Royal ceremony at St Giles – Higgs Boson – HMO landlord censured by council – Book Festival competition – Shorts for breakfast at the Traverse
Prince William will be installed as a Knight of the Order of the Thistle today at the Thistle Chapel in St Giles Cathedral. The Queen and other members of the Royal Family will also be in attendance. A march by 400 pipers down the Royal Mile is also planned.
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Scientists at CERN yesterday confirmed their most exciting news yet, that they are almost not quite but very nearly certain that they have discovered the Higgs Boson particle. What they have said is that they have discovered something that looks very like what they think the Higgs Boson would look like. Edinburgh’s Professor Peter Higgs who first suggested the existence of the particle in the 1970s, was at CERN in Switzerland yesterday, and was quite emotional at the announcement according to reports. Does this make any sense to you at all? Well the BBC have a good go at explaining it all here, The Telegraph have an article here and The Guardian has its own take here. Do you have an explanation? Then please add it in our comments section below.
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A landlord has been removed from the landlord register which makes it a criminal offence for him to rent out property – the first time this power has been used in Edinburgh.
Evidence was heard at the City of Edinburgh Council’s Regulatory Committee where Yousef Mohammed’s application to operate a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) at a flat in the south of the city was refused.
In addition his name was removed from the landlord register when Councillors decided he did not meet the fit and proper person criteria. The result is that Mr Mohammed can no longer operate as a residential landlord in Edinburgh.
Councillors heard evidence that Mr Mohammed had failed to adequately tell them about his criminal convictions and defied previous decisions of the Council where he continued to rent out HMO properties whilst not holding a licence.
Councillor Gavin Barrie, Convenor of the Regulatory Committee, said: “Edinburgh is open for all landlords who manage their properties and ensure that they are in good condition and that tenants can be safe and secure.
“However, for those who don’t, the Council will take firm action. I would encourage everyone seeking to rent privately to check the landlord register to ensure that their prospective landlord is registered.”
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If you have been completely unsuccessful in obtaining tickets for the Edinburgh International Book Festival then you could win tickets by entering the competition on The Guardian website – but hurry it closes at midnight on 6 July.
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Elsewhere the Festival always brings out the new and the novel, but this time The Traverse are re running a tried and tested format:- Coffee and a bacon roll with a breakfast helping of theatre. And the theatre will be short and snappy, specially commissioned by well known writers. Just the thing to get your Festival days off to a good start.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
