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Teen taken ill after taking possible 'Mortal Kombat' pill
A 16-year-old boy is said to be in a serious condition in intensive care after taking what may have been a 'Mortal Kombat' ecstasy pill, police said.
Tests are also being carried out on a 17-year-old boy after both teens became ill following a house party in Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, yesterday.
The pair were taken Monklands District General Hospital in Airdrie at about 11.30pm having apparently taken illegal drugs.
Police Scotland say they believe the drugs included ecstasy and "possibly" a Mortal Kombat tablet.
A NHS Lanarkshire spokeswoman said: "Anyone who has taken ecstasy - particularly the one described as 'Mortal Kombat', and who is feeling unwell, or who knows someone who has taken this type of drug in the past few hours, should attend or contact their local hospital for treatment and advice."
Assisted suicide 'a step closer to legality'
Legislation allowing doctors to help terminally ill patients to die is to come before parliament in the next few months, the Telegraph reports.
The government said it will not block a change in the law, according to the newspaper, indicating Conservative and Liberal Democrat politicians could be given a free vote on the issue.
At present, anyone who helps another person kill themselves could face up to 14 years in prison.
However, new guidelines from the director of public prosecutions in 2010 indicated that loved ones "acting out of compassion" were unlikely to be charged.
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North Koreans head to polls
North Korean voters are going to polling stations to elect a new legislature, but it would be fair to say that their choices are limited.
Read the full storyBBC: licence fee could rise in line with inflation
A report into the future of BBC funding recommends increasing the licence fee in line with inflation and raising the amount of money it makes through commercial ventures, the corporation said today
The broadcaster made the disclosure after a newspaper report alleged that a review into the organisation's funding suggested replacing the licence fee with a subscription service from 2020.
The Sunday Times said that the majority of a 12-strong centenary review set up by James Purnell, the former Labour minister turned BBC director of strategy and digital, supported the change. It also reported that the review recommended freezing the licence fee until 2020.
Venezuela: Protesters clash with police in Caracas
Small groups of anti-government protests continued to clash with police on Saturday in Caracas as isolated incidents of violence continued to erupt throughout the day.
Venezuelan opposition sympathizers have been holding rowdy street protests for nearly a month to demand the resignation of President Nicolas Maduro. They accuse his government of using excessive force against demonstrators.
Maduro says the demonstrations are part of a Washington-backed plot to overthrow his government.
Missing flight 'turned back' before disappearing
The Malaysian military say that radar data has indicated that the missing Malaysia Airlines flight turned back before disappearing.
Rodzali Daud told a press conference today that "there is a possible indication that the aircraft made a turnback," adding that authorities were "trying to make sense of that".
Malaysia Airlines Chief Executive Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said the pilot is supposed to inform the airline and traffic control authorities if he does return, but that officials had received no such distress call.
The plane vanished from screens early yesterday morning en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur with 239 people on board.
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Search expands as hunt for missing aircraft continues
Authorities expanded search and rescue operations today after the 24-hour mark passed for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.
There was still no confirmed sighting of wreckage from the Boeing 777 in the seas between Malaysia and Vietnam where it vanished from screens early yesterday morning en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur.
Li Jiaxiang, administrator of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, said some debris had been spotted, but it was unclear whether it came from the plane.
US tech firm had 20 staff on missing plane
A US technology company says 20 of its employees were aboard the Malaysia Airlines plane that went missing over the South China Sea.
Jacey Zuniga, a spokeswoman for Freescale Semiconductor, of Austin, Texas, says 12 Malaysian and 8 Chinese employees are "confirmed passengers".
She says no American citizen Freescale employees were on the flight.
"At present, we are solely focused on our employees and their families," Gregg Lowe, the president and chief executive of Freescale said.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by this tragic event."
Murray keeps quiet on Scottish independence
Andy Murray will not make his views on Scottish independence known because he does not want a repeat of the furore that followed his comments about the England football team.
Murray joked in an interview ahead of the 2006 World Cup that he would be supporting anyone but England and the remark has dogged him ever since.
As one of Scotland's highest-profile celebrities, were Murray to express his opinion ahead of the independence referendum, it would be a big story, even though as a resident of England he cannot vote.
Speaking at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, he said: "I will take a position. My thoughts on it aren't that relevant, because I can't vote myself.
"I wouldn't personally choose to make my feelings on something like that public either because not a whole lot of good comes from it."
Scottish FM demands nuclear reactor fault apology
Alex Salmond has demanded an apology from David Cameron for failing to tell Scottish ministers about a radiation problem at a nuclear submarine test reactor.
The First Minister said the UK Government had "disrespected" Holyrood and the people of Scotland by not alerting the Scottish Government to the problem for almost two years.
