THE cost of the massive Oklahoma tornado destroyed or damaged as many as 13,000 homes and could cost $2 billion (£1.3bn), according to early ­estimates.

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.

SCOTTISH fishing industry leaders and the Holyrood Government today welcomed the announcement that the European Union has formally notified the Faroes that it intends to start proceedings that could lead to sanctions against the islands’ refusal to enter into an international agreement on the division of vital North Atlantic herring stocks.

ABERDEEN City Council today announced ambitious plans to develop Europe’s oil capital as a centre of excellence in the creation of new hydrogen technologies.

THE Scottish Government today gave the green light for the world’s largest wave power scheme, to be developed in the stormy seas off the coast of the Western Isles.

THOUSANDS of pounds are to be spent relocating hundreds of residents living in the path of the new Borders Railway – but the answer isn’t as black and white as you may think.

Scotland will be the first part of the UK to have a dedicated fund to help with the development of the wave energy sector, energy minister Fergus Ewing said.

ONE in ten of Britain’s native species of wildlife may be under threat of extinction, a shocking report has revealed.

THE Prince of Wales made an impassioned plea yesterday for nations across the globe to redouble their efforts to tackle the illegal poaching of wildlife that threatens some of the planet’s most iconic animals.

SCOTLAND’S biggest producer of farmed salmon is being urged to move cages away from wild salmon rivers to prevent parasite transmission, on the day it signs up to a scheme to reduce the impact of fish farming on the environment.

SCOTLAND is struggling to meet the Government’s target for the development of community renewable energy schemes, a green energy expert with one of the country’s leading real estate agents warned today.

TWO controversial windfarms which critics claim would “blemish” part of the nation’s most important wild countryside have been given the green light by Highland councillors.

The first year of testing of a wave energy machine in the sea off Orkney has produced “encouraging” results, according to its owners.

A COUPLE who died simultaneously while snorkelling in Australia may have been killed by the irukandji jellyfish – one of the world’s most venomous creatures.

On one Scottish island, there is a centre of academic excellence which predates the University of the Highlands and Islands by fully a century. That island is Cumbrae in the Firth of Clyde.

FOUR amateur photographers could see their work travel across the globe this year, after winning a photography competition run by Atholl Estates.

Supermarket giant Sainsbury’s has admitted “an error” over the mislabelling of farmed Scottish salmon.

A RARE capercaillie has been released back into the wild after being found injured in Aberdeenshire.

PARTS of Scotland could be battered by marble-sized hailstones as thunderstorms and heavy showers sweep across the country today, weather experts have warned.

POLLUTION levels in Glasgow’s subway system are ten times higher than on the city’s streets, and eight times over the World Health Organisation’s approved levels, a new survey suggests.