9am Briefing: SNP HQ raided by burglars

Staff arriving at the Holyrood offices to start work on Alex Salmond's election campaign yesterday morning found the main door had been smashed and laptops and cash stolen, it was reported today.

A police spokesman said officers were investigating the theft of laptops.

Witness appeal over pedicab fall

POLICE have launched a fresh appeal for witnesses to an off-duty soldier's fatal fall from a pedicab in the Capital.

Christopher O'Kane, 26, a serving soldier with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers died at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary on Monday after sustaining a serious head injury.

A Police spokesman today said officers were keen to trace witnesses to the incident, which happened in the Festival Square area of Lothian Road, at around 2:20am on Sunday.

Call for all-night rail service during Festival

THE head of the Edinburgh International Festival has called for an all-night rail service between Edinburgh and Glasgow during major events.

Jonathan Mills believes the move would allow important events like the EIF and the Fringe, as well as the Commonwealth Games, to "reverberate" through the country's two major cities, it was reported today.

But a spokesman for Network Rail said it would be "impossible" to run the services because of the need to carry out safety checks and important repairs in the early hours.

G1 looking to films for new business

ONE of the country's leading pub, restaurant and hotel chains is planning to expand into the movie business.

The G1 Group, which has more than 40 venues in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Perth, has unveiled proposals to launch a host of new cinema ventures.

A huge campaign was mounted several years ago when the G1 Group was said to be on the verge of buying Edinburgh's historic Cameo cinema, and was planning to turn its main auditorium into a bar-restaurant.