German chancellor ­Angela Merkel has been named as the most powerful woman in the world for the third year ­running by business magazine Forbes.

TV bosses confirmed Sharon Osbourne will return to The X Factor judging panel to replace Tulisa Contostavlos.

The number of people struck down by measles in Scotland continues to rise, with cases up almost 170 per cent compared with last year, figures show.

THE renewables industry often talks about Scotland’s marine energy sector as “world-leading” and it is announcements like this from Aquamarine Power that help prove the point.

MI6 DREW up a secret hit list of key German figures to be assassinated in preparation for the D-Day landings, according to official papers.

King Edward VIII was secretly bugged during the final days ­before his abdication on the order of his ministers, ­according to official files made public today.

LAWYERS have fired a warning shot across the bows of the Scottish Government over plans to introduce contracting in criminal legal aid cases.

A UGANDAN rapist who was jailed after admitting on Facebook that he attacked a woman has been deported after immigration officials dismissed his claim that he would face persecution because he was gay.

MORE than half of patients diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) are now surviving the cancer thanks to improved diagnosis and treatment, campaigners have said.

The Scottish Government has been criticised for a decision to remove a fare subsidy for ferries.

Campaigners fighting to prove the innocence of a nurse found guilty of murdering four patients claim new evidence has emerged that challenges his conviction.

EYEWITNESSES today described seeing the “crazed” Woolwich attackers “hacking” at their victim and posing for pictures before charging at police wielding meat cleavers.

Japan’S parliament yesterday approved joining an international child custody treaty amid pressure for Tokyo to address concerns that Japanese mothers can take children away from foreign fathers without recourse.

A MEMBER of the band Pussy Riot who was jailed over a protest against president Vladimir Putin in a Russian cathedral said yesterday she was starting a hunger strike after she was barred from a parole hearing.

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is to fight a decision by election overseers to disqualify his top aide from the forthcoming presidential race.

Dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei moved into the musical world yesterday with the release of the first single from his debut album, a song called Dumbass that takes inspiration from his detention in 2011.

Foreign Secretary William Hague said yesterday that Iran and its militant Shiite Lebanese ally Hezbollah were “propping up” Syrian president Bashar 
al-Assad.

Hundreds of young people have torched cars and attacked police in three nights of riots in immigrant suburbs of Sweden’s capital, shocking a country that has dodged the worst of the global financial crisis but failed to defuse anger over youth unemployment levels and resentment of asylum seekers.

The independence debate has avoided the subject of our economy – but it must be confronted, writes Bill Jamieson

There is no justice in SNP plans to close 26 courts – a decision that will a have a serious knock-on effect 
on the viability of our towns, writes Iain Gray