9am Briefing: Fiona O'Donnell to replace Anne Moffat as Labour candidate

LABOUR activists in East Lothian have chosen party official Fiona O'Donnell as their candidate to replace ousted MP Anne Moffat.

Ms O'Donnell, 50, saw off competition from Ayesha Hazarika, a stand-up comic and adviser to Harriet Harman, and Kirsty O'Brien, a policy adviser to Gordon Brown, to win the nomination at a meeting of the local party last night.

Her selection follows a long-running row between leading local activists and Ms Moffat, MP for the area since 2001, and a vote by the constituency party to deselect her just weeks before the general election.

Tributes to soldier killed in Afghanistan

TRIBUTES have been paid to a city-based soldier who died in an explosion while on foot patrol in southern Afghanistan.

Rifleman Mark Turner, 21, was a "remarkable young man" and a popular member of 3rd Battalion The Rifles, according to comrades.

The Newcastle United fan from Gateshead was killed on Sunday by an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) in the Kajaki area of Helmand province.

His death took the British military death toll since Afghanistan operations began in Afghanistan in 2001 to 280.

Motorbike crash man in hospital

A MAN was taken to hospital with head injuries following a motorcycle accident near Penicuik.

The incident happened on the A6094 at Howgate at around 5:50pm yesterday.

The motorcyclist was taken by ambulance to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesman said: "His injuries were not thought to be life threatening."