Breaking news, Thursday 14 March

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3:00pm: A murder accused’s version of events about the disappearance of Lynda Spence has been heard by a jury.

2:40pm: Aberdeen councillor Muriel Jaffrey quits her post on the council’s licensing board after she apparently slept during a vote.

2:20pm: A man has been rescued on Arthur’s Seat after a fall earlier today.

1:45pm: The new advert from Irn-Bru is here, and it takes on the Scots-English divide. Watch it here.

12:25pm: There are ‘strong indications’ that an elementary particle found in the Large Hadron Collider last year is the much-sought after Higgs boson, the CERN research centre said today.

12:00pm: A holiday jet which had been evacuated when smoke filled its cabin at Glasgow airport had to be diverted during a flight the following day after pilots felt dizzy, investigators reported today.

11:45am: The devastated family of a climber who plunged to his death at Glencoe have spoken of how he died “doing what he loved” - and saved the lives of his four companions through his “courage and skill”.

11:40am: Aberdeen manager Craig Brown will step down from his role at the end of the season.

11:25am: An eight-year-old from Bristol spent nearly £1,000 in just over two months buying add-ons for an iPad game based on TV cartoon The Simpsons.

11:15am: A team of graduates employed by an Aberdeen-based oil giant have raised an astonishing £75,000 for charity in just 28 days in a business competition.

11:00am: Police are investigating possible sightings from all over Britain in their search for a Royal Navy Marine who has been missing from his home in Angus since Monday.

10:50am: Rangers supporters’ chiefs have threatened to boycott away fixtures next season if the Ibrox outfit’s Scottish Football League counterparts vote for a new 12-12-18 set-up.

10:25am: A Dundee pensioner is recovering in hospital after falling four feet through a rotten floor into the basement of her home.

08:30am: The number of birds of prey poisoned in Scotland last year fell “significantly”, environment minister Paul Wheelhouse has said.

Three birds - two buzzards and a golden eagle - were poisoned illegally in 2012, down from 16 incidents the previous year.

08:00am: The funeral of Perth woman Yvonne Rennie who was killed in the Egyptian hot air balloon disaster will be held today

On this day 1891: the first subsea telephone lines were laid across the English Channel

On this day 2012: Perth became Scotland’s seventh city after winning a UK competition marking the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee