Philip Patrick

A corner of Glasgow’s historic Central Station was destroyed by fire last Sunday in scenes that resembled the 1970s disaster film Towering Inferno. The fire apparently started in a pop-up vape shop occupying a ground-level retail outlet and spread rapidly upwards. The dome of the 19th-century structure partially collapsed and 250 firefighters and a high-pressure hose drawing water from the River Clyde were needed to get the fire under control. A key architectural symbol of the former ‘second city of the empire’ was brought low. It wasn’t quite Glasgow’s Notre Dame moment, but desperately sad nonetheless.  This is the fifth major fire of a historic building in Glasgow in recent years.

Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka is at the centre of controversy again, losing friends and alienating people as she has done throughout her chequered career. The four-time major champion and current world number 16 has been accused of poor etiquette in a match against the Romanian Sorana Cîrstea at the Australian Open. Osaka was heard to exclaim ‘Come on!’ repeatedly as a sort of self-motivating exhortation in Thursday’s match. Nothing wrong with that, but one of her ‘come on!’s occurred between her opponent’s first and second serves and provoked Cîrstea to complain to the umpire.

It was the Golden Globes last night in Tinseltown and as per usual Hollywood’s finest strutted and peacocked on the red carpet to the click and flash of the massed paparazzi cameras. Images of their 1000-watt smiles and 10,000-dollar couture outfits were beamed around the world to a million Instagram and X feeds. Yet, something was missing. These days a celebrity glamfest is not complete without a healthy dose of woke posturing on the issue du jour, whether it be underrepresentation of black people (‘OscarsSoWhite’ or Black Lives Matter), women’s empowerment, climate change, or most recently of course, the plight of the Palestinians. This time, not so much.

Today's World Cup draw in Washington, presided over by Fifa president Gianni Infantino with best buddie president Donald Trump at his side, is intended to whet appetites, set pulses racing and, most importantly, get fingers twitching on booking sites for tickets, flights, and hotels for next summer’s North American extravaganza. The World Cup 2026 is poised to be not just the biggest ever, but the biggest rip-off ever For those giddily contemplating the trip to North America next summer – not least we Scottish fans who have been denied a place at the party for so long – a cold, hard reality is about to bite. For the World Cup 2026 is poised to be not just the biggest ever, but the biggest rip-off ever.

The British Council, the cultural arm of the UK government, is in deep trouble. The 91-year-old organisation is struggling to repay a £200 million-pound loan from the Covid era and there is anxious talk of up to 40 centre closures and a possible 2,000 job losses. Assets are being sold off to try and keep the show on the road. There is a problem that the Council does not really know what it is for – or perhaps it knows, but does not relish, its mission ‘We really need help on that loan,' says Scott Macdonald, the Council's beleaguered chief executive. 'The government has got to turn it into something viable for us and at reasonable termsWe are selling off everything.