scottish Dental Practice Committee said: “The Scottish Government likes to talk about registration when what really matters is participation.
“Scotland faces widening oral health inequalities. There’s no room for complacency from anyone at Holyrood.”
POLICE are appealing to trace 33-year-old Marius Thuemmler who is missing from Leith.
Marius was visiting relatives in Edinburgh and was due to travel from Leith to Wester Hailes yesterday. He did not arrive, however, and as a result police were contacted.
Marius is quite distinctive in that he is 6ft 4 in height, has long dark blond hair, a beard and moustache, and numerous tattoos of various designs on his arms.
He is believed to be wearing black jeans, a black hooded top with a t-shirt underneath, and white and green trainers.
Inspector Kenny Robertson, Police Scotland, said: “Marius lives in England and was up visiting relatives over Christmas and New Year. Although he is familiar with Edinburgh, as he doesn’t stay here, he doesn’t have places that he tends to visit regularly.
“We have been checking CCTV and liaising with local bus and taxi companies, as well with as colleagues in British Transport Police, but so far there has been no sightings of him.
“We’d ask anyone who may have seen him, or who knows where he may be to get in touch. We’d also say to Marius to give us a call or return to family. We all want to make sure he is safe and well.”
Information can be passed to police via 101. Please quote incident number 1603 of Saturday, 4 January 2025 when calling
