MacDonald Highland Resorts (MAHR) in Aviemore, Scotland, is hosting the Institute of Animal Technology (IAT) Congress 2008 in March. Make your voices heard against the vivisectors in the UK!

Digging machinery appeared on the 6th February 2008 at the Lismullin National Monument near the Hill of Tara in Ireland as attempts are begun to fill in the Henge in advance of Irish and European Court decisions. (http://www.indymedia.ie/article/86111)

Mike Treen of New Zealand's Unite Union, which organised the first Starbucks strike in the world, and French fast food worker and union activist Axel Persson are speaking in London tomorrow as part of a week of action speaker tour organised by the No Sweat campaign. A similar event is also planned in Scotland.

After months of silence the SNP government have announced that they will press ahead with the big business scheme to extend the M74 through the Southside of Glasgow. A contract has been signed awarding the single bidder 30% more than expected.

A new free to access service offering practical guidance, support and advice to anyone involved in elderly care has been set up in Glasgow

Chris Gelken highlights the hypocrisy of the Bush administration, and the bitter irony of comparing the Guantanamo hearings to the Nuremburg trials.

Royal Exchange Square in Glasgow is famous for two things. There's an equestrian statue wearing a traffic cone and it's where skaters, goths and emo kids hang around. In recent years this has come into conflict with our new conference-friendly city image.

Hold the front page! Them as work in the Home Office dawn raid squad are racist, stupid and rude. Two of them have been suspended for posting online pictures of their Xmas night out which involved them harassing a waiter at a Chinese restaurant. Full text below so you don't have to visit the site. …. "TWO immigration enforcers who deport failed asylum seekers from Scotland have been suspended in a racism row. The pair, from a specialist enforcement centre in Glasgow, could face the sack. They are accused of publishing offensive material on social networking sites Facebook and Bebo, including jokes about making a raid on a Chinese restaurant. They are also accused of naming an asylum seeker whose case they were working on - and printing an offensive message under a picture from a drunken staff party. A probe into their conduct is to be carried out. The Home Office swat team pair belong to the unit nicknamed "The Childcatchers", whose tactics - particularly the use of dawn raids - have been subject to fierce criticism. It is believed that, because of the suspensions, not a single failed asylum-seeking family was ejected from Scotland during January. A Home Office insider said: "The allegations came up after a bunch of the enforcement guys were out for a meal around Christmas. "A lot of alcohol was drunk and they ended up in a restaurant, where photographs were taken. "These ended up being posted on Facebook and Bebo, using a work computer, which is against the rules. "What got them in big trouble was the nature of the content and the texts under the photographs. "Reference was made to the officers visiting the restaurant just before it was 'raided'. "There were jokes about how the officers could have a free meal before deporting a particular indiviual. "They put the man's name on the site to mock him." The source added: "When the postings came to light, management were furious and now the men's jobs are on the line." The men involved belong to the swat team, based at Brand Street immigration centre in Glasgow's Ibrox area. Critics have blasted the squad for their heavy-handedness to failed asylum seekers. In some cases, children have been deported to countries their parents had fled, despite the fact the kids were born in Scotland. Yesterday, a spokesman for the Border and Immigration Agency refused to comment on the suspensions. The spokesman also refused to confirm the enforcement unit had been crippled by the loss of the key workers."

"The rise was driven by an all-time high annual inflation rate in ingredients for home-produced food of 36%, mainly due to soaring wheat costs. Bread prices rose by 7.5% last year, while milk, cheese and eggs surged by 15%." Support your local food co-op :)