By Cara Sulieman & Rory Reynolds THOUSANDS of passengers were stranded at Edinburgh Airport today (Thursday) as volcanic ash moved into Scottish airspace. Staff at the airport greeted passengers with the news that the eruption in Iceland had sent a mass of ash into the atmosphere, grounding planes across the country. With little information available, [...]
By Rory Reynolds SUSAN Boyle has spoken of the terror she felt when she came face to face with an intruder in her own home. The Britain’s Got Talent star said the crook “scared the living daylights out” out of her when he bumped into her as he fled her West Lothian home. The 49-year-old [...]
By Rory Reynolds THEY’VE toured the globe and had sell-out crowds chanting along to 500 miles for more two decades. But The Proclaimers still reckon they will be bags of nerves when they play a special gig in front of thousands of fans to mark the best save in Hibs’ history. Lifelong fans Craig and [...]
By Rory Reynolds THE firm behind the controversial Edinburgh trams is to showcase an exhibition charting the history of the project. The People Who Built the Trams will feature black and white pictures of the workers and the site during the massive project. TIE, the firm set up by the City of Edinburgh Council to [...]
By Rory Reynolds STAFF at one of Scotland’s largest police forces are set to be offered voluntary redundancy and early retirement in a bid to avoid axing personnel if expected cuts go ahead. Lothian and Borders Police are to make the offers to members of the 1,400 civilian staff who support frontline officers. The scheme [...]
By Cara Sulieman FAMOUS supporters of Hibernian FC will be coming together later this year to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the day they stopped a merger with arch rivals Hearts. Hibs fans Craig and Charlie Reid of The Proclaimers will come together with fellow musician Fish and comedian Bill Barclay at a concert at [...]
By Cara Sulieman GRAVEROBBERS have struck at an historic Scots burial site digging up ancient bones and leaving remains scattered around. But instead of murky criminals, it is foxes that have been blamed for the damage at a cemetery in Edinburgh. Residents found the gruesome sight whilst walking through Rosebank Cemetery in Pilrig at the [...]
By Rory Reynolds POLICE in Edinburgh are attempting to piece together the final movements of a man whose body was found in a canal. The remains of Anthony Muise were found in waterway near to the Imperial War Museum in Manchester’s Trafford Park in late February. Detectives say that the 53-year-old died from a single [...]
By Rory Reynolds A TRAGIC mother whose disappearance sparked a major police search received a final farewell from her loving family yesterday. The body of Libby McVey was found on a beach near North Berwick, East Lothian, on March 31, just hours after her husband and daughter made a heartfelt appeal for information on national [...]
By Rory Reynolds SNP leader Alex Salmond has urged Scots voters to choose his party to prevent a “decade of despair” that he says Scotland would suffer under the cuts proposed by the three main parties. Launching the Nationalists’ campaign yesterday the First Minister laid out an “alternative vision of the future” and pledged that [...]
By Rory Reynolds ONE of Scotland’s most reclusive species is to become a regular sight after it was chosen to feature on a new special edition collection of stamps. The Highland Tiger is the latest creature to be featured in the Action for Species series, which highlights the plight of Britain’s most endangered mammals. Scottish [...]
By Rory Reynolds WORKS of art by some of Scotland’s most successful artists were unveiled ahead of one of the biggest British sales of the year yesterday. The paintings, which could fetch up to £2.3million, were displayed in Edinburgh ahead of the biannual Scottish Pictures sale. Among them is the still-life painting by Samuel John [...]
By Rory Reynolds A BEER mat enthusiast who spent a lifetime tracking down some of the world’s rarest mats has left his extraordinary collection to a close friend. Ian Calvert died two weeks ago aged just 48 after battling with Parkinson’s for seven years. In his will the lifelong Hearts fan left a staggering 27,000 [...]
By Zoe Keown AS tourists would agree, Scotland is a country that is loved for its history-laden scenery, romantic charm, Celtic fayre and endearing humbleness. But the travel diary of Jacobite duke Marshal Alexandre MacDonald, written after the first visit to his father’s homeland, reflected an impoverished nation of heavy drinkers captivated by celebrities. The [...]
By Rory Reynolds ANTI-ENGLISH attitudes are driving skilled graduates from south of the border away, according to a damning report by the University of Edinburgh. English students who come to Scotland to work or study often complain of racist attitudes and in some cases leave, the report warned. The study’s author said he found a [...]
By Rory Reynolds RESIDENTS in Edinburgh have been exposed to twice the acceptable level of pollution set by the European Union, according to new figures from the city’s local authority. Campaigners have blamed the capital’s tram project, which has led to a concentration of vehicles in the city’s residential streets, for soaring nitrogen dioxide emissions. [...]
By Zoë Keown Festival fever could be hitting Edinburgh more than once a year as talks for an all-night arts festival has been unveiled for the capital. Following in the footsteps of Paris and Rome, The Nuit Blanche or White Night festival will see the doors of many of the city’s most esteemed galleries and [...]
By Paul Thornton THE former chairman of the Scottish Youth Parliament has branded the organisation a “talking and knocking shop” for youngsters obsessed with boozing, sex and drugs. With a Scottish Government grant of £250,000 every year the SYP has a substantial budget to help feed the views of 14 to 26 year olds across [...]
By Michael MacLeod THE Girl Guides are under fire after admitting they are considering accepting a half-million pound donation left to them in a will – by a man who raped his own daughter during an 18-year campaign of abuse. Society photographer Reginald Forester-Smith – who made him name in the 1970s snapping the likes [...]
By Andrea McCallum SCOTLAND should stop relying on shortbread and tartan to sell itself to the world – according to a branding expert. David Guy, business director for the Edinburgh branch of marketing firm Billington Cartnell, said Scotland should take a leaf out of Ireland’s book and promote the warmth of its people. And he [...]