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Catch up on the most popular stories on the BBC Scotland news website.

SUNDAY 16 NOVEMBER

Financier 'discouraged' from bid

The financier behind a move to find another bidder to take over HBOS has claimed he was discouraged by the UK Government from finding an alternative.

Teenage knifeman in crime spree

Police are hunting a teenager believed to have staged an hour-long crime spree in which five people were threatened at knifepoint.

Teenage girl charged over death

A 16-year-old girl has been charged in connection with the death of a 63-year-old woman whose body was found at a house in Fife.

SATURDAY 15 NOVEMBER

Clearance sale for house buyers

Difficult times in the property market have prompted an estate agent to hold a one-day cut-price house sale with discounts of up to 40%.

Teenage girl charged over death

A 16-year-old girl has been charged in connection with the death of a 63-year-old woman whose body was found at a house in Fife.

Salmond is Jolly for 'the Weans'

First Minister Alex Salmond has appeared on BBC Scotland's Children in Need in the guise of famous comic misanthrope the Reverend I M Jolly.

FRIDAY 14 NOVEMBER

Lockerbie bomber bail bid fails

The man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing will remain in jail while his appeal continues, the Appeal Court in Edinburgh has ruled.

Big fall in Scottish house prices

Scottish house prices have suffered their biggest quarterly fall for at least 16 years, according to research by Lloyds TSB.

Detective found 'concealed' blade

A retired detective constable has told the Vicky Hamilton murder trial that he found a knife concealed in the former home of accused Peter Tobin.

THURSDAY 13 NOVEMBER

Love song for 'most dismal' town

A Scottish musician has penned a love song dedicated to a town described as the "most dismal" in Scotland to raise money for children with cancer.

Fire threatens college buildings

Firefighters have been monitoring a blaze in a disused school building in Glasgow after bringing it under control in the early hours of Thursday.

Aberdeen child protection slated

First Minister Alex Salmond has branded a critical inspectors' report into child protection in Aberdeen as "unacceptable".

WEDNESDAY 12 NOVEMBER

Fifa says Team GB 'poses no risk'

A British Olympic football team would not jeopardise the international status of Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, it is claimed.

'Newly found' Caravaggios on show

Two newly discovered paintings by the Italian artist Caravaggio are to go on display in Scotland for the first time at the Queen's Gallery in Edinburgh.

No sale for Ibrox disaster cards

A rare set of postcards describing the experience of a German man living in Glasgow, who witnessed the Ibrox disaster in 1902 has failed to sell at auction.

TUESDAY 11 NOVEMBER

Vicky accused 'was house tenant'

A witness has told the Vicky Hamilton murder trial that Peter Tobin was the tenant of the house in which the schoolgirl may have been killed.

Baby burned by firework in pram

A 10-month-old baby girl suffered burns to her neck after youths threw a lit firework into her pram outside a shop in New Stevenson, North Lanarkshire.

Tycoon in £50m city centre offer

One of Scotland's richest businessmen has pledged up to £50m to create a "new heart" of Aberdeen's city centre, it has emerged.

MONDAY 10 NOVEMBER

Olympic football play-offs call

Tory leader David Cameron has suggested a football team to represent Britain at the 2012 London Olympics could be decided by a home nations tournament.

Salmond urges HBOS to think again

HBOS should reconsider a move by two of Scotland's top bankers to take over the running of the troubled bank, First Minister Alex Salmond has urged.

Lobsters saved from boiling pot

Two of Scotland's most unusually coloured lobsters have become a huge visitor attraction at Deep Sea World in North Queensferry.