THE hopes of Scotland entertaining a grown-up election campaign, at the most crucial period in the nation’s recent history, were obliterated at the shambolic, car-crash launch of Alex Salmond’s Alba Party, an event so toe-curling it almost req...

Follow along with the latest coronavirus news in Scotland and further afield.

A candidate for Alex Salmond's Alba party has been accused of racism over social media posts he made mocking "Romanian" homeless people and "gypsies" surfaced on the internet.

WARNINGS have been issued that ambitious plans to clean up Grangemouth could be put at risk if funding is instead handed to a similar project in the north east of England – leaving the two industrial hubs fighting over cash.

CARNAGE in the countryside is expected from this weekend, with the “stay at home” message being relaxed to “stay local” in time for Easter.

IT didn’t take long for Keith Gillespie to appreciate why there had been so much excited chatter in Northern Ireland about the kid from Culleybackey who had just broken into the Aston Villa side when he first encountered him.

MOTORISTS risk losing hundreds of pounds due to surprising gaps in car insurance, as new research reveals many insurers will not pay out for common incidents such as misfuelling, mobile phone damage or lost keys.

SCOTS epidemiologists have joined experts from some of the world’s leading academic institutions in warning that Covid mutations could render current vaccines ineffective in a year or less.

IT was once the envy of the world and home to the creation of some of the world's fastest and most beautiful ships.

NO time was wasted in dropping the hint that Alex Salmond's new party would be hankering after the women's vote.

PEOPLE in business could be forgiven for reaching the limit of their patience with politics. Whether it is Brexit, US tariffs on single malt Scotch whisky and textiles, or the politics surrounding coronavirus, the actions of our elected representa...

Her life was saved by a stem cell transplant after a match was found in Europe during lockdown.

IT is with some trepidation that I disagree with Sir John Curtice, the doyen of psephology, but his analysis on Saturday ("Ex-first minister has set himself a substantial strategic challenge with launch", The Herald, March 27) cannot be allowed to pa...

Let’s face it, golf can be slow. At times, it moves along with about as much brisk, surging impetus as Grandpa Broon hirpling to the boolin’ club with his sair bunions.

A nasal spray that claims to 'inactivate' coronavirus within a minute is to be made available in the UK.

Contradicting the maxim that pets are for life and not just for lockdown, animal rescue centres across Scotland are filled to capacity with unwanted animals.

THE SCOTTISH Greens have accused the SNP of “sticking with their discredited climate plan” amid a warning time is running out for action.

By Scott Wright

TWO housebuilders have won planning permission from North Lanarkshire Council for a 199-home development at Stepps.

By Ian McConnell

A HISTORIC malting company is to increase its capacity in Scotland by 50 per cent in £12 million expansion plans.

NORTH Sea oil and gas minnow Deltic Energy has seen its shares rise around eight per cent after the company won a fresh vote of confidence from the mighty Royal Dutch Shell.

CYAN Forensics, the Edinburgh-based technology firm focused on law enforcement, has raised more than £5 million in Series A investment round led by Par Equity.

AROUND 25,000 UK North Sea jobs could be lost over the next 10 years as advances in robotics technology allow for more work to be automated, experts have said.

With campaigns beginning, the leaders of Scotland's five larger parties are to go head-to-head in their first televised debate ahead of this year's election.

Rogues’ relatives

THE Oscars have come in for criticism because they’ve decided not to allow people to attend on a “working from home” or Zoom call basis – which rules out lots of people who happen not to live in Los Angeles or who may, as a fair number of the...

Find out the latest Covid statistics in your area with our Scotland coronavirus tracker.

A FACTORY in Barnard Castle is to host a vaccine finishing service to support the manufacturing of up to 60million doses of the jag.

BOXER Alex Arthur is to stand for Alex Salmond’s new Alba Party at the Holyrood election.

Greene King has unveiled plans to reopen outdoor areas in 51 of its 125 managed pubs in Scotland from April 26, including 23 Belhaven pubs.

MORE than a third of SNP MPs have explicitly ruled out defecting to the Alba Party.

Top Edinburgh academic outlines three constraints facing Alex Salmond’s new endeavour.

THE RAF scrambled Typhoon jets after reports of Russian aircraft over the North Sea.

MSPs have received £680,000 worth of subsidised catering services since the pandemic began, sparking a row over a lack of support for the hospitality sector in Scotland during the pandemic.

NICOLA Sturgeon has a "record of shame" when it comes to tackling child poverty, the leader of Scottish Labour has said.

There have been 352 new cases of Covid-19 reported in Scotland in the past 24 hours.

ANAS Sarwar has insisted the Holyrood election is "not a game" as he once again ruled out any pact with other pro-UK parties.

A GLASGOW councillor has become the latest SNP defector to Alex Salmond’ s Alba Party, just hours before Nicola Sturgeon gives a campaign speech in the city.

NICOLA Sturgeon has made a thinly-veiled attack on Alex Salmond’s Alba Party, criticising those who “treat politics like a game” and put “self-interest” above the country’s interests.

CONCERNS over a lack of awareness over concussion in Scottish youth football has surfaced in a new study.

Covid-19 case rates for each of the four UK nations have dropped to a six-month low, but continue to show signs of levelling off, latest figures suggest.

RESTORING the NHS must be the priority after the election, Scottish Labour has said, not "settling old scores".

THAT great players don’t make great managers has become one of the biggest fallacies in football in recent years.

Will the Alba Party’s late entry to the Holyrood election race help or hinder the cause of independence?

Yes, Moldova are ranked 177th in the world but that only told part of the story of the 8-0 mauling Denmark handed out to them in Herning yesterday evening.

THE SCOTTISH Liberal Democrats are pressing the case for the starting age of formal schooling to be moved to seven.

ALEX Salmond has revealed he wants to help write the next prospectus for independence, as he made clear his ambitions extend well beyond the Holyrood election.

IMMIGRATION is a contentious subject and one’s views are likely to be influenced by where one stays. Office of National Statistics data tells us that in 2018 in Scotland, with the exception of metropolitan Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, the pe...

Mr Neil, who studied at Glasgow University, referred to the education hub in seemingly disparaging terms in a reply to Professor Tanja Bueltmann.