Every year at the court of Queen Victoria, the royal household amused itself with "am-drams": costumed aristos created tableaux inspired by well-known paintings and stories.

Billy Connolly is going from Big Yin to tiny dwarf to complete the cast of Peter Jackson's movie version of The Hobbit.

In the early 1960s Morag Gilmartin was active in the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the Govan and Gorbals Young Socialists when Paul Foot and Gus MacDonald held sway.

Labour leader Ed Miliband has today had a successful operation to deal with the condition sleep apnoea, his office said.

One of the spectators in Andy Murray's courtside box during his win over Jürgen Melzer had a funny turn here last night. Billy Connolly, who is on a tour of Australia, performed at Melbourne's State Theatre after spending the afternoon watching Murray, having accepted his fellow Scot's invitation to join his entourage in Rod Laver Arena.

Andy Murray continued to blaze a trail through the Australian Open draw today but the world number five accepts tougher challenges lie ahead as he bids to land a maiden grand slam title.

When Andy Murray won his first three rounds here at the Australian Open last week without dropping a set a cynic might have suggested that he had yet to meet an opponent capable of providing a serious test.

Gerry Rafferty's daughter said farewell to her father by singing one of his songs at his funeral today.

The Scottish singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty, who earned his place in pop history with a string of hit singles in the 1970s, has died at the age of 63.