- Ecuador vice president says Noboa seeking her 'banishment'
- Leicester boss Van Nistelrooy aware of 'bigger picture' as Liverpool await
- Syria authorities say armed groups have agreed to disband
- Maresca expects Man City to be in title hunt as he downplays Chelsea's chancs
- Man Utd boss Amorim vows to stay on course despite Rashford row
- South Africa opt for all-pace attack against Pakistan
- Guardiola adamant Man City slump not all about Haaland
- Global stocks mostly higher in thin pre-Christmas trade
- Bethlehem marks sombre Christmas under shadow of war
- NASA probe makes closest ever pass by the Sun
- 11 killed in blast at Turkey explosives plant
- Indonesia considers parole for ex-terror chiefs: official
- Global stocks mostly rise in thin pre-Christmas trade
- Postecoglou says Spurs 'need to reinforce' in transfer window
- Le Pen says days of new French govt numbered
- Global stocks mostly rise after US tech rally
- Villa boss Emery set for 'very difficult' clash with Newcastle
- Investors swoop in to save German flying taxi startup
- How Finnish youth learn to spot disinformation
- South Korean opposition postpones decision to impeach acting president
- 12 killed in blast at Turkey explosives plant
- Panama leaders past and present reject Trump's threat of Canal takeover
- Hong Kong police issue fresh bounties for activists overseas
- Saving the mysterious African manatee at Cameroon hotspot
- India consider second spinner for Boxing Day Test
- London wall illuminates Covid's enduring pain at Christmas
- Poyet appointed manager at South Korea's Jeonbuk
- South Korea's opposition vows to impeach acting president
- The tsunami detection buoys safeguarding lives in Thailand
- Teen Konstas to open for Australia in Boxing Day India Test
- Asian stocks mostly up after US tech rally
- US panel could not reach consensus on US-Japan steel deal: Nippon
- The real-life violence that inspired South Korea's 'Squid Game'
- Blogs to Bluesky: social media shifts responses after 2004 tsunami
- Tennis power couple de Minaur and Boulter get engaged
- Supermaxi yachts eye record in gruelling Sydney-Hobart race
- Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupts, spewing columns of lava
- MedMira receives Health Canada approval for its Multiplo(R) Rapid (TP/HIV) Test for Syphilis and HIV
- The Glimpse Group Regains Compliance with NASDAQ
- Sokoman Minerals Completes Phase 1 Diamond Drilling Program Fleur de Lys Gold Project, NW Newfoundland
- Canadian Government Provides C$100 Million Financing LOI to Green Technology Metals in Support of Electric Royalties' Flagship Lithium Royalty Asset in Ontario
- Sendero Resources Announces First Tranche Closing of Its Non-Brokered Private Placement
- EVSX Completes Installation of Multi Chemistry Line
- InterContinental Hotels Group PLC Announces Transaction in Own Shares - December 24
- El Salvador Congress votes to end ban on metal mining
- Five things to know about Panama Canal, in Trump's sights
- NBA fines Minnesota guard Edwards $75,000 for outburst
- Haitians massacred for practicing voodoo were abducted, hacked to death: UN
- Inter beat Como to keep in touch with leaders Atalanta
- Mixed day for global stocks as market hopes for 'Santa Claus rally'
RBGPF | -1.17% | 59.8 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.64% | 23.75 | $ | |
SCS | 0.68% | 11.73 | $ | |
JRI | 0.7% | 12.185 | $ | |
NGG | -0.29% | 58.85 | $ | |
BTI | 0.01% | 36.225 | $ | |
BCC | 1.02% | 123.5 | $ | |
GSK | -0.37% | 33.935 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.63% | 23.402 | $ | |
RIO | -0.07% | 59.186 | $ | |
RYCEF | -0.14% | 7.24 | $ | |
RELX | 0.55% | 45.84 | $ | |
AZN | -0.57% | 66.25 | $ | |
BCE | 0.28% | 22.905 | $ | |
BP | 0.23% | 28.815 | $ | |
VOD | 0.77% | 8.435 | $ |
Auld reekie: Edinburgh bin strike leaves a bad smell
Trash overflowed from bins on the streets of Edinburgh on Tuesday as a strike by council workers hit the city during its internationally renowned arts festival.
Tens of thousands of performers and tourists have poured into Scotland's capital for the festival, which runs through most of August.
But many have spoken at their revulsion at the stench as bins overflowed around the city, whose thick smog in the 16th and 17th centuries earned it the nickname "Auld Reekie" (Old Smoky).
"I'm from London and we've seen some quite bad protests and bad riots but this is up there," street performer James Tofalli, who was picking up litter outside Waverley train station, told AFP.
"I've not performed today. Not performed yesterday and for a few days because it's not a nice place to play."
Jenna Rank, an Australian tourist, said she had been excited to show "beautiful Edinburgh" to her partner, with the festival running in full for the first time since 2019 before coronavirus struck.
But she said she was left deeply disappointed after encountering an overpowering stench.
"I kind of joked, 'oh welcome to beautiful Edinburgh -- it's not normally like this'," she said.
"It was quite breath-taking and not just the smell. For some people it's their first time. It's a shame to leave that kind of impression."
Ian Tomlinson, who was born in Edinburgh, said he had never seen the city this bad, as fears grew about a surge in the population of rats and other pests.
"This is embarrassing. I am actually embarrassed to walk around the city at the moment and see so much junk," he said.
Cleaning staff working for Edinburgh City Council went on a 12-day strike last Thursday after rejecting a 3.0 percent pay offer which it called "derisory" in the current economic climate.
UK inflation is currently at 40-year highs of 10.1 percent on the back of soaring energy costs, and is predicted to hit 13 percent or even higher next year.
A strike by bin lorry drivers in Coventry, central England, lasted six months until late July. The country has recently been hit by strikes by railway workers and criminal lawyers over pay.
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the strike action came while Edinburgh was at the "centre of the cultural world" and rejected claims of a lack of government funding for local councils.
"Nobody wants to see the kind of disruption and impact of strikes that many people are witnessing in Edinburgh right now," she said.
Local residents have been asked to keep their rubbish inside rather than put it on the street. Waste and recycling centres are also shut.
Miles Briggs, a local government spokesman for the opposition Scottish Conservatives, said the rubbish piling up on our streets risked damaging the city's reputation.
"These annual festivals are supposed to be a source of pride, not humiliation," he said.
C.Garcia--AMWN