questioning and release of the former first minister of scotland, nicola sturgeon, in connection with the investigation into the finances of the scottish national party. mrs sturgeon says her arrest was a shock and she is innocent of any wrongdoing. she s been released without charge pending further investigation. our scotland editor james cook reports. nicola sturgeon, for so long, front and centre in scottish politics, was arrested well away from the cameras, just after 10am. detectives questioned her as a suspect, before releasing her without charge seven hours and 15 minutes later. this evening, ms sturgeon issued a statement which was raw, blunt and defiant. i am certain i have committed no offence, she said, describing the situation as both a shock and deeply distressing. she thanked her supporters, saying they appreciated she would never do anything to harm either the snp or the country, and she insisted in the strongest possible terms that i am in fact innocent o
A hole in the ozone layer over antarctica, thats fuelled by smoke from Wildfire Events in australia, is exposing wildlife to protentially damaging levels of uv light. Scientists from the University Of Wollongong say animals and plants are having to put more energy into avoiding the rays. Heres our science correspondent victoria gill. The ozone layer that protects us from the suns most harmful rays is healing gradually. But in antarctica, in cold high atmospheric clouds, a hole in that layer still appears every year. That Ozone Thinning or loss used to peak in september or october, when animals and plants are tucked under winter snow and marine animals are protected by sea ice. But its now lingering until december, well into the antarctic summer, when wildlife is much more vulnerable. Researchers say thats been driven in part by smoke from the australian wildfires in 2019 and 2020, which were fuelled by climate change. The researchers found evidence that antarctic plants might have to p
Scotlands First Minister, humza yousaf, is insisting he will not resign despite a week pof political turmoil. Heres a quick recap of whats been happening. The crisis began when humza yousaf, who leads the Scottish National party, ended its Governing Coalition with the scottish greens. Both parties are pro scottish independence. Thered been trouble in the coalition about the decision to scrap climate targets, and gender policy issues. Theoretically, mr yousaf could lead a minority government, but he faces a Confidence Vote in his leadership and all the main scottish parties say they will vote against him. There is also expected to be a Confidence Vote in his government. Theres the possibility that a former snp member ash regan who defected to another nationalist party could save mr yousaf. But thats highly uncertain. The big picture in all of this is that the position of the Scottish National party is weakening with uk elections due. And that also has implications for the likelihood of
In the dnipro region in central ukraine and Western Areas of lviv and ivano frankivsk. Ukrainian Officials Say equipment has been damaged and at least one Energy Worker injured. Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukrainian Energy infrastructure over recent months. Its attacks such as these which have prompted more us aid to ukraine. The United States has outlined what will be included in a 6 billion package of military assistance. Its part of a larger 60 billion commitment which was approved by congress a week ago following six months of delays. The package will focus on air defence and includes interceptor missiles, anti drone systems and Artillery Ammunition. Whats not included are the new Patriot Air Defence Batteries, which ukraines president Volodymyr Zelensky says are critical. The us defence secretary, lloyd austin, has been speaking about the importance of the aid. The outcome in ukraine will determine the trajectory of our times. If Vladimir Putin prevails in ukraine, the Security