9am Briefing: Cyclist in hospital after collision with car

A CYCLIST is in hospital with serious injuries after a road traffic collision outside a golf club in East Lothian.

The accident took place on the A198 outside Archerfield Golf Club near North Berwick at 10.30am yesterday, and involved a male cyclist and a Blue Toyota Corolla.

Lothian and Borders Police are appealing for witnesses to come forward.

• TWO men were robbed by attackers brandishing a broken glass bottle as they walked through a city underpass.

The victims were threatened and punched by two male muggers as they made their way through the Telfer underpass in Dalry towards Caledonian Crescent on Friday at 11.45pm.

The muggers stole their victims' mobile phones and money.

Police are appealing for witnesses.

• THE cost of providing translators to foreign criminals and witnesses in Scottish courts has almost doubled in four years.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court ran up the largest bill at almost 200,000 for one year alone.

Its 16 courtrooms accounted for 541,856 over the four years, nearly 200,000 of which was accrued in 2009-2010.

Across Scotland, the cost of the language experts soared to 1.25 million in 2009-2010 - up from 686,427 in 2006-2007.

• ONE of the most ambitious projects in Scottish theatre will be played out on the longest day of the year.

Plays which are just five minutes long are to be staged at farmyards, forests, pubs, bedrooms, treehouses, rooftops, trains, and art galleries, as part of a National Theatre of Scotland project.

Some 235 plays will be performed live or broadcast online for 24 hours, from 5pm on June 21, to mark its fifth birthday.

The full schedule will be announced on May 20.