By ALEXANDER LAWRIE IT WAS trumpeted as a key weapon in the battle to attract visitors to this year’s Scottish Homecoming. But official figures reveal that less than half of those actually logging onto the official website come from abroad. While the online presence has secured a little over 500,000 hits since its launch 18-months [...]
By ALEXANDER LAWRIE SCOTS pop queen Annie Lennox is showing plenty of bottle – backing an Aids charity promoting health education. The multi-million selling artist has thrown her weight behind charity ‘Bottletop’, which raises funds through fashion and music and focuses on helping small education initiatives with a particular emphasis on sexual and reproductive health [...]
By SHAUN MILNE FORMER Bay City Rollers manager Tam Paton could leave his millions to a DOG CHARITY his friends claimed last night. The 70-year-old pop svengali died from a suspected heart attack at his home on the outskirts of Edinburgh on Wednesday night. But less than 48-hrs after his death questions are being asked [...]
By Michael MacLeod A GYMSLIP mum who had baby just four weeks ago was jailed for six months yesterday after being convicted of viciously attacking a girl she claimed had been bullying her through social networking site Bebo. Justine Finlay, 16, was captured on CCTV stamping on her victim’s head at least 30 times despite [...]
By Cara Sulieman THE SCOTTISH Government was accused of failing the country’s young job seekers yesterday. And Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray called for them to set up a hotline to help. Gray said that he had received letters from young apprentices in all over the country struggling to find work and the problem is [...]
By Cara Sulieman A DOG owner who has had his two Jack Russell Terriers stolen is pleading for help in getting them back. Alex Cruden, 47, keeps Willow and Shock in kennels behind his workplace in Kirkcaldy. With pups having lived in the kennels behind Cruden Garage for 17 years with no problem, the theft [...]
By Cara Sulieman A SCOTS charity is desperately searching for help re-homing neglected horses after being inundated with rescued steeds. But with less people willing to provide a new home because of the credit crunch, the centre is struggling to cope. Most recently the rescue centre at Belwade Farm in Aboyne, Aberdeenshire, took in six [...]
By ALEXANDER LAWRIE A RARE Chinese vase found among a box of bric-a-brac by a Scottish bargain hunter has failed to sell at auction. Edinburgh auctioneers Lyon and Turnbull have refused to say how much the reserve price on the vase was, but did confirm the bidding stopped at £75,000. The silver Tang vase – [...]
By ALEXANDER LAWRIE A SCOTTISH health authority is planning to spend a whopping billion pounds on new hospitals over the next decade. NHS Lothian is hoping the huge cash investment will create work for thousands of Scots and help to boost the area’s economy. The authority’s ambitious plans include the building of four brand new [...]
By Oliver Farrimond ONE of Edinburgh’s star tourist attractions has kicked off a week-long festival of astronomy, the universe and everything. Exploding marshmallows, an inflatable planetarium and a host of cosmic exhibitions will all feature at Our Dynamic Earth over the Easter weekend, until April 13. The festival, dubbed the “Astronomical Astronomy Circus”, aims to [...]
by PAUL THORNTON A PROMISING banker has been jailed after he stole £50,000 to help pay off debt and relieve his depression. Greig Smith, 29, set up fake bank accounts and cleaned out their overdrafts before pocketing the cash. The Bank of Scotland assistant manager was sacked after an internal investigation revealed the fraud. And [...]
By Cara Sulieman IT WAS once the butt of a generation of jokes. But now a Scots council has given the humble Skoda their official seal of approval by unveiling it as the official new car for its Lord Provost. Aberdeenshire Council announced that the car, once mocked the world over, was the model of [...]
by PAUL THORNTON AN ALARM fitter left a man’s eye in tatters and his face scarred for life after he rammed a pint glass into his head over a love bust-up. Iain Hay, 24, shattered the tumbler into Kevin Walker’s face while Mr Walker was on a night out with his new girlfriend after he [...]
By Cara Sulieman SCOTLAND’S best-kept secret has been revealed – Irn Bru really is made from girders. The keep of the recipe, Robin Barr, has let it slip that there is 0.002 per cent of ammonium ferric citrate (AFC) in the national drink. And ferric means iron – even if it is tiny quantities of [...]
By Cara Sulieman SMOKERS on a new scheme to help them quit may be wrongly accused of cheating if they live with a smoker. The quit4u scheme was launched last month in Dundee to encourage people from deprived areas to stop smoking by giving them financial incentives. And to prove their commitment to the programme [...]
By ALEXANDER LAWRIE A DAREDEVIL schoolboy got Edinburgh’s Rat Race off to a flying start yesterday. (Mon) Scots youngster Francis Webb, 12, might have taken a tumble during yesterday’s launch, but the extreme sports fanatic was well protected by his pads and helmet and walked away unscathed. Teenage thrill-seekers are now being urged to join [...]
By Cara Sulieman SCOTLAND’S biggest television star, David Tennant, revealed that he had agreed to leave the show at the same time as its writer – Russell T Davies. Tennant – who leaves the show this year after four years playing the enigmatic Doctor – said that the pair had discussed leaving together a few [...]
By Cara Sulieman A YOUTH organisation is campaigning for female-only taxi ranks to be introduced in Scotland’s biggest cities. Girlguiding Scotland are asking local authorities to introduce the marshalled ranks in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen after a survey showed girls under 18 are often scared when making their way home. The proposal comes after the [...]
By Lauren Crooks BELEAGURED RBS bosses are facing humiliating calls to pull staff out from an education scheme aimed at teaching kids about responsible finance. The shamed bank is part of the management group for The Scottish Centre for Financial Education, an initiative started by Learning and Teaching Scotland. The aim of the programme is [...]
By ALEXANDER LAWRIE JUSTICE Secretary Kenny MacAskill rips up a poster signalling the end to ‘Happy Hours’ in Edinburgh’s nightclubs. The Scottish Government recently unveiled their plans to curb the sale of alcohol in Scotland by introducing minimum pricing along with a ban on drinks promotions. The controversial proposals means Scotland could become the first [...]