9am Briefing: Search for missing woman continues

POLICE are today continuing their search for a woman who has gone missing from her Musselburgh home.

Elizabeth McVey, a 50-year-old council worker, disappeared from her home in Eskview Road in the early hours of Monday.

Her family yesterday made an emotional appeal for her to get in touch.

Hearts legend wind damages from filmmakers

HEARTS legend Dave Mackay has won damages and an apology from the makers of the film The Damned United, it was reported today.

The biopic chronicles Brian Clough's ill-fated spell as Leeds United manager in 1974.

It portrays Mackay mounting a players revolt to get Clough reinstated as manager of Derby County in 1973.

However, Mackay was not at Derby at the time, having left to become player-manager of Swindon Town in 1971.

Universities fined

TWO Edinburgh universities have been fined for over-recruiting students during the recession.

Edinburgh Napier University and Queen Margaret University have been fined 338,000 and 42,000, respectively, as part of nearly 1 million of fines handed out to Scottish institutions, it was reported today.

The fines were revealed as the Scottish Funding Council announced a 1.4 per cent increase in funding for the 2010-11 academic year, awarding 1.12 billion to Scotland's 20 universities.

Planning chiefs slammed

A LEADING architectural expert today launched an attack on city planning chiefs, accusing them of allowing some of the "most repugnant developments ever seen".

Peter Wilson, a veteran academic at Edinburgh Napier University, blamed "a prevailing political mantra of apathy, ignorance and greed" for the pursuit of a host of major hotel developments in recent years.

He highlighted The Exchange, the Hotel Missoni and The Cube.

Retail giants hail profits increase

TWO high street retail giants announced a major increase in profits today.

B&Q parent company Kingfisher revealed a near 50 per cent jump in annual profits to 547million amid a strong performance for its UK DIY business.

And Next reported an 18 per cent hike in profits after seeing a turnaround in sales following four years of declines.