Scotland trending: Today’s most talked-about stories

TODAY’S top stories on social media from Scotland and beyond, including the shooting down of a Russian military aircraft by Turkey and Andy Murray’s “nationality” under scrutiny

Andy Murray. Picture: Getty

Turkish jets ‘shoot down Russian military plane’

Turkish fighter jets today shot down a Russian military plane on the border with Syria. Russian President Vladimir Putin bitterly condemned the downing of the plane, describing it as a “stab in the back” committed by “accomplices of terrorists”. Turkey said its jets shot at the plane after warning that it was violating Turkish airspace but Moscow says it never strayed from Syrian airspace.

Andy Murray “Scottish/British” myth dispelled

Postgraduate researcher and tennis fan Ben Dickson analysed nine years of reports on Andy Murray’s Wimbledon triumphs and disasters and found that the papers treated outcomes the same when it came to assigning him national identity. Dickson looked at over 300 press reports on the stars matches from 2005 to 2015 and found that Scottish newspapers referred to Murray as Scottish twice as frequently as they referred to him as British.

Alton Towers Smiler ride crash due to ‘human error’

Human error caused the Alton Towers rollercoaster crash in June that left five people seriously injured, the theme park said today. Two women had to have their legs amputated after the Smiler ride hit an empty carriage in front of it in the summer. The Staffordshire theme park said that staff misunderstood a shutdown message and wrongly restarted the ride. As no technical or mechanical issues were found, the ride will reopen next year to a mixed reaction from the public.

Brits mock newspaper front page using #1in5Muslims hashtag

After The Sun claimed that one in five British Muslims have expressed “sympathy for jihadis” fighting in Syria, many took to the internet to raise questions about the interpretation of the poll results. Some even came up with their own humourous statistics, including “#1in5Muslims have forcefully converted their cat to Islam”.

Call for public inquiry into death of Sheku Bayoh

The family of Sheku Bayoh, who died while in police custody, met with the First Minister today to call for a public inquiry to look into the “wider issues” surrounding his death. Relatives of Mr Bayoh spoke with Nicola Sturgeon and justice secretary Michael Matheson at Bute House in Edinburgh. It has previously been confirmed that a fatal accident inquiry will be carried out but the family’s solicitor, Aamer Anwar, said the inquiry wouldn’t have the power to look into the wider issue of deaths in custody, race and police accountability.