Category: news

One in nine primary schools is operating with at least 60% of its places unfilled, figures obtained by the BBC suggest.

A leading authority on local government predicts mass closures as councils try to cope with expected unprecedented cuts in public spending.

Prof Richard Kerley of Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, said closures were “inescapable”.

Typically education accounts for about 40% of a council’s entire budget.

However, it is not ringfenced against the anticipated major cuts in public spending.

Audit Scotland figures indicate the extent of the underoccupancy in schools.

It is most common in the Highlands and Islands but also evident in urban areas such as Dundee.

The Scottish Rural Schools Network is appealing to politicians in local and central government to value the quality of education in small schools and consider the potential affect on a village or island community if closure went ahead.

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The head of Afghanistan’s Central Bank tells the BBC he will not allow the country’s biggest commercial bank to collapse.

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A Catholic priest convicted of sexually abusing three young sisters is jailed for four years.

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Honduras accuses Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa of risking the life of a Honduran migrant who survived last month’s Mexico massacre.

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The wording of the proposed question for next year’s referendum on further assembly powers should be redrafted, says the election watchdog.

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Labour defends its leadership election rules amid evidence some people can cast multiple votes.

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7 questions on Roland Rat, Mr Motivator and early mornings

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Does a Tony Blair-style drink habit do you any harm?

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Samsung has become the latest manufacturer to enter into the tablet computer market with its Galaxy Tab.

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Two-thirds of people agree with the government stance on cutting arts funding and relying more on private cash, a survey suggests.

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Foreign Secretary William Hague has told reporters why he issued a statement rejecting rumours of an improper relationship with one of his special advisers, Christopher Myers, who has since resigned from his job.

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The BBC’s James Reynolds has been at the San Jose mine in Chile, where he spoke to the partner of one of the trapped miners.

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David Weir, Kenny Miller and Alan Hutton all look certain to start for Scotland in Friday’s Euro 2012 qualifier in Lithuania.

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A 10-year-old girl has been hospitalised after she was bitten by a dog in Kilmarnock.

Toni Clannachan, 10, was bitten in the face by a Japanese akita dog while she was playing in a schoolfriend’s garden at a house on Tuesday.

Her father, James Dixon, told the Daily Record newspaper: “These dogs shouldn’t be with families or around kids. They are killing machines.”

The newspaper also said the attack left Toni needing more than 100 stitches.

Speaking about the attack, Mr Dixon said: “If the dog had bit her an inch or so lower it would have severed an artery in her neck and I really think she would be dead.”

A spokesman for Strathclyde Police said last night: “At 4.40pm on August 31 a 10-year-old female sustained facial injuries when she was bitten by a Japanese akita dog in the Kilmarnock area.

The girl was taken to Crosshouse Hospital in Kilmarnock where she was said to be in a stable condition.

This is the second attack on a child in Scotland by dogs this week, after 10-year-old Rhianna Kidd was attacked while riding her bike in a Dundee street on Sunday.

She underwent emergency surgery and was treated for a fractured jaw and had plastic surgery. The dogs were later destroyed.

Tayside Police said a 33-year-old woman had been charged under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 for failing to keep the animals under control.

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South Africa’s public sector strike is set to continue after the main trade union federation rejected an improved wage offer from the government.

The Cosatu federation said the majority of its affiliated unions had voted against the proposal.

The strike – now into its third week – has seen many schools and hospitals grind to a halt.

Earlier this week, the government raised its pay offer to 7.5%, but the unions are demanding 8.6%.

The government also offered an 800-rand (£71, $110) housing allowance – up from the earlier proposed 700 rand. But the unions want a 1,000-rand allowance.

“The unions met this afternoon and Cosatu rejected the offer. The strikes will continue and we will continue to consult our members,” Cosatu Secretary General Zwelinzima Vavi told Reuters on Wednesday.

However, the Independent Labour Caucus – a smaller union federation – said its members were split on the government offer.

Cosatu did say it was suspending a one-day sympathy strike on Thursday by all its member unions to give the state workers more time to consult. Further talks are now expected later in the day.

About a million civil servants are already on strike, but Cosatu’s total affiliated membership is double that.

Earlier this week, South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma called for fresh attempts to negotiate a solution to the strike.

The stoppage has had a crippling affect especially on hospitals, where army medics and volunteers are caring for patients.

The BBC’s Karen Allen in Johannesburg says that the president needs to restore relations with the unions, his key power base, ahead of a policy conference of the major ruling party, the African National Congress, in three weeks’ time.

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