Scottish man sets new world by running 259 ft with body set on fire

September 11th, 2009 LONDON - An 8-year-old cheetah has set a new world record for land mammals by running 100 metres in just 6.13 seconds. Named Sarah, she broke the previous record by 0.06 of a second.

September 10th, 2009 QUETTA - Quetta police has arrested three people and seized hundreds of wireless sets, which were stolen from NATO supply containers, during a raid on a warehouse in Pakistan's Spini area. Earlier, militants had burnt eight NATO tankers in Quetta and fled with the biggest haul of wireless devices.

August 30th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The United States had offered 'millions' to keep the convicted Lockerbie bomber, Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, under house arrest in UK, but Scotland went ahead with the controversial decision to release the convicted Lockerbie bomber. US officials had "very reluctantly" backed a proposal to move Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi from Greenock Prison into some kind of high-security accommodation elsewhere in Scotland, The Independent quoted senior government sources, as saying.

August 28th, 2009 Poll: Scots believe Lockerbie bomber release wrongLONDON — A majority of Scots believe their government's decision to release Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi last week was wrong, a poll released Friday suggests. Only 32 percent of the 1,005 people questioned by ICM Research said they agreed with the Scottish government's decision to free al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds on Aug.

August 28th, 2009 Not a baa-d price: Record fee for Scottish ramLONDON — A British farmer who paid a new world record price for a sheep says the animal is the finest specimen he has ever seen. Farmer Jimmy Douglas shelled out 231,000 pounds ($347,000) for the 8-month-old Texel ram called Deveronvale Perfection at an annual sale in Lanark, Scotland.

August 22nd, 2009 TRIPOLI - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi met Lockerbie attacker Abdel Basset al-Megrahi a day after he was released from a Scottish jail, a news report said. Gaddafi received the terminally ill 57-year-old and his family Friday, the Libyan news agency Jana said.

August 17th, 2009 EDINBURGH - A Scottish Government minister is to take the case of Pakistani visitors barred from visiting Scotland to the Home Office. Michael Russell, the external affairs minister, has written to Home Office minister Phil Woolas asking for a meeting after the UK Border Agency (UKBA) refused to grant visas to a Pakistani pipe band and a business delegation coming to Glasgow.

August 3rd, 2009 LONDON - A leading food historian claims that the haggis, a very popular dish made from a mixture of oatmeal, liver, heart, and lungs, was invented by the English and not the Scottish. Catherine Brown discovered references to the dish in a recipe book dated 1615, 'The English Hus-wife' by Gervase Markham', which was published at least 171 years before Robert Burns penned his poem Address to a Haggis.

July 26th, 2009 EDINBURGH - The largest ever gathering of Scottish clan chiefs was organized in Edinburgh on Sunday. It was attended by international highland athletes, outstanding pipers and captivating highland dancers besides many American pilgrims.

July 4th, 2009 LONDON - A woman's body lay for five years in her Edinburgh apartment before it was discovered after neighbours notified authorities about a water leak, media reports said Saturday. Police had to plough through mounds of unopened mail as they entered the apartment in the Scottish capital before making the grisly discovery.

May 30th, 2009 LONDON - A London-based contortionist has created a new endurance world record by holding her entire bodyweight on her mouth in an arduous backbend. Twenty-eight-year-old Iona Luvsandorj, a resident of West Hampstead, held a pose called the "Marinelli bend"-in which the whole body is supported by the mouth by gripping onto a short post that is held between the gums-for 33 seconds, beating the existing world record by 11 seconds.

May 6th, 2009 Scotland says Libya wants Lockerbie bomber backLONDON — Scotland's government says Libya has requested the return of the man jailed for his role in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing. The request follows the ratification of a prisoner transfer deal with that could allow Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi to serve out the remainder of his sentence in Libya.

April 24th, 2009 Scottish singing sensation gets makeoverLONDON — Say it ain't so, Susan! Singing sensation Susan Boyle — whose dowdy image contrasted so greatly with her angelic voice that she became an instant Internet celebrity — has gone in for a makeover. Boyle, 47, had her graying, frizzy hair dyed chestnut brown and styled in what The Sun tabloid says was a 35-pound ($50) makeover.

April 1st, 2009 LONDON - Bond girl Gemma Arterton is reportedly romancing Daniel Craig's body-double after meeting him on the sets of the Bond movie 'Quantum of Solace'. The 23-year-old actress played Agent Strawberry Fields - an MI6 operative who is seduced by the charming superspy - and is now rumoured to have landed her own Bond hunk - the man who doubles for Craig during all the film's stunts, reports contactmusic.com.

March 19th, 2009 LONDON - A more relaxed approach to naked bodies can help curb increasing number of teenage pregnancies, say nudists. The British Naturist Society insists that it was no coincidence the highest number of teens got pregnant in the "least liberal" countries.