9am Briefing: Family solicitor among those killed by gunman

Police also confirmed that Bird was a licensed gun holder.

Reports today suggest the taxi driver was involved in a bitter family feud over a will and police have confirmed that Kevin Commons, a local solicitor, was among the dead.

Bird yesterday ran amok in Cumbria, killing 12 people, including colleagues and random passers-by.

Activist at funerals

AN EDINBURGH activist seized in the Gaza aid flotilla is in Turkey today attending the funerals of the nine people who were massacred by Israeli troops.

Friends said Theresa McDermott called her partner Jim Burns from the airport in Istanbul yesterday to tell him she was safe.

Free Gaza Scotland co-ordinator Carl Abernethy said: "We had expected her home today but she said she's going to stay for the funerals of the nine people who were killed, which are expected to take place today."

Pilley police narrow search

POLICE hunting for the body of missing Edinburgh book-keeper Suzanne Pilley have narrowed their search area by tracking a suspect's mobile phone.

Detectives, who were previously looking at an area of up to 400 miles stretching from Callander in Perthshire to Lochgilphead in Argyll, are understood to have linked the mobile phone to two masts near the Rest and Be Thankful beauty spot.

And they are now believed to be concentrating their efforts on five square miles of Glen Croe in Argyll.

The information matches with a sighting of a silver car in the area.

Ms Pilley, 38, from Stenhouse, disappeared after arriving for work at her office in Thistle Street on 4 May.

Job losses for RBS

ROYAL Bank of Scotland has announced plans for up to 500 job losses.

The cuts will affect back office functions for wealth management brands Coutts, the Queen's private bank, and Adam & Co.

About 300 of Adam & Co's 350 staff are based in Edinburgh, while most working for Coutts are based in London.

The job losses, which follow the introduction of new technology, will take place over the next three years.