With leading airlines slowly stabilising after the economic downturn and budget carriers once again offering dirt cheap tickets, it is often those who drive to and from the airport who are hit the hardest.

In July, the MP for Glasgow North West, John Robertson, called for lower charges on airport parking and lamented the fact that in a modern community which offers £1 flights little is being done to with consideration to motorists. Mr Robertson’s hometown Glasgow Airport currently charges £1 for short stays under 20 minutes, with longer stays costing up to £7.20 for three hours. Meanwhile, at Edinburgh Airport, as of next month any motorist collecting or dropping off passengers will be charged £1.

Thankfully, a new website has been developed to help domestic and international travellers get the best rates at worldwide airport parking stations. Worldparking.co.uk is dedicated to finding the best airport parking prices from leading providers within Britain and in the United States and Canada. By teaming up with the most established parking providers the UK-based site is able to deliver the best cheap airport parking deals to your next destination on either side of the Atlantic or across the UK.

Choose from great offers at Birmingham, Belfast, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester among others in the UK, with Gatwick, Stansted and Heathrow all on sale in the capital. World parking also offers great deals at all of the leading US airports, including Atlanta Hartsfield International, Boston Logan International, Chicago Midway, Chicago O’Hare International, Dallas International, Los Angeles International, Miami International, New York La Guardia International and JFK, Seattle Tacoma International, Washington Dulles International. For travellers heading to Canada, parking reservations can be made at Montreal Dorval International, Toronto Lester B Pearson International and Vancouver International.

His impatiently awaited tour of the both the UK & Ireland is now scheduled to make stops in both Edinburg and Glasgow. Stewart will perform his Scottish capital show at the much reveared and mythical setting of Edinburgh Castle on July 14th.  He will also play at the Glasgow SECC nine days later. These will mark the first time in three year that the mfega selling artist will appeared for an act in Scotland.
Rod Stewart Scottish Tour dates and check the phone numbers for ticket details:

July 14th EDINBURGH, Castle 0871 220 0260 0844 395 4000
July 23rd GLASGOW, SECC 08444 775 775

This latest announcement follows the 7 UK Stewart dates which were revealed previously. Tickets for the UK and Ireland tour have been available since Friday November 27.

Stewart will set out on tour to promote his latest studio endeavour, ‘Soulbook’, which was recently launched.
‘Soulbook’, already the artist’s seventh UK Top Ten album this decade, reached No.10 in the UK and was ranked No.4 in the U.S. charts.

‘Soulbook’ has amazing interpretations of old soul classic songs from the 60s and 70s and features the singer performing in duets with Smokey Robinson, Mary Stevie Wonder and J. Blige.

Rod Stewart is the only two musical acts to have been rewarded with 5 platinum albums in the UK during the 2000s. The other performer is Robbie Williams.

Rod Stewart has sold some 250 million albums and singles through out his career and has managed to reach the Top Ten in the UK a stunning 27 times. He’s considered one of the most successful singers of all time.

All of Stewart’s 2010 UK dates:

DUBLIN, The O2 (May 11)
BELFAST, Odyssey (15)
NEWCASTLE, Metro Arena (18)
NOTTINGHAM, Arena (20)
BIRMINGHAM, NIA (22)
MANCHESTER, MEN (26)
LONDON, O2 (29)
EDINBURGH, Castle (July 14)
GLASGOW, SECC (23)

Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) experts said that the river was expected to reach a peak at about 0300 GMT.

Floods hit towns across southern and central Scotland as heavy rain and strong winds took hold, and a missing person thought to have fallen into a river near Falkirk was later accounted for, according to police.

Severe flood warnings were issued for various rivers, with the most serious areas being the River Earn, the Tweed, Ettrick, Yarrow and Teviot in the Borders, the Isla in Perthsire and the Nith in Dumfries and Galloway.

Major roads including the A9, M8 and M80 were suffered the effects as were many minor roads across central and southern Scotland.

For most of the later part of Thursday, driving conditions were reported as treacherous due to surface water and flooding, with main roads connecting Glasgow, Stirling and Perth all badly affected.

Fire and rescue services had been called out to the Moffat, Wamphray and New Galloway areas with reports of animals trapped by flood waters and vehicles stuck.

In Central Scotlands parts of the A9 had been closed between Plean and Torword, which resulted in the East Plean Primary School being shut.

Localised flooding was also reported on roads in Strathclyde, Tayside and Perthsire.

The protesters gathered outside the Tron Theatre, where the play ‘Jesus, Queen of Heaven’, is being staged.

The play is in one of the events of a festival celebrating Scotland’s gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transsexual communities. Glasgay! According to festival organisers, doesn’t aim at inciting or offending anyone.

The publicity for the play introduces the transgender ‘Jesus’ with “her sayings, her miracles and her testimony”.

Ahead of the play’s debut on Tuesday night, Christian protesters had gathered outside the venue, singing religious hymns and brandishing large signs on which the phrases “Jesus, King of Kings, Not Queen of Heaven” and “God: My Son Is Not A Pervert” were written.

Scheduled to run until this Saturday, the play was authored and will be performed by the transsexual playwright Jo Clifford.

Festival promoters said the banners were quite provocative, adding that they could be viewed as homophobic.

Glasgay! producer Steven Thomson explained that the play ‘Jesus, Queen of Heaven’ is a literary fiction piece which aims to explore the author’s own personal spiritual journey as a transgender person.

Thomson said that Glasgay! respects the people’s right to freedom of expression and provides festival goers with a diverse view of the LGBT lifestyle. He added that the play hasn’t been created and presented to offend anyone of any belief system. But he said that the festival organisers do respect the right to disagree with the philosophy behind Glasgay!

Glasgay! has benefited from funding by the Event Scotland, Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, Scottish Arts Council and Glasgow City Council.

Other names likely to be at the Glasgow ceremony include rapper Dizzee Rascal, R&B singer Alesha Dixon and renowned jazz artist, Diana Krall.

This year’s nominees for the 14th Music of Black Origin awards were released in London last night. The ceremony is set for September 30 at Glasgow’s Scottish Exhibition Conference Centre. This is first time these awards are being staged outside London since their foundation in 1995.

Glasgow outdid Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool to win the Mobos, which are seen by about 250 million viewers in 60 countries.

Glasgow tourism officials believe the televised ceremony will provide a huge boost to the city. When Edinburgh played host the 2003 MTV awards in, it was estimated that the event brought about £9 million into the local economy.

Awards organiser Kanya King said last night: “The fact that we are holding the awards in Glasgow this year is testament to the fact that Mobo music is the sound of Britain as a whole. The reception from Scotland has been great and we cannot wait to put on our show up there.”

We would like to thank www.timesonline.co.uk for quotes used in this article.

According to a study released today, Rail travel times from London to Glasgow could be cut by half or a bit more than two hours with a high-speed rail line stringing London, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool and Glasgow.

Owner of Britain’s rail infrastructure Network Rail is pleading with the government to begin planning for Britain’s next generation of train service with “a great deal of urgency” as it remarks that the west coast rail line corridor is running out of space.

In a report dubbed The Case for New Lines, Network Rail said a 200mph north-south rail link could transport people from London to Glasgow in two hours 16 minutes, compared to the four hours 10 minutes it currently takes. The train line would go from London to central Manchester in a bit more than an hour, with branches heading towards Birmingham, Liverpool and Heathrow Airport.

Network Rail’s chief executive Iain Coucher claimed that rail travellers could double from the present yearly 1.3bn passengers to 2.6bn during the next two decades, with the west coast rail corridor predicted to be at full capacity by 2020.

“By 2020-2025 some lines will be absolutely full up and the last place we want to be is turning people away from is the railways,” he said.

“There is a great deal of urgency” for a decision on building a new route, said Coucher. If a Labour or Conservative government does not start planning for a new route imminently, he added, the extra demand for intercity travel will be met by cars.

“What we have laid out here is why we need to make the investment. There is demand out there. If we don’t supply a rail solution what is the alternative? The answer is to get more people on to the roads. If governments of whatever colour are committed to providing an improved environment for people they need to make this investment,” he added.

Coucher suggested that the north-south high speed rail line could be finshed by 2030, with six years for route planning and a further eight for construction.

We would like to thank www.guardian.co.uk for quotes used in this article.

Here’s a list of the top club acts on offer in the coming days in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

David Holmes. See and hear why Holmes is one of the best and most diverse DJs in the country. Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh, Friday August 28

Modern Lovers. With John Maclean of The Aliens and ex-The Beta Band on decks. The GRV, Edinburgh, Friday August 28; Flying Duck, Glasgow, Saturday August 29.

Electric Frog Street Carnival Glasgow. Featuring Stacey Pullen, Tim Sweeney, Theo Parish, Tim Goldsworthy and more. Eastvale Place, Glasgow, Sunday August 30.

Million Dollar Disco. Bank holiday special with DJ Al Kent, featuring guest star Theo Parrish. Big Joint, Glasgow, Sunday August 30.

Club For Heroes. The underground disco night moves to a new venue. Celebrate with a guest set from Twitch. The GRV, Edinburgh, Thursday September 3.

Eyes Wide Open Now replaces Twisted Wheel. Glasgow’s leading freakbeat with live guests The Junipers and DJ Dishie. Blackfriars, Glasgow, Friday September 4.

Tokyoblu. Come say a fond farewell to Tokyoblu at the Cab; the house band will play their last ever set. Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh, Friday September 4.

Melting Pot. Disco minds with guest DJs from London’s Horse Meat Disco and Warm. Admiral Bar Basement, Glasgow, Saturday September 5.

Second City. With members of the Seinan Music featuring Berlin producer Heiko. MSO. Stereo, Glasgow, Saturday September 5.

We would like to thank www.list.co.uk for information used in this article.

The GOMA exhibition is authored by artist-in-residence, Anthony Schrag, and David Malone and is part of a series on human rights, and is partnered with gay Christians and Muslims organizations. The piece, Untitled 2009, was an open Bible, with pens alongside an invitation: “If you feel you have been excluded from the Bible, please write your way back into it”. Of course, more than a few gave way to their imagination.

The Metropolitan Community Church in Glasgow, the exhibit’s proposers, removed the obscenities and the offending pages. The project had been addressing the place of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people in sacred history, said the Reverend Jane Clarke, an outreach worker. In an online response she acknowledged: “Some of the postings in the Bible were infantile and some were downright offensive. . . I had hoped that people would show respect for the Bible.”

Ms Clarke responded: “The Qur’an is not my Holy Book, and has not shaped my faith. I do not know or love the Qur’an the way I know and love the Bible”, when asked whether she would have done the same with the Qur’an.

“Made in God’s Image” runs until 22 August 2009 at the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow. Please visit

www.glasgowmuseums.com for more information.

We would like to thank www.virtueonline.org for quotes used in this article.