The creation of a new Scottish television channel is the key recommendation in the long-awaited Broadcasting Commission report .

The Scottish government yesterday suffered a blow to its plan to raise the age limit to 21 for alcohol sales in shops and off-licences after 10,000 people signed a petition opposing it.

The Scottish arts world has united to denounce the government's plans for the establishment of Creative Scotland , the nation's new cultural body, describing the scheme as "crazy", "devastating", "contradictory" and worthy of "a revolt".

A publicly-funded charity set up to assist people who have been wrongfully imprisoned is facing a probe into its support for a controversial politician charged with perjury.

Management of the troubled National Trust for Scotland have been warned by their employees' trade union that a "riot" is brewing after they awarded themselves massive pay rises and refused an increase to lower-paid staff.