By Guy Dorrell Every turn of the economic cycle seems to bring another fad; 2007, just before the crash, saw food miles as the ‘must talk about’ subject of the moment. The idea that seafood should be fished from Scottish waters, shipped to Thailand for processing and then shipped back to Scotland for sale appeared absurd, because it was. Then came the economic downturn, with the first run on a bank in 200 years, and food miles slipped down everyone’s...

By Ian Carroll What follows could easily be a(nother) rant from a Newcastle United fan about Mike Ashley, Sports Direct, lack of money spent, good players sold and not replaced, Wonga etc etc. However, the biggest problem at Newcastle United, by far, is Alan Pardew. The man is a complete joke of a football manager, who somehow is still employed on a contract with more than six years left to run. On the face of it, finishing tenth in the...

Quiet week on the FTSE with Severn Trent and AVEVA looking good investments Last Week's Roundup: Last week saw SSE announce their profits rose by 9.6 per cent, which was largely due to the price hikes discussed in last weeks article. The price rises were to cover outstanding costs and help preserve the longevity of SSE, but following this positive news about profits their share price declined on Wednesday. Investors will be concerned due to Ofcom tightening the regulations on...

By Nikita Gush #Bringbackourgirls You have probably seen on your Twitter feed the trending hashtag #bringbackourgirls. This hashtag is referring to the horrific kidnapping committed by the Boko Haram Islamist militant group in which over 200 young Nigerian women were abducted from their school in Chibok, Borno State. These young women have been missing since April 15, 2014 and it is feared that some of the group have died or been sold into sexual trafficking. Presidents, politicians, and people with...

By Ashley Etchells-Butler About six years ago I was working as an English teacher in the southern Ethiopian town of Soddo.  After a few months in the town I was due to travel to Addis Ababa – along with a couple of other westerners who taught at The Abba Pascal School for Girls. It would prove an eventful journey. We set off early in an ancient, snarling Land Rover. Two Italians, two Ethiopians and myself. On route, we took a...

By Sasha Morris In 2013, it was determined that one in five people in the UK have at least one tattoo. Once associated with sailors, criminals and gang members, they can now be seen on most celebrities and have become socially acceptable everywhere. The noticeable increase of people getting tattoos are the younger generation; 29 per cent of people aged 16 to 44 years have now inked their skin. But what are peoples’ reasons for getting tattoos? Is it all just...

By Joshua Danton Boyd is a copywriter for the online accountants Crunch Situated around 350 miles away from each other, these two German cities go a long way in representing Deutschland's two identities: one of dirndls and beerhalls and the other of underground clubs and techno music. Munich In the south of the country, in Bavaria, sits Munich. It’s nearly a third of the size of its northern counterpart, but that doesn’t mean it can’t hold it’s own against the...

By Naomi Mead nutrition therapist Dietary fat is starting to get the attention it deserves…and this time, for positive reasons.  The old “eat fat, get fat” misconception is being quashed, as we gain a better understanding of the very important role that fat plays in our body.  The topic of saturated fat and the unintended but potentially devastating consequences its vilification has had on our health is a whole subject of its own, and still very much a topic of hot...

by Luca Foschi “My night time lessons via Skype are followed by thousands of disciples around the world”, sheik Omar Bakri said in the austere parlour of his residence in Tripoli. He lived in the UK between 1984 and 2006 when pressure from the government after the 7/7 terrorist attacks forced him to return to Beirut, where he was born 55 years ago. He is one of the most important figures in the British Islamic community and fought in Bosnia,...