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The viral footage revealed that the teen had been removed from class for stating that there are only two genders, with the teacher telling him that whilst the boy was entitled to his “opinion”, he could not share it at school because “the authority” and school policy dictated that there are many genders and to assert otherwise was “not acceptable” and tantamount to discrimination. “I know what you think, and I know what the authority thinks, I know the authority’s point of view is very clear,” the teacher is heard saying. In the interview, the boy said the issue first...

One of the enduring consequences of the era of Phoenician influence -- which had by around 800 BC progressed from trading outposts to full-blown colonies in southern Spain -- was the adoption of alphabetic writing by the native population, first in the south-west. The number of known Tartessian inscriptions on stone is now about 90 and steadily rising with new discoveries. Concentrated densely in southern Portugal (the Algarve and Lower Alentejo), there is a wider scatter of fifteen over south-west Spain. The best exhibition of the inscriptions is on view in the new and innovative Museu da Escrita do Sudoeste,...

A Fraserburgh piper is looking forward to sharing his passion for music in the classroom after the summer. Former Fraserburgh Academy and Dyce Music School pupil, Andrew Buchan, was “delighted” yesterday as he graduated with a bachelor in music and education. The 23-year-old has secured a probationary teaching position at Banff Primary School and meantime is looking forward to jetting off to Tenerife on a “much-needed” holiday today. A piper in his spare time, the rest of his summer will be taken up with piping championships as part of the Highland Granite Pipes and Drums band. “I have played the...

Crannogs were fortified settlements constructed on artificial islands in lochs. It was thought they were first built in the Iron Age, a period that began around 800 BC. But four Western Isles sites have been radiocarbon dated to about 3640-3360 BC in the Neolithic period - before the erection of Stonehenge's stone circle... Another famous Neolithic site is Skara Brae, a village in Orkney inhabited between 3200 BC and 2200 BC... They said it was possible other Scottish crannogs, and similar sites in Ireland, were also Neolithic. Previously it was thought crannogs were built and re-used over a period of...

Your Harbinger of Freedom is about to arrive, No more work or reason to strive, I have erased your Crossroads for you have met ME there, And Now for the first time in your Life FREEDOM is in The Air, Lifting you into My Perfect WILL, For you Carry My Voice and Write with My Quill, A Fragrant Blossom Truly are you, The Rainwater of morning , Hermons Dew, For you are My Sonshine as I paint your Day, For those I send you to, bringing exactly what I say ! There is no difference from your Voicebox or My...

Pytheas was a contemporary of Aristotle and Alexander the Great. He reached the Arctic Circle in his search for new sources of tin (essential for the making of bronze) and amber (usually sourced from the German coast) around 330 to 325 BC... As Pytheas continued his journey north along Britain's west coast he came across Ireland and rounded the tip of Scotland. At that point in his journey, he learned of an island situated further north at a distance of six days sailing which he refers to as "Thule" (most probably Iceland). Geminus of Rhodes (1st century BC) quoting directly...

Some have suggested that trading commodities – most notably walrus tusks – with Europe may have been vital to sustaining the Greenlanders. Ornate items including crucifixes and chess pieces were fashioned from walrus ivory by craftsmen of the age. However, the source of this ivory has never been empirically established. Now, researchers from the universities of Cambridge and Oslo have studied ancient DNA from offcuts of tusks and skulls, most found on the sites of former ivory workshops across Europe, in order to trace the origin of the animals used in the medieval trade. In doing so they have discovered...

An ivory chess piece purchased for less than $10 was recently identified as one of the missing Lewis Chessman, 900-year-old artifacts dating back to the Viking era, which could be worth over $1 million dollars. The medieval chess piece was originally purchased for $7.50 by an antique dealer in Scotland in 1964. It was passed down through his family, but they never realized its significance. “For many years it resided in a drawer in [my mother’s] home where it had been carefully wrapped in a small bag,” the family, who wished to remain anonymous, said in a statement obtained by the...

Northern United Kingdom latest to experience attacksScotland is the latest nation reporting vandalism against buildings and statuary in its Catholic parishes. Saint Simon's Catholic Church and cemetery in Glasgow and Holy Family Church in Mossend, North Lanarkshire were both attacked over the course of this week. The Glasgow-based Daily Record newspaper reported April 25 that vandals had defaced the bus stop in front of Holy Family with a slur against the Pope. The graffiti was discovered one month after numerous windows had been broken in the parish's primary school on March 25. Glasgow Police tweeted "significant vandalism" was committed against...

Legislation to enable the staging of a second referendum on independence has been published by the Scottish government, as Nicola Sturgeon said another vote before 2021 would give Scotland “the opportunity to choose to be an independent European nation – rather than have a Brexit future imposed upon us”. The framework bill, published on Wednesday morning, comes after the Scottish National party secured a record three MEPS and its highest-ever European parliament vote at 38%, boosted by Sturgeon’s clear pro-remain campaigning, in which the first minister urged voters to support her party whether or not they were pro-independence, to send...

A new leaked document shows that Theresa May’s plans for a “new” Brexit withdrawal agreement contains no new ideas or any substantial changes. Prime Minister Theresa May, whose attempts to pass a version of her EU-approved withdrawal treaty have so far failed three times, has said of this new version of the deal that it would “represent a new, bold offer to MPs across the House of Commons, with an improved package of measures that I believe can win new support”. However, speaking of a summary of the deal as it had been given to ministers, one unnamed Whitehall source...

The British Pipe Band Championships were held, with St Laurence O’Toole being crowned winners. The event welcomed pipers from as far as the US, Belgium and Denmark The British Pipe Band Championships were held at St James Playing Fields in Paisley on Saturday, with St Laurence O’Toole being crowned winners. More than 120 bands from as far as the US, Belgium and Denmark travelled to Scotland for the event, with local school bands also taking part. Ian Embelton, chief executive of the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association, said: “The British Championships are the first of our five major championships taking...

Full title: Britain's Guardian newspaper tells staff to avoid saying 'climate change,' use 'climate emergency, crisis or breakdown' instead Britain's Guardian newspaper is officially changing its language concerning climate change, opting to call it instead “climate emergency, crisis or breakdown.” Editor-in-chief Katharine Viner advised the staff in an email Friday that the phrase “climate change” should be avoided because it “sounds rather passive and gentle’ and doesn’t capture the real threat to humanity. “We want to ensure that we are being scientifically precise and rooted in facts, while also communicating clearly with readers on this very important issue,” Viner wrote. The...

My absoluteness extends into forever as Loving kindness and so My Faithfullness equates The sum of My Love for you for I AM ever with you being in and through all things . . . Therefore there is No need of reaching out but merely and graciously just a laying down before Me (Jesus) All your cares and woes for I AM ever listening and caring for you even when it seems I AM distant to your needs, your cries and your joys for Truly I KNOW your beginning for I AM YOUR COMPLETENESS and Final Joy Eternally waiting for...

Do you see my children True Unity is not agreement it is Oneness with My Will and My WORD . I AM in and through all things. I AM The Answer , I AM The Beginning , and I KNOW The End. Without Me there is only futility . . . Ah but with Me, " With ME" in and through ALL things, There IS PEACE, There IS ONENESS, There IS TRUTH. My LOVE has many facets. COME Learn of MY LOVE ! COME KNOW MY LOVE ! Do not live in yours it is futile , it is True...

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has declared a "climate emergency" in her speech to the SNP conference. The SNP leader told delegates in Edinburgh she was inspired after meeting young climate campaigners who had gone on strike from school. Ms Sturgeon said "they are right", and pledged to "live up to our responsibility" to halt climate change. She also announced what she described as the SNP's "biggest campaign on the economics of independence". Labour is expected to press the UK government to declare a national climate emergency on Wednesday.

Scotland’s first minister says ‘independent nations’ wield more power in EU than Scotland does within the UK. Scotland should hold a referendum on independence before 2021 if the U.K. leaves the EU, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said. “A choice between Brexit and a future for Scotland as an independent European nation should be offered in the lifetime of this parliament," the Scottish National Party leader said. "If Scotland is taken out of the EU, a referendum within that timescale must be open to us. That would be our route to avoiding the worst of the damage that Brexit would do.”...

President Trump on Tuesday incorrectly said his father was from Germany while expressing frustration about the country’s payments toward NATO. "Germany, honestly, is not paying their fair share," Trump said at the White House before noting that he has "great respect" for German Chancellor Angela Merkel and "great respect for the country." "My father is German, was German," he continued. "Born in a very wonderful place in Germany, so I have a great feeling for Germany." The Washington Post said it as least the third time Trump has made this particular claim about his father, Fred Trump, who was born...

Nicola Sturgeon is more interested in pushing for independence than she is in finding a solution to Brexit, the Scottish Conservatives have claimed. All 35 SNP MPs abstained in a Commons vote on whether there should be customs union with the EU after Brexit. Tory interim leader Jackson Carlaw said the SNP had "refused to back the very option they have been demanding" and accused Ms Sturgeon of "faux outrage". Ms Sturgeon said remaining in the EU must now be the top priority. And she said her party would continue to "stand up for Scotland's interests" by pushing for another...

A Scottish SNP MEP today urged European leaders to “leave a light on” so an independent Scotland can “find a way home” to the EU. The SNP’s Alyn Smith encouraged lawmakers in Strasbourg to support a separate Scottish state in what is likely to be his final speech in the European Parliament. “What a sad place we are in on Brexit ,” he told MEPs. “What a tragedy. So many issues we should be working on together utterly distracted by a self-inflicted disaster. “Entirely because the UK even at this last hour hasn’t made a decision on what it actually...