Men 'narrow' life expectancy gap
Men in Scotland are narrowing the life expectancy gap with women, the country's top doctor says.

Man, 67, dies in tower block fire
A man has died and six others have been treated in hospital after a fire in a multi-storey block of flats in Glasgow.

Murder accused offers no evidence
Convicted child killer Peter Tobin offers no evidence in his defence at a trial for the murder of Essex teenager Dinah McNicol.

Police bid over agony aunt death
A large-scale police operation will be staged in Glasgow later in a bid to catch the killer of a radio agony aunt.

'Celtic disease' screening appeal
A pilot scheme could be set up to screen for a genetic disorder which is prevalent among the Irish and Scots.

Man charged with 1981 girl murder
A 62-year-old man is charged with the 1981 abduction and murder of nine-year-old Jennifer Cardy near Lisburn.

Susan Boyle tops most popular YouTube videos of 2009
Singer Susan Boyle and a disorientated child recovering from dental work top the most popular videos on YouTube in 2009.

UK's oldest postie franks her last parcel
The UK's longest-serving sub-postmistress will stamp her last parcel this month after a career spanning seven decades.

Scottish jobless rates fall by 2,000
The number of people unemployed in Scotland fell by 2,000 in the three months between August and October.

Quota cuts lower in 'hard' talks
Fishermen say a reduction in quota for many key species will leave the industry facing severe challenges next year.

Advert 'offence' over ginger hair
An advert by Virgin media has been banned because it was judged to be prejudicial to people with red hair.

Business start-ups show 16% fall
Business start-ups in Scotland fall by 16% in 12 months, according to the most recent figures from the four main clearing banks.

Retail sales worst for six months
The latest figures for November show that retail sales in Scotland grew at a much slower rate than the rest of the UK.

Miller revels in Rangers' hard work
Kenny Miller thinks a renewed emphasis on hard graft has got Rangers fired up in their defence of the championship.

Celtic will rest stars in Vienna
Celtic are to field an under strength side in Thursday's final Europa League group tie against Rapid Vienna.

Festive buying
Money expert Fergus Muirhead on Christmas costs

Mistaken identity
Gallery's Charlie portrait could be of his younger brother

Your Pictures
Photographs from around Scotland taken by readers

Life for fatal golf club attack
A grandfather who stabbed a teenager with a broken golf club in Midlothian is sentenced to life in prison.

Cancer treatment shows new light
Scientists are one step closer to creating a "safe and efficient" form of chemotherapy for cancer patients.

Man admits sleeping mother attack
An illegal immigrant admits sexually assaulting a young mother while she was sleeping in an Edinburgh flat.

Party host jailed over stabbing
A man who killed a friend over a fight about too much noise at his party has been jailed for nearly five years.

Jail for ninja attack on wardens
A man who attacked two community wardens wearing a ninja mask and armed with a samurai sword is jailed.

Affordable housing at Ravenscraig
Councils approves plans to buy new homes on the former Ravenscraig steelworks site in Lanarkshire and rent them out.

Man held over church door rabbit
A man has been charged with breach of the peace after a dead rabbit was pinned to the front door of a church in Grantown.

Drug dealers jailed for 12 years
Two Inverness men who tried to "flood" the Highlands with Class A and B drugs are each jailed for 12 years.

Local news
More news sources in the Highlands and Islands

Council to debate £23m of savings
Savings of £23m which would mean more than 400 Aberdeen City Council posts going are due to be debated.

Energy pairing on crest of a wave
One of Europe's biggest energy companies teams up with an Edinburgh firm to develop the first wave power project off Shetland.

RAF Kinloss hit by defence cuts
The RAF base at Kinloss in Moray is to bear the brunt of military budget cuts in Scotland, it has been confirmed.

Man in court on drug death charge
A man is accused in court in southern Scotland of supplying heroin to another person who later died.

Superstore wrangle nears solution
A council considers bids for a £3.8m superstore site at the centre of a planning battle between Tesco and Sainsbury's.

Scot may be first female bishop
A Scottish Anglican priest could become the first woman bishop in the UK after being shortlisted for a vacant post.

M80 body death 'not suspicious'
The death of a man whose badly-decomposed body was found near Stirling seven days ago was not suspicious, police say.

Fans vow to work with a new owner
Football fans hoping to buy Stirling Albion say they would work with a private buyer of the football club.

Revamp for Perth's oldest house
A 15th Century house in Perth will be reopened to the public next year after an £800,000 renovation.

Relatives employment ban for MSPs
MSPs are to be banned from employing family members at taxpayers' expense, Scottish Parliament bosses say.

Salmond defends climate meeting
Alex Salmond dismisses criticism of a climate change event in Copenhagen after several prominent figures pulled out.

NHS boss urges doctors pay cut
A senior NHS official in Glasgow says doctors should consider a pay cut to help tackle the health gap between rich and poor.

What the Scottish papers say
The stories making the headlines in Scotland's newspapers.