Singapore recruits swanbots to test water quality
Channel News Asia One of the robot swans: You can hardly tell them apart from the real thing Robot swans are taking to the waters of Singapore in order to test the quality of its reservoirs’ drinking water, it’s reported. According to Channel News Asia, five fake birds are being set loose on reservoirs serving […]
The Wanted singer to have urgent heart-block surgery
Getty Images George said messages of support had “given me a much needed boost” Max George, of boy band The Wanted, has said he needs surgery for a heart condition, “way quicker than the doctors first thought”. Taken into hospital on Wednesday, the singer, 36, had a scan on Monday and then posted: “We don’t […]
Siobhán McSweeney to host Irish version of show
RTÉ Siobhán McSweeney said she was the “luckiest person the in world” Siobhán McSweeney is to host the Irish version of reality show The Traitors, Irish broadcaster RTÉ have announced. McSweeney is best known for her role as sister Michael in the comedy series Derry Girls, as well as hosting The Great Pottery Throw Down. […]
HTC smartphones pulled from sale in UK during patent row
HTC HTC has stopped offering its phones for sale in the UK while it is involved in an intellectual property dispute. The Taiwanese company’s online store currently lists all of its models as “out of stock” despite the fact they remain available in other nations. HTC has been involved in a long-running dispute with research […]
Scotland’s appeal to foreign investors bucks trend
Monty Rakusen Scotland’s appeal to foreign investors bucked the sharp downward trend during the Covid crisis last year, according to an annual survey by accountancy and consulancy firm EY. The number of foreign direct investment (FDI) projects that came to Scotland last year was up from 101 to 107. That 6% rise compared with a […]
Russia detains Uzbek man over general’s killing
EPA Russia’s security service says a 29-year-old man from Uzbekistan has been detained over the killing of senior general Igor Kirillov and his assistant in Moscow. Lt Gen Igor Kirillov, head of the Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Forces, was outside a residential block early on Tuesday when an explosive device hidden in a scooter […]
Scots social network Kiltr shuts down
Kiltr The Kiltr website carries a message to members Kiltr, a Scottish network set up with Scottish government funding to rival Facebook and LinkedIn, has shut down. The service offered Scots, both at home and abroad, a platform on which to share content and form networks. Its founders developed their own software and used Kiltr […]
Classic songs reimagined by Derry singer-songwriter
Paul Casey The pair playing together Growing up, singer-songwriter Paul Casey’s dad would often play the aspiring musician the songs of Chris Rea. Little did the guitarist, from Londonderry, know then that not only would he befriend the man he credits with inspiring him into music – but he would recreate some of his most […]
Eight-person limit for Christmas bubbles
Getty Images Christmas “bubbles” of three households in Scotland should contain no more than eight people over the age of 11, the Scottish government has said. Children under the age of 12 will not count towards the total number of people in the bubble. The easing of Covid rules will apply across the UK from […]
Final recognition for the real stars of Wizzard’s Christmas hit
BBC Keyboard player Bill Hunt was joined by Matt Allwright and singers Hilary Gunton, David Brookes, Mary Lafferty, Nik Romillie and Denise Pitkin (left to right) to recreate the song I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday by glam rockers Wizzard has been a festive favourite for more than 50 years. But the children seen […]