A RISE in recorded sexual assaults and rapes may be down to publicity surrounding historic sex crimes by celebrities such as Jimmy Savile, according to Scotland's Justice Secretary.
Ukip leader Nigel Farage has said there is "something unpleasant going on" in Scotland after a chaotic day's campaigning, with a senior party figure claiming there is a "problem with democracy" north of the border.
YES Scotland is under pressure to publish the results of polling research claiming support for independence is rising among women, 16 to 24-year-olds and parents with young children.
Island councils have joined forces to call for further powers to run their own affairs regardless of the outcome of next year's independence referendum.
A group of academics and economists have launched an international project to flesh out their vision of an independent Scotland as a wealthier and more fair country on the Nordic model.
Yes Scotland sources say they have identified a shift in favour of independence among growing numbers of women and young people, two of the groups thought to be most opposed to Scotland leaving the UK.
FINANCE Secretary John Swinney is expected to be quizzed over the SNP's plans for pensions under independence this week, amid rising criticism over the Scottish Government's apparent lack of foresight on the issue.
THE SNP is attempting to force a Holyrood vote censuring the BBC's Question Time programme for featuring Nigel Farage and George Galloway in an edition broadcast from Edinburgh.
An independent Scotland would be welcomed as an independent member state in Europe but would have to build alliances to promote its policies, according to a former Slovakian foreign minister.
The Scottish defence industry could lose contracts worth billions of pounds as well thousands of jobs after independence, the UK Government yesterday warned.
THE BBC has been accused of bias and making cheap entertainment after UKIP leader Nigel Farage and George Galloway appeared on Question Time from Edinburgh, but the Liberal Democrats and Greens were left out.
BBC chairman Lord Patten has described the independence referendum as arguably the biggest domestic political event in his lifetime and insisted the corporation can cover it in an impartial and balanced way.
Royal Bank of Scotland and other leading financial institutions could pull out of an independent Scotland to comply with EU rules that their headquarters and registered offices need to be in the same country, an expert has warned.
EXPERTS who warned of "serious risks" to pensions and benefits if an independent Scotland set up its own welfare system have pulled out of a scheduled appearance before a Holyrood committee.
LIBDem rural affairs spokesman Tavish Scott has landed himself in the manure after some over-enthusiastic muck spreading about his political opponents.
Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead will politicise a flagship countryside event if he discusses the impact of independence on rural Scotland there, the Liberal Democrats have claimed.
THE Scottish Government has said it wants to share the UK's welfare system for a transitional period if Scots vote for independence in next year's referendum.
Yes Scotland has accused Theresa May of being "irrational" for warning the UK could prevent Scots from holding dual nationality in the event of independence.
AN independent Scotland would have more than enough dedicated infrastructure and personnel to deliver pensions and other welfare benefits on day one, according to a Scottish Government-commissioned report published this week.
SCOTLAND'S credit unions, which help hundreds of thousands of people with cheap loans, could be threatened by independence, Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander will say in a letter today.
