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Manic in the glen: why the world has gone wild for Scotland this year

The Observer

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August 17, 2025

Celebrities, influencers and US top brass join an influx of international tartan-mad tourists

- Eve Livingston

With fairytale islands, white sand beaches, world-famous lakes and vibrant cities, it has been the holiday destination of choice for stars such as Margot Robbie, Serena Williams and David Beckham in recent months. US vice-president JD Vance arrived there last week for the next stage of his family vacation, on a sprawling estate in Ayrshire.

It may not offer a reliable tan, but Scotland has become the place to be this summer midges and all. The most recent figures on Scottish tourism are from 2023, when almost 4 million international visitors set a new record. And Jill Walker, director of marketing and digital at VisitScotland, says early 2024 figures surpassed this by almost half a million, with anecdotal reports from this summer suggesting no slowdown.

The number of landowners in Scotland who mostly reside outside the UK, including US buyers, is on the up, as a share of all landowners: from 5.8% in 2018 to 7% in 2024, according to the Registers of Scotland.

MEER VERHALEN VAN The Observer

The Observer

The Observer

Across the globe, internet blackouts are a new tool for autocratic regimes

Iran’s record-breaking information shutdown is over. But governments, including Russia and China, are increasingly using access as control. Liz Cookman reports

time to read

6 mins

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The Observer

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Downsizing isn't yet in Richard's interest. That needs to change

‘Retirees in comfortable houses and who refuse to downsize’ aren’t helping the housing crisis. Policy must make it worth their while

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3 mins

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The Observer

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Ben & Jerry's co-founder takes a bite out of Magnum for putting social mission on ice

Still campaigning at 75, Ben Cohen tells Barney Macintyre about his search for investors to buy back the company he set up in a Vermont service station in 1978

time to read

4 mins

June 07, 2026

The Observer

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What if there's no king of the north? Burnham's Makerfield bid on a knife edge

Weeks after local elections in which every ward went to Reform, Burnham’s supporters tell Ceri Thomas that even they fear he will lose the byelection

time to read

4 mins

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The Observer

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The longest journey: thief hands back Forster’s stolen nameplate after 56 years

An anonymous former student has returned the Cambridge door plaque he unscrewed after the writer's death

time to read

3 mins

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The Observer

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'No way' Everest group should have left sherpa on mountain, says top climber

Kenton Cool says confusion and flawed planning were to blame for Dawa Sherpa being abandoned, and his six-day ordeal on the world’s highest peak, writes Poppy Bullard

time to read

3 mins

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The Observer

Dawkins evolves into a novelist to pen tale of early humans' return

Richard Dawkins once complained that Nobel committees had rarely awarded the literature prize to non-fiction writers, and never to a scientist. Science is “the poetry of reality”, he wrote, in defence of fact.

time to read

2 mins

June 07, 2026

The Observer

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A cage fight at the White House puts the Trumpian world-view on show

The brutal scenes set to unfold on the South Lawn to celebrate his birthday (and 250 years of US independence) sum up the president better than anything, Rory Smith writes

time to read

4 mins

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The Observer

Gold in them thar central banks

Gold has overtaken US Treasuries as the top global reserve asset held by central banks. Cue newspaper editorials that suggest central banks have started to \"diversify away from the dollar\".

time to read

1 min

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The Observer

The Observer

Wes Streeting: ‘I don’t want Farage walking into No 10 on my conscience’

The ex-health secretary and leadership hopeful tells Rachel Sylvester that Labour must heed warnings from voters to see off threat of Reform

time to read

5 mins

June 07, 2026

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