Scotland trending: Today’s most talked-about stories

Today’s top stories on social media from Scotland and beyond, including an offer to square-go Trump, council tax and Star Wars

Donald Trump. Picture: John Devlin

Scots man challenges Donald Trump to ‘square go’

A Scot has invited Donald Trump to visit his homeland so he can “take him for a square go”. Joker Brad Halliday has set up a petition on website Change.org calling on the billionaire “big guy” to fly to Scotland. Referring to a popular fortified wine, he added: “He’s a big guy but I reckon if I can pump myself full of enough M/D 20/20 I’ll have enough rage inside me.”

Council tax to be replaced with ‘fairer’ alternative

Wealthy Scots face the prospect of paying an increase in household charges after a Scottish Government-backed commission sounded the deathknell for the “unfair” council tax. A new “progressive” alternative system is likely to be introduced, with options based on income, property and land proposed in a keynote report launched by local government minister Marco Biagi. The announcement was met with a mixed reaction on social media. Some Scots were quick to suggest that the changes would mean bad news for the country and support for the SNP.

Tim Peake heads for International Space Station

A Soyuz space capsule carrying British astronaut Tim Peake went into orbit today. The capsule will be heading for the International Space Station. Peake is a former Army pilot and is Britain’s first professional astronaut. “Major Tim” and fellow crew members Russian Yuri Malenchenko and American Tim Kopra are due to dock with the ISS at 17:24 GMT (23:24 Kazakh time). Thousands of people took to the Twitter to wish him a safe and successful journey.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens gets world premiere

The latest addition to the Star Wars franchise premiered in Los Angeles last night. Stars from the original films including Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher joined the new stars including John Boyega and Daisy Ridley. A media embargo on reviews is in place until Wednesday to keep the plot top secret.

Excitement for the film spilled onto social media as many vowed to stay away from their devices to avoid spoilers.

Twitter’s ‘Moments’ launches in the UK

Twitter launched its picture-led “Twitter Moments” service in the UK today. The move will see the site compete more directly with broadcast news media. The service was curated by a team of British-based journalists and collates the biggest stories of the moment into video packages, photos and eyewitness tweeting under various categories.

There was a mixed reaction to the new feature on social media – some complained it was unwanted, and others suggesting it was too close to the notifications button.