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First Minister Humza Yousaf

Deposit return scheme: "Real possibility" scheme will be scrapped this week

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer had faced criticism over his promise to block new North Sea oil and gas exploration.

Oil and gas will be part of UK energy supply for 'many years', Starmer insists

Residents on South Uist have been protesting the latest CalMac ferry cancellation announcement (pic: Robert Kelly)

'Are we still paying for 1745?' South Uist fury over CalMac ferry chaos

Police Scotland officers outside Turnberry's hotel during Mr Trump's visit in May 2023. Picture: Robert Perry/Getty

Taxpayers to pick up policing bill for Donald Trump's visit to Scotland

Teenage Students In Uniform Sitting Examination In School Hall

Expert: AI threat should have delayed key review of school exams

SNP administrations have sought at various stages to centralise public services

Brian Monteith: The centralisation of the SNP can yet be undone - here's how

Iain Stewart

Directly-elected provosts in Scotland could help promote investment, says report

Serious heart attacks are more likely to happen on a Monday than at any other time, research has suggested.

Fatal heart attacks more common on a Monday, research suggests

Pentalina aground at St Margaret's Hope on April 29 Picture: RNLI/Longhope RNLI

Suspension of ferry sailings after grounding extended to six weeks

Picture: John Devlin

Transparency row after FOI finds CalMac ferry meeting was not minuted

Has the UK Government turned into a 'Just Say No' machine?

Future Scotland

The Glasgow venture was set up by Rebecca Pick and the company was a winner at the 2017 AccelerateHER Awards for female founders.

Glasgow entrepreneur behind lone worker safety alarm launches fund raise

Rhona Bree, who joins Equity Gap from Scottish Enterprise as a senior investment and portfolio manager, with Fraser Lusty, who becomes managing director.

Edinburgh investment syndicate Equity Gap unveils shake-up at top

'LiFi' is a mobile wireless technology that uses light rather than radio frequencies to transmit data. By harnessing the light spectrum, it is said to provide more reliable wireless communications with 'unparalleled security'. Picture: Malcolm Cochrane Photography

Edinburgh firm behind 'game-changing' light-transmitting tech in major US deal

Transport

Shipbuilding on the Clyde has a long and proud history (Picture: Jane Barlow/PA)

Ferguson Marine shipyard should not be damaged by flak directed at SNP ministers

An-uiridh, chaill 13 duine am beatha air an rathad. (Dealbh: John Devlin)

Bàs eile air an A9 – agus dàil air an obair a’ leantainn, le Murray MacLeòid

Hull 802 under construction at the Ferguson Marine shipyard in Port Glasgow in April with sister ferry Glen Sannox afloat behind. Picture: John Devlin

Troubled shipyard Ferguson Marine hails apprenticeship applications deluge

A computer generated image issued by Transport Scotland of the proposed debris flow shelter

£470m road shelter planned to shield A83 Rest and Be Thankful from landslides

Air travel can be stressful but abuse or attacks on staff are unacceptable (Picture: Andrew Milligan/PA)

Attacks on airport check-in staff are a symptom of a growing violence problem

ScotRail's remaining diesel fleets such as its 40-year-old Inter7City trains are due to be scrapped by 2035. Picture: SNS Group

Are SNP's other transport pledges more achievable than the A9? – Alastair Dalton

RMT members on the picket line outside Edinburgh's Waverley Station. Picture: Jane Barlow/PA Wire

Here are the only trains running in Scotland today

Crime

A screenshot from one of the Red Ice videos uploaded to BitChute, in which white nationalist broadcadter Lana Lokteff describes Humza Yousaf and his family as "enjoying the fruits of a white society." Picture: BitChute

Police launch investigation into racist abuse and threats aimed at Humza Yousaf

Humza Yousaf said he was not shocked by the racist abuse and threats made against him (Picture: Fraser Bremner/pool/Getty Images)

We must unite in opposition to racists hurling abuse and threats at Humza Yousaf

Andrew Miller admitted abducting a young girl, then sexually assaulting her (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Young girl abducted by Andrew Miller may have saved her life when she escaped

The damage done by a wild fire at Tentsmuir (Pic: Forestry and Land Scotland)

Ranger assaulted for asking someone to put out campfire

Weather

Scots are set to bask in the UK's hottest spring day of 2023. with the mercury expected to hit 25C on Wednesday -- but there will be a geographical divide, with the west expected to be as much as 10C warmer than eastern coasts. Picture: Lisa Ferguson

Why this weekend is set to be so warm in Scotland as hottest day forecast

Scenes at Ayr beach as the temperature rises across Scotland

Warning of 'very high' wildfire risk as weekend could mark hottest day for 2023

Beyonce will performs in Edinburgh this weekend (Photo by Buda Mendes/Getty Images)

Weather forecast for Beyonce's BT Murrayfield concert

A drought at Threipmuir Reservoir in the Pentland Hills, near Edinburgh, following a long, hot summer in 2018. This view is looking across part of the deeply-cracked reservoir bed which would normally be under water.

Why our hottest summer days could soon be much hotter

Politics

Rishi Sunak's government needs to co-operate fully with the Covid-19 Inquiry (Picture: Leon Neal/WPA pool /Getty Images)

Sunak's government must be open with Covid inquiry – Christine Jardine

First Minister of Scotland Humza Yousaf tries his hand at hedge trimming during campaigning in Pollok (Pic: Robert Perry/PA Wire)

Deposit return scheme on the brink as Alister Jack rejects call for concessions

The investigation – dubbed Operation Branchform – began in 2021

Police chief defends tent on Nicola Sturgeon's lawn during SNP finance probe

Scottish Ambulance Service staff have faced a huge number of violent incidents at work in the last five years. Picture: John Devlin

Hundreds of Scottish Ambulance Service workers attacked each year

The Conservatives are accusing the SNP and Labour of throwing the North East under a bus. Image: Press Association.

Tories accuse SNP and Labour of throwing the North East “under a bus”

Would Labour leader Keir Starmer be able to reform the UK in a way that Gordon Brown could not when he was Chancellor and then Prime Minister? (Picture: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)

Independent Scotland must be a good neighbour to UK – Stewart McDonald

Many EU supporters are frustrated with Labour leader Keir Starmer over his dismissal of a return to the EU (Picture: Hollie Adams/Getty Images)

Brexit regret is growing and the campaign to rejoin the EU will come

Coronavirus

Cats can contract Covid from humans

Warning as Scottish study shows cats can contract Covid from their owners

Being a carer can be a full-time job (Picture: Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Many carers are living in poverty and struggling with their own health problems

Boris Johnson broke his own Covid lockdown rules, then lied about it (Picture: Alberto Pezzali/pool/Getty Images)

Covid lawbreakers Ferrier and Johnson should both face recall elections

Opinion

Water tap

Readers' Letters: We need more reservoirs against water shortages

Out-of-town business hubs meet a real need

The ‘tribrid’ working model’s time has come - Nick Watson

Rob Aberdein is Chief Commercial Officer at Progeny

Law firms need to start work on Version 2.0 of their legal business now - Rob A...

Carolyn Morgan is a partner at Harper Macleod

Mediation can dial down the drama in a crisis - Carolyn Morgan

Andy Drane is a partner, Davidson Chalmers Stewart

Good advice is essential for renewables projects - Andy Drane

People

Daniel Laird, commercial director of Stagecoach North Scotland and Fiona Fernie, CEO of Clan Cancer Support.

Stagecoach hops onboard Clan's Art Trail as transport partner

Police and emergency services, including an air ambulance, were called to the scene

Man dies in Fraserburgh incident

The wedding of Menzies Campbell athlete and Lady Elspeth Mary Grant-Suttie at Buchanan Parish Church near Drymen.

Moving tribute from Sir Menzies Campbell after death of his wife, Elspeth

Dee Hepburn and John Gordon Sinclair starred in Gregory's Girl. Picture: The Kobal Collection

Being Gregory: Origins of Scottish comedy classic explored in new book

Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie arrive for the Warner Brothers Pictures red carpet photocall of "Barbie" during CinemaCon 2023 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 25, 2023. (Photo by BRIDGET BENNETT/AFP via Getty Images)

Barbie is the blockbuster film of summer 2023 - Gaby Soutar

Frankie Dettori (right) reacts after placing tenth in the Betfred Derby with Arrest (Pic: Victoria Jones/PA Wire)

Frankie Dettori fails in bid for victory in his last Epsom Derby

The Tinderbox Orchestra will be appearig at the Edinburgh Central Library during this year's Fringe. Picture: Colin Hattersley

Edinburgh Festival Fringe: Stand-out shows in the global cultural celebration

Obituaries

Jim Brown at an event in 2019 (Picture: Charley Gallay/Getty)

Scotsman Obituaries: Jim Brown, American football star and civil rights activist

Brigadier John M Macfarlane served as Chieftain of the Gaelic Society of Inverness

Obituaries: John M Macfarlane, Army Officer and 1745 Association stalwart

May Storrie had an insatiable work ethic but a great sense of fun (Picture: Kieran Dodds)

Scotsman Obituaries: May Storrie CBE, businesswoman and tireless charity worker

Environment

The projects promise to create new haulage routes away from busy villages, build passing places on narrow roads, upgrade existing fragile highways and promote the shipping of timber by sea. Picture: Creel Maritime Ltd

String of Scottish timber transport projects to benefit from £4m funding

Analysis of the Scottish Government's consultation on the proposed Land Reform Bill have been released (Katharine Hay/The Scotsman)

Land Reform consultation highlights little trust in Scottish Government

Rebecca and her brother Tom when they were growing up at South Lodge (pic: Rebecca Smith)

Rural: The Lives of the Working Class Countryside review

There was so much smoke from a wildfire at Cannich, near Loch Ness, this week that it could be seen from space (Picture: Scottish Fire and Rescue Service)

Greens’ macho critics are aged toddlers clinging to Big Oil's comfort blanket

The fire at Cannich, which broke out several days ago, has been brought under control but firefighters remain on the scene. Picture: FLS

Highland wildfire under control but fire crews will stay until ‘safe to leave’

Droughts like this one in Bala Murghab, Afghanistan, in 2021 can force people to leave their homes (Picture: Hoshang Hashimi/AFP via Getty Images)

Increasing heat is already a factor in human migration – new study

Swedish climate activist and author Greta Thunberg, who made rose to fame when she began skipping school as a 15-year-old to protest each week against inaction on climate targets outside Sweden's parliament. Picture: Kim Jakobsen To

Climate activist Greta Thunberg to star at Edinburgh International Book Festival

UK News

Haystacks and kids at Satran in 1963. PIC: Minginish Centenary Project.

Scottish island celebrates 100 years since land resettled after clearances

Tram line construction in Princes Street in September 2009. Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Edinburgh Tram Inquiry: Why is it being held? What went wrong with the project?

John Torode and Gregg Wallace, of Masterchef, are the Statler and Waldorf of TV cookery shows (Picture: PA)

How MasterChef has become a wonderfully reassuring British institution

The fear in the eye of this lamb seems obvious (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

A nation betrayed as UK backtracks on live animal export ban – Philip Lymbery

A Russian soldier in the ruins of the Mariupol drama theatre, bombed in March last year despite a large sign saying children were sheltering there (Picture: Alexander Nemenov/AFP via Getty Images)

Putin's threats are unnecessary. We already know how terrifying he is

The check-in worker said some passengers got angry if their hand baggage was ruled too big or heavy, or their travel documents were questioned. Picture: Lisa Ferguson

Airport check-in worker tells of horrific abuse by passengers

World

A British soldier and Ukrainian soldiers take part in urban combat exercises at a British Army military base in Northern England last week.

Ukraine launches offensive with Depeche Mode song

Phil Goff, High Commissioner fro New Zealand, on a visit to Edinburgh.

Why New Zealand looks to Westminster far more than Scotland

Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a press conference at the European Political Community (EPC) Summit near Chisinau, Moldova. The semiannual summit was created last year after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with the aim of bringing together a broader set of European leaders beyond the 27 members of the European Union.

Ukraine offers troops to help Moldova win back Transnistria

President Joe Biden says 'I got sandbagged' in talking about falling earlier in the day at the US Air Force Academy. Picture: AP

Is Joe Biden's ‘sandbagging’ a stumble too far for the octogenarian president?

People queue to receive food from AFAT - Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency in the Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, last year. The Chernihiv region found itself on the frontline of Russia's invasion at the beginning of the invasion.

Russia used ‘starvation tactics’ on Ukrainian people, investigation claims

Canada will be the first country to print warnings on individual cigarettes.

Canada to become first country to print health warnings on individual cigarettes

Read This

Police say there is 'no suggestion' of people jumping from Bournemouth pier or of jet skis being involved in the tragedy.

(Photo: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire)

What are riptides and why are they so dangerous?

Watch the terrifying moment childen were left in a car that caught fire

Car bursts into flames with children inside while mother shoplifts

WINDSOR, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 12: Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank leave St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle following their wedding on October 12, 2018 in Windsor, England. (Photo by Steve Parsons - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Breaking Princess Eugenie gives birth to second child - shares picture and name