9am Briefing: Garbage singer mourns her mum

Published on Thursday 27 November 2008 09:17

GARBAGE front-woman Shirley Manson was today mourning for her mother who died from complications arising from dementia.

The Edinburgh rock singer was flying back from her home in Los Angeles to be with her father John after his wife passed away at home at about 8pm on Wednesday.

Manson, 42, has recently become engaged to sound engineer Billy Bush and has been filming a television version of the 1990s Terminator films.

Sales slump for Hogmanay tickets

LESS than a third of tickets have been sold for Edinburgh's world-famous Hogmanay party prompting unprecedented concerns about the turnout at the event, it was reported today.

Organisers fear the country's economic downturn could severely hit the event with crisis talks understood to have been ordered in a bid to boost marketing.

Provost gets 2000 a year to spend on clothes

EAST Lothian Council has come under fire for giving its provost 2000 a year to spend on clothes.

Campaigners are understood to have hit out the authority for the "bizarre set of priorities" - its education department was ordered to cut its budgets by 150,000 this year.

But officials have reportedly defended the decision to hand out the money, claiming it is an accepted part of the council's budget.

A spokesman said: "The provost attends a lot of events and for that reason a lot is spent on clothing."

Pie makes mincemeat of competition

THE world's best Scotch Pie can officially be found in Bathgate, according to judges.

Paul Boyle of Boghall Butchers was crowned winner of the World Scotch Pie Championships for the second time.

The shop has doubled in size since the prestigious title was first won.

50-year-old woman gives birth

A WOMAN is celebrating becoming the oldest woman in Scotland to give birth - aged 50 and one day.

Fertility adviser Juliet Le Page, of Edinburgh, had her daughter Julia Kitty Rose by caesarean section last week, a sister to her son Rafe who was born in 2006.