SCOTLAND

Police have apologised to a male victim of domestic violence after he was told by officers his case was "not a police matter".

Mark Meechan, 30, on trial at Airdrie Court, is accused of committing a hate crime by posting a video of him saying 'Sieg Heil' and forcing his dog to perform Nazi salutes.

Scotland's Highland Wildlife Park has welcomed a polar bear cub, announced just a day after a cub in Tierpark Berlin was found dead. Cubs have a high mortality rate in captivity.

Shocking footage has emerged of a mass brawl between mourners at a funeral outside the Craigton Crematorium in Glasgow.

The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) said the birth is an "outstanding achievement which will have interest across the world".

Across the northern hemisphere a few brave (or foolhardy) souls celebrated the festive season by diving into frozen lakes or paddling in frigid oceans.

NHS Forth Valley are asking the public whether they can help identify a man in their care who has no recollection of his own identity and no documentation.

Gale force winds on the Shetland Islands on 7 December left a four-year-old orca stranded on a grassy field near Eshaness on the west coast.

Scotland houses 2,000 Syrian refugees three years ahead of schedule through the Syrian Vulnerable Person Resettlement Programme, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announces.

The gang have been prosecuted for drug-dealing, firearms, violence and kidnappings including the torture of a man over an unpaid cocaine debt.

Readers of a pro-Remain newspaper tweet apocalyptic vision of Britain after exit from the European Union.

Nationalist leaders from across the United Kingdom have voiced their concerns over a possible deal that could see Northern Ireland continue under EU trade laws and regulations.

John Kilpatrick has been jailed for 44 months after he posed as a talent scout for top London modelling agency BMA Models asking girls to send increasingly revealing photographs.

A combination of aggressive acquisitions and expansion initiatives have transformed the petrochemical company in a matter of years.

Adele Rennie pleaded guilty to 18 charges including stalking, sexual offences, data protection breaches and attempting to pervert justice.

Imran 'Baldy' Shahid, who was jailed for life with a minimum of 25 years in 2006, demanded the penis pump returned because he has a 'bad reaction' to Viagra tablets.

Ryan Graham, from Irvine, has been jailed for 10 years after being convicted of rape and sexual assault. His 34-year-old victim took her own life during the investigation.

The Scottish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) officers executed a warrant to raid the farm near Fyvie, Aberdeenshire.

Buster was in rescue care with the Scottish SCPA for two years and needed a tail amputation after repeated injuries from wagging it too hard. He has now been happily rehomed.

Farmers in the UK have been asked to "soil their underwear" in a drive to improve animal husbandry across the UK.

Garry Brand, 49, from Perth, Scotland, has been jailed after he held a knife to a woman's throat while attacking her in his home in June.