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By Martin Graham
AN AMERICAN tourist has been banned from wearing Scotland’s national dress at one of the country’s premier golf courses.
Dr Jeffery Foster, who is from Louisville, Kentucky and claims Scottish ancestry, had intended to play a round at Royal Troon while wearing one of the 14 kilts that he owns.
But snooty officials at the prestigious club told him that the kilt flouted their rules about bare legs on the course, and sent him back to his hotel to change into a pair of trousers.
By Andrea McCallum
SCOTLAND has been named as an alcohol superpower after nearly 20 of its drinks brands made the world’s top100 list.
In the Power 100 – an annual survey of the world’s leading drinks brands – 16 of Scotland’s alcoholic tipples made the grade.
And that total includes five brands in the top 20 with Johnnie Walker at number two, Chivas Regal at eight, Ballantine’s at ten, Dewar’s at 16 and J&B at 19.
SALES of Harris Tweed are soaring in India, but the famous Scottish wool still can’t crack America.
An unprecedented surge in demand has seen Scotland’s largest tweed producer appoint a dedicated agent in the sub-continent.
And now a promotion drive will see Lewis-based Harris Tweed Hebrides try to re-awaken interest in the USA.
The firm scooped three major orders from India by complete surprise and want to cash in on the country’s “burgeoning middle-class.”
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From left to right: Gorgon Mokwa, Andrew Dannet, Ben Jones and Aiden McKenzie from Alness Academy
By Cara Sulieman
THE Scottish Parliament is to investigate the best way to raise awareness of the need for blood donors – after a schoolboy urged MSPs to start paying people for donations.
The Public Petitions Committee of the Scottish Parliament dismissed the idea to reward blood donors with cash.
But the move has spurred them into finding out just how else they can increase the number of donors.
Andrew Dannet, 16, submitted the original petition to the committee calling on them to do something about the low numbers of donors in Scotland.
By Cara Sulieman
COMEDIAN Simon Pegg is poised to star in a film about infamous Scots murderers Burke and Hare.
Since the film was announced last year, actors such as Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell have all been tipped for the lead roles.
But director John Landis – famous for horror films such as An American Werewolf in Paris and Michael Jackson’s Thriller video – hinted that the British star has already signed up for the role.
At the US Monster-Mania Convention in New Jersey on Saturday, the legendary filmmaker told fans that Pegg had been lined up to star as Hare.
By Oliver Farrimond
FIRST MINISTER Alex Salmond has slammed Scottish opposition parties for playing political games over the release of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi.
When asked yesterday if the Scottish Labour Party and others had been unduly politicising Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill’s controversial decision to release the convicted terrorist, Salmond called their objections “daft.”
He said: “Some of the stuff the opposition parties have come out with is daft.
“Let’s say Kenny MacAskill decided to ignore the evidence from prison governors and medical experts saying Megrahi had three months to live, and he had been left to die in a Scottish prison.
“People would rightly have said: ‘Why couldn’t you have granted a compassionate release? Was it because you were frightened of making an unpopular decision? Did you bow to pressure from whatever quarter?’”
“Where would Scotland stand then?” Continue reading
By Oliver Farrimond
BOYBAND favourite Antony Costa and the creator of Holby City have teamed up for a festival musical – with a ripping twist.
“Bloodbath”, which stars the former Blue singer as a high school heartthrob, features a Psycho-style serial killer stalking teenagers in a US town.
The killer, dubbed “The Waterman”, preys on unsuspecting teens, picking them off one-by-one – but only if they are in the water.
Costa – who has enjoyed a series of musical roles since his departure from Blue – surprised festival-goers in Edinburgh yesterday (Monday) with a surprise appearance on the Capital’s Royal Mile to promote the gruesome show.
Flanked by a gaggle of beauties, the star showed off his 1950s quiff while sitting on a Harley Davidson.
This is the first time the singer has worked with Holby City creator Tony McHale, who has also recruited former Hollyoaks temptress Ciara Janson for the slasher-musical.
AN America-based Scots boffin is taking on some of the world’s best cartoonists in a bid to claim back his title of “Science Idol.”
History professor James MacLeod, 43, is hoping his tongue-in-cheek approach to climate change will land him the coveted prize of science’s most socially conscious, and not to mention wittiest, doodler.
The Greenock-born dad of two now lives in Indiana where he teaches at the University of Evansville.
He admits he’s always been a satirical scribbler ever since his own school days in Glasgow, doodling on every book he had.
But having landed the Union of Concerned Scientists’ award in 2006, the Scot declares he “has a job to do” in poking fun at America’s policy makers for fiddling with science.
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A SCOTS policewoman has beaten thousands of coppers from across the globe to be named as the world’s best community bobby.
Special Constable Lily Laing has been named Officer of the Year by the International Association of Women in Policing, and will receive the prestigious accolade for service to her local community.
The popular bobby’s international award follows on from her winning the British title in the Community Service category earlier this year.
The well-liked SPC will travel to Seattle, Washington, to receive the esteemed award in September.
TRIBUTES have been paid to a super-fit fire hero who has died after collapsing with a heart attack during a mammoth eight-month cycling tour of the US.
Former-Royal Marine John Body, 56, fell from his bike while cycling up a steep slope in front of his wife Linda in the southern US state of Georgia last week.
Devastated Linda, 55, from Dunfermline, Fife, frantically tried to save her husband by administering CPR, but the ex-firefighter was pronounced dead on arrival at the nearby Perry Hospital.
The couple’s cycling tour was described as a “lifetime’s ambition” by Mrs Body who revealed the pair were just seven days into their dream trip when her husband passed away on May 12.
Deadline Press & Picture Agency 