PUBLIC health experts in Moray are “cautiously optimistic” that lockdown rules there will be eased following a review later this week.

NICOLA Sturgeon has announced two of her longest-serving ministers will step down ahead of the announcement of her new Cabinet and junior ministerial line-up.

THE pandemic must be a “wake up call” to deal with Scotland’s poor diet say regulators who warn that more people die every year from obesity-related diseases than in the whole of the Covid crisis.

Child poverty has risen in every Scottish local authority over the past six years, according to new research.

IT may be unfashionable to point out but football can create really joyous occasions. Take last Saturday’s FA Cup Final at Wembley with 21,500 people in the stadium, an intimation that normality is again conceivable.

FOR almost 60 years I have tried my best to serve the communities of Scotland to the best of my ability – celebrating with those rejoicing, consoling the bereaved, burying the dead, including many who had no minister of their own. I

The Scottish Government rejected a bid to allow 10,000 Rangers fans inside Ibrox to witness Saturday's trophy presentation, the PA news agency understands.

Welcome to our Covid-19 live blog, bringing you all the latest updates from across Scotland.

JUST what is our problem with borders?

IN a world all too often beset by a supreme lack of original thinking, the meditations of

Scientists claim they have come up with the perfect formula of exercise to live a longer and healthier life.

ONLY just over 40% of Scottish businesses have taken actions to decarbonise prompting calls for more financial support as Covid-19 restrictions ease.

The link between healthy teeth and heart disease is not widely known and more should be done to educate the public, a leading dentist has said.

ADMINISTRATORS of Rangers could have raised £2m for creditors through the sale of striker Steven Naismith alone and saved on his £20,000 a week wages - but he ended up leaving for nothing.

By Kristy Dorsey

UP to 10 per cent of Scotland’s hotels may be forced to shut permanently by 2023 as the industry grapples with mounting debts, costly overheads, and continuing restrictions on domestic and international travel, it has been warned.

Little Cody French is a “lovable wee monkey” who bombs about like any other five-year-old.

Violent crime convictions in Scotland have jumped by more than one fifth, with increases in attempted murder, serious assault and robbery.

THE value of Scottish retail sales in April was down by 15.6 per cent on the same period of 2019, even though trading was buoyed significantly by the reopening of non-essential stores in the final week of the month, latest industry figures show.

FOR many years, I had a flat in Glasgow's Merchant City, a couple of streets from George Square.

ROYAL Dutch Shell has come under renewed pressure to move faster to help tackle the threat posed by climate change.

At first look, a 21% increase in violent crime convictions is pretty staggering - especially for a country that has received worldwide praise for its efforts to tackle such crimes.

A Borders-based firm that provides sleeper buses used by pop stars such as Lady Gaga and Justin Timberlake has won official support to help it cope with the devastating toll taken on the live music industry by the coronavirus crisis.

MYANMAR’S Miss Universe contestant Thuzar Wint Lwin has used the beauty pageant platform to speak out against the military junta in her homeland. “Our people are dying and being shot by the military every day,” she has said.

Short of stuff to do during the upcoming half term? Or looking for inspiration to do your bit for Children's Gardening Week (May 26-June 6)? Well, there's still time to encourage kids to grow a few easy seeds.

Given the startling number of jobs currently advertised, it might seem surprising that Scotland’s unemployment rate fell only slightly during the three months to the end of March. Under the circumstances, any reduction in unemployment is welcome...

Pursuit of greatness

A Scottish university has been targeted by hackers, forcing a shutdown of its IT systems.

THE number of people in hospital with Covid has doubled over the past two weeks in the Glasgow region amid a spike in cases believed be driven by the Indian variant.

JOHN Swinney has been removed as Education Secretary and appointed to a new role as Scotland's Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery.

THE Scottish Government does not intend to take over the Scottish businesses threatened by the collapse of Greensill Capital, Fiona Hyslop has said.

It was supposed to be Freedom Day, when everyone would hug their granny, or buy her a G&T to be consumed inside a pub (imagine!).

Orkney-based jewellery designer Sheila Fleet has opened new gallery store in St Andrews.

NICOLA Sturgeon has promised not to “bludgeon” a divided Scotland into backing independence.

IMPOSING strict liability on football clubs remains "firmly on the table", Scotland's Justice Secretary has warned following the scenes in Glasgow over the weekend.

NICOLA Sturgeon has been re-elected by MSPs as First Minister after easily seeing off symbolic challenges from two other party leaders.

ANAS Sarwar has been warned by one of his new MSPs that Scottish Labour faces further decline if it maintains its “muddled” position on independence.

The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo has been cancelled for the second year in a row.

ALEX Salmond launched his new Alba party too late for it to succeed in the Holyrood election, one of its MPs has admitted.

Columnist Andy Maciver imagines an alternative future which sees Ruth Davidson in Bute House not the House of Lords

Doctors in Lanarkshire have reported a rise in 'incidents of hostility' linked to patient appointment restrictions.

Firefighters have been tackling a reported "explosion" near a shopping centre in Edinburgh.

CONVICTED rapist Graham McGill has been jailed for life for the murder of a mum-of-11 in her Glasgow home more than 36 years ago. 

“Abroad is unutterably bloody and foreigners are fiends,” according to Nancy Mitford’s Uncle Matthew, who shared the sentiment with King George V, or possibly George VI (a similar line is attributed to both of them).

NICOLA Sturgeon must remove John Swinney from his position as Education Secretary during her forthcoming Cabinet reshuffle, Scottish Labour has said.

THE idea that a specific group or nation has different values to another group or nation makes for an uncomfortable discussion.

ONE of Scotland’s best known academics has hit out at Scotland’s “impossible” Covid helpline after waiting more than 14 weeks for his second vaccine.

If you didn’t know better, it would be easy to think you had just stepped out of Doc Brown’s DeLorean to the same place you were two weeks ago, before you popped your paper in the ballot box. The election came and went as expected. With the ex...

It is as rare as the Scottish wildcat and even less common than the giant panda.

Scottish golf equipment retailer Affordable Golf has taken on 15 staff members, it said as it also announced it has strengthened its board.