The foot soldiers of the hated Burmese military junta, who once specialised in "disappearing" living dissidents, are today "disappearing" the dead, and hiding corpses in a pitiful attempt to keep the full scale of the death toll of cyclone Nargis from the prying eyes of the rest of the world.

Wendy Alexander was last night forced into a humiliating climbdown over her call last week for an early referendum on Scottish independence.

A Scottish Labour MP will this week call for the whip to be withdrawn from a party colleague who said she wanted to work with Tory mayor Boris Johnson.

Fears are growing that the Scottish government is cooling its anti-sectarian policies inherited from Labour and have been warned the issue could "slip back into the darkness".

Scottish Parliament staff are being advised not to use terms such as "lady" and "pensioner" in case they cause offence to the public.

A Scottish scientist could be called to give crucial evidence in the case of a man convicted of killing a British holidaymaker in Australia.

Scotland needs "hundreds" of new foster parents, charities have warned, or vulnerable children could be left languishing in care, unable to rebuild their lives.

Pollution could go undetected, contamination unchecked and toxic waste unscrutinised in the most serious crisis to be faced by Scotland's official environment watchdog.