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The Scotsman
Gay ministers set to win Kirk’s blessing
THE Church of Scotland is today expected to pass a historic vote accepting gay ministers, according to a leading critic who said evangelicals opposed to the move were “pessimistic”, “demoralised” and prepared for defeat at the General Assembly.
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UK immigration policy ‘damaging Scottish economy’
THE UK government’s immigration policies are “damaging” Scotland’s economy, Scotland’s external affairs minister Humza Yousaf claimed yesterday.
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Scotland’s weather: Marble-sized hailstones on way
PARTS of Scotland could be battered by marble-sized hailstones as thunderstorms and heavy showers sweep across the country today, weather experts have warned.
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Scottish independence: Pension protection warning
AN INDEPENDENT Scotland would have “significant difficulties” in underwriting personal savings of up to £85,000, the UK Treasury will claim today in a flagship report.
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Cardinal O’Brien a ‘danger without treatment’
CARDINAL O’Brien should have been ordered to undergo psychological treatment instead of three months of prayer and penance according to the four priests whose accusations of sexual misconduct led to the resignation of the Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh.
Scotland
Danny Alexander says EU vote is ‘totally wrong’
Danny Alexander has attacked Tory demands for a referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union as “totally wrong”.
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Scottish independence: UK underplayed value of oil
FORMER chancellor Lord Healey has admitted the UK government underplayed the value of Scottish oil in the 1970s to combat support for independence.
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Thousands pay tribute to racing legend Jim Clark
FORMULA One cars driven by racing legend Jim Clark were paraded though his Borders home town yesterday to mark the 50th anniversary of his first world championship title.
Kids not walking to school due to speed limit fears
CAMPAIGNERS will today call for speed limits around schools to be cut after finding traffic speeds deterred more than one in three parents from letting their children walk to school.
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Jenni Fagan on James Tait Black prize shortlist
DEBUT author Jenni Fagan has been shortlisted alongside Salman Rushdie and Alan Warner for the UK’s oldest book awards, further propelling the Scottish writer towards her position as the nation’s brightest young literary star.
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UK
Gay marriage: Grassroots Tories attack Cameron
CONSERVATIVE activists have attacked David Cameron’s support for gay marriage, claiming it made winning the next general election “virtually impossible”.
MPs want ‘to end flawed bills too big for scrutiny’
A NEW code of standards for legislation should be adopted to improve the quality of laws produced by the Westminster parliament, a report by a cross-party committee of MPs has recommended.
Ginger offers new hope to asthma sufferers
ADDING ginger to asthma medications may make them more effective, a study has claimed.
Sleep breathing problems ‘a sign of Alzheimer’s’
Breathing difficulties during sleep may be an early warning sign of future Alzheimer’s disease, researchers believe.
Wine drinkers invest in the best despite economy
British wine-drinkers are surviving the economic crisis by turning to ever more expensive bottles of wine, confounding expectations that tough times would boost sales of cheap alcohol.
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International
Speculation over Algerian president Bouteflika
Three weeks after being rushed to hospital in Paris, Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika has disappeared from sight, leaving behind a country preparing for a successor who for the first time will come from a generation too young to have fought in Algeria’s war of independence against France.
32 die as Syrian army and Hezbollah storm town
Syrian troops supported by Hezbollah militants have launched an offensive to retake a major town near Lebanon from rebels, the heaviest fighting yet involving the Lebanese armed group, opposition activists said.
Imran Khan blames rival and UK for colleague death
IMRAN Khan, the cricketing superstar turned politician, has risked sparking a fresh wave of violence in Pakistan’s biggest city by blaming one of his political rivals for the killing of a senior party official.
Croatia: Bees taking the sting out of mine clearing
Mirjana Filipovic is still haunted by the land mine explosion that killed her boyfriend and blew off her left leg while on a fishing trip nearly a decade ago. It happened in a field that was supposedly cleared of mines.
Unknown ticket holder wins $600m in US lottery
Lottery officials in America were last night waiting for a ticket holder in Florida to claim one of the largest jackpots in history – an estimated $590.5 million (£383m).
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Sport
John Robertson confident Hearts will remain in SPL
HEARTS’ all-time top goalscorer John Robertson is confident the club will not be relegated from the SPL this season but has accepted it is inevitable they will begin next term with a points deduction.
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Dundee United 0-4 Celtic: Celtic sign off with win
Celtic eased to victory at Tannadice in a season-ending stroll that barely counted as a work-out ahead of this weekend’s Scottish Cup final clash with Hibernian.
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St Johnstone 2-0 Motherwell: Saints in Europe
IN AS close to a frenzied atmosphere as the good people of Perth can produce at McDiarmid Park, St Johnstone secured Europa League football for a second successive season with victory over their fellow continental qualifiers Motherwell.
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Hibs secure seventh place ahead of cup final
More eagerly awaited than even the final whistle in this rather drab affair was the health bulletin that was delivered post-match by Pat Fenlon, who was able to report afterwards that there were no fresh injury worries for his side.
Saints getting to Europe ‘like winning the league’
Steve Lomas says taking St Johnstone into Europe for a second year in a row feels like winning the league. Saints’ 2-0 win over Motherwell, combined with Inverness’ 1-0 defeat at Ross County yesterday, secured third spot in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League and the final Europa League berth.
Business
Business interview: Bruce Dingwall, Trinity Exploration and Production
Bruce Dingwall co-founded one of the first and biggest independent oil and gas companies in the North Sea before it was swallowed up by Centrica in a £1.2 billion deal in 2009.
Bill Jamieson: Banks: emerging from the bottom drawer
It’s bottom-drawer rummage time again. Remember those bank shares that made you wince every time you checked them? The ones with 90 per cent falls that dragged down your investment performance, that paid no dividends and were useful only to mitigate capital gains tax liability?
Touch of mischief from C&C’s chief, perhaps?
C&C CHIEF executive Stephen Glancey had a grin on his face last week after unveiling a rise in the Dublin-based drinks group’s full-year profit – and it showed.
GCU ready to roll with rail operator
ScotRail has teamed up with Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) for a £126,000 research project aimed at improving the reliability and efficiency of the rail network.
Bring me sunshine: Shoppers back on high streets
Warmer weather drew shoppers back to Scotland’s high streets in April and helped retailers open more stores, pushing the vacancy rate further below the UK average.
Features
Not Another Happy Ending: On set with Karen Gillan
Former Doctor Who companion Karen Gillan stars in a crowdfunded romcom that will close this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival. Gaby Soutar was on the set for filming in Glasgow
Climbing Everest for a high chance of survival
Earlier this year a team of medics set off for Mount Everest – in a bid to help intensive care patients. Lisa Salmon reports
Album review: Daft Punk: Random Access Memories
The French Duo’s hotly anticipated new offering puts the soul back into dance music as Daft Punk invite an impressive guest list along to the party
Dance review: Sutra, Edinburgh
AS ONE visually striking moment melts into the next, you start to realise that Sutra is as much a piece of visual art as it is performance. Which, given that the set was designed by British sculptor Antony Gormley, makes perfect sense.
Images of Scotland: North Berwick West Links
Sylvia Beaumont took this photograph of the statute commemorating North Berwick golfer Ben Sayers, who watches over the west links golf course in the town
The Arts
Cannes: Gatsby takes lead at opulent film festival
BRITAIN is out of the running for the Palme D’Or at Cannes, but there’s a strong showing elsewhere, and the prominence of the opulent Great Gatsby seems somehow apposite, writes Stephen Applebaum
Film reviews: Fast & Furious 6 | A Hijacking | The Liability
ALISTAIR Harkness reviews the week’s cinema releases.
Art review: Frederic Church, Edinburgh
WE aren’t too familiar with early American painting, and the tradition of touring huge canvases has died out, but this collection brings both together, showing how the emerging nation was learning to describe and define itself
Epic new kids’ film packs big ideas into small tale
AS an online petition objecting to Disney’s misguided revamp of Brave’s Princess Merida picks up signatures by the thousand (if you haven’t seen it, Merida is now slimmer, she’s wearing make-up, her neck-line is lowered and instead of a bow and arrow she has sparkles on her dress), I confess I feel heartened at the first images of the heroine of the new animated feature, Epic.
Bringing Commonwealth Gaelic diaspora home for 2014
SAIL a westbound ferry boldly beyond its habitual port of call, tramp the age-old cattle route of a drove road past its market destination then keep going, and you have emigration.
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Weather for Edinburgh
Monday 20 May 2013
Today
Thunderstorm
Temperature: 9 C to 20 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 8 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North west
