The movie, released on Saturday, came under intense scrutiny earlier this year when Disney announced that it would be released on DVD earlier than usual.

Click to Enlarge - A pastel drawing of Susan Boyle (Chris Urlaub)

The Scottish spinster, who gained worldwide fame after appearing on the ITV show ‘Britain’s Got Talent’, is hunting for an apartment in the Chelsea area.

48-year-old Boyle will keep her Scottish home, and will use the apartment whilst working in London

Click to Enlarge - Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond at the Aberdeen Business School on 26th February 2010. (Scott Campbell/NND Scotland)

We believe that only independence, with the same rights and responsibilities that other countries take for granted, will allow the nation to thrive as it should and reach its full potential.

And we want to make sure that when it comes to making that choice as many Scots as possible are able to exercise their democratic rights.

That’s why we want to lower the voting age to allow 16 and 17-year-olds to take part in the referendum.

We are already pushing ahead with plans to allow 16 and 17-year-olds to stand and vote in the elections to local health boards that are being piloted later this year.

We think it makes no sense to deny the vote to young adults in this age group when they are taking on the other rights and responsibilities of adulthood, such as the right to get married or to serve in the armed forces.

At a time when we need young adults to become involved with the political process, it makes no sense to shut them out.

Other European countries like Germany, Austria and Switzerland have already shown the way by lowering the voting age, and we think the time has come for us in Scotland to follow suit by making everyone aged 16 and over eligible to vote in all elections.

There is cross-party backing for such a move and I hope that the consultation we launched this week on our draft referendum bill will see a groundswell of support for extending the vote to younger adults.

The principle of allowing 16 and 17-year olds the vote is an important one in another sense as well.

Nobody likes being told they cannot or should not be allowed to have their say – whatever their age.

And, in the same way that younger adults are currently shut out of the political process, the opposition parties in the Scottish Parliament are threatening to deny all the people of Scotland their say on the country’s future.

I hope those parties will think again, and I have made it clear that those opposition parties currently saying no to a referendum may well have a change of heart once the looming UK general election is over.

If not, they will have to face the consequences when the people of Scotland go to the polls again next year in the Holyrood election.

The people of Scotland – young and old alike – must be allowed to have their say on the country’s future in a referendum.

(Scott Campbell/NND Scotland)

The Scottish First Minister is to write an article exclusively for NND Scotland on the independence referendum voting age.

In the article, to be published on Thursday 4th March, Alex Salmond will explain why the SNP-led government believe that allowing young people to vote in the referendum is beneficial.

NND Scotland political correspondent Kyle Thornton said: “Alex Salmond gives promises of lowering the voting age. What is his motivation for this change? It’ll be interesting to find out what he says.”

Salmond launched the draft Referendum Bill on Scottish independence yesterday, which will now be open to consultation.

(The Conservatives/Flickr) Editing by NND Scotland

But if the Scottish Conservatives come back, who will lose out? The Scottish National Party. While the SNP may deny that they appeal to the middle classes, four of their MPs represent rural and middle class seats – all of which are in the scope of the Tory sniper gun.

Luckily for the SNP, their appeal to the working class will help them. They’re set to gain the Central Belt working class seats – but will they accrue 20 MPs, per their estimate? The way the polls are looking, no. They’ll be lucky to go into double figures.

The real losers from a Conservative resurgence will be the Liberal Democrats. They appeal to the same market as the Conservatives and they hold many of the seats that were once Tory-owned. The problem is that the Conservatives appeal to the home-owning middle class, whilst the Liberal Democrats are styling themselves as the party of the working class. This strategy will help win over Labour seats south of the border, but it may mean losing their Scottish gain.

Yesterday at the Scottish Conservatives campaign conference, the message was clear: We’re coming back, and we want our seats back.

Kirkcaldy, Scotland (Google Maps)

Police officers came across the Aberdeen fan near to the entrance of Kirkcaldy’s Beveridge Park and carried out CPR until paramedics arrived.

Fife Constabulary originally treated the man’s collapse as a criminal matter, but later discovered that medical reasons were the cause.

Superintendent John Pow said: “As the cause of the collapse was not initially clear the matter was treated as a criminal investigation and we invoked our contingency plans to clear the area of traffic and spectators.  I would like to apologise for any disruption this caused to the public as they travelled home.”

“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Aberdeen fans who displayed understanding and patience whilst the police made efforts to identify the gentleman and ascertain the cause of his collapse.”

The man is in a critical condition in hospital.

A 3D image of Rosslyn Chapel

Rosslyn Chapel, a  building dating back to the 1400s, gained international fame from Dan Brown’s book, the Da Vinci Code.

A team from Historic Scotland and Digital Design Studio at the Glasgow School of Art scanned the building using three 3D terrestrial laser scanners. Each scanner is capable of capturing 50,000 dimension points per second.

Fiona Hyslop, Minister for Cultural and External Affairs said: “This leading edge technology will help digitally preserve Scotland’s heritage for generations to come.”

“The amount of detail in the digital images of Rosslyn Chapel is truly astonishing. This technology has already been used to give us exceptionally accurate 3D visual documentation and is currently being used at Stirling Castle.”

” The technology provides a lasting, digital record of the country’s most important buildings.  It also offers a new method for researching and conserving Scotland’s built environment.’

A silhouetted man and dog. (photorant/Flickr)

Under the Control of Dogs (Scotland) Bill, introduced by Christine Grahame MSP, local authorities could force owners to keep dogs on leads in public places and attend dog control training classes. Failure to comply with the regulations would land owners with a fine of up to £1,000.

Local Government and Communities Committee Convener Duncan McNeil MSP said:

“We welcome this Bill that will ensure owners who allow their dogs to be out of control and a danger to the public are penalised.”

“While the Committee is in support of the Bill, concerns were expressed that the costs to local authorities of implementing the dog control notice regime would be higher than is envisaged in the Bill.  We have therefore asked Christine Grahame to respond to these concerns.”

Participants spent the night sleeping rough inside the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre or its car park to raise money for the Aberdeen Cyrenians.

The event is expected to have raised £30,000 for the charity.

Wind Turbines: Clean, green energy machines. (416style/Flickr)

The Scottish Government today expanded their Energy Assistance Package initiative, which helps families to get new central heating systems, home insulation and green energy devices. It is open to low-income families who have children under 16, and also to those who receive a range of benefits, including tax credits.

Families participating in the scheme have saved an average of £860 yearly on electricity bills.

John Dickie of the Children’s Fuel Poverty Coalition in Scotland said:

“This extension of support to help more struggling families heat their homes is very welcome. Tackling fuel poverty amongst families is an important part of the drive to eradicate child poverty once and for all. No child should ever have to be cold at home.

“However we should not be complacent. The key challenge is to ensure that families who are now eligible are aware of this new support and take advantage of it. There’s still much to do to ensure that all fuel poor families are supported if fuel poverty is to be eradicated.”

The Fuel Poverty Forum, set up by the Scottish Government to eradicate fuel poverty,  has also been asked by Ministers to investigate extending the scheme to the chronically ill and cancer patients.