:00:00. > 3:59:59Some sunny spells elsewhere. Mild, potentially the start of next week
:00:00. > :00:00.very mild. And that's all from the BBC News at
:00:00. > :00:20.six. We join the Business rates rebellion,
:00:21. > :00:23.as an Aberdeen hotelier calls Three Labour-run councils
:00:24. > :00:25.are to freeze the basic rate of council tax,
:00:26. > :00:32.as four more local I'm at the National Galleries in
:00:33. > :00:34.Edinburgh where they are putting on a light show to save one of
:00:35. > :00:37.Scotland's's most iconic artworks. The Motherwell manager, Mark McGhee,
:00:38. > :00:39.was banished to the stand after an angry clash with match
:00:40. > :00:41.officials and then Further touchline bans could be
:00:42. > :00:58.imposed on him as a penalty. Also on the programme,
:00:59. > :01:00.the launch of Europe's biggest science festival celebrates
:01:01. > :01:18.all things Scottish. An Aberdeen hotelier is calling
:01:19. > :01:21.for a nationwide boycott of new business rates,
:01:22. > :01:23.and says he'll refuse New rates come into force in April,
:01:24. > :01:27.after a national revaluation. Stewart Spence, who owns
:01:28. > :01:30.the Marcliffe hotel, argues that a complete rethink
:01:31. > :01:32.is needed on how However the Scottish government
:01:33. > :01:35.point out that an extra ?100,000 businesses will now pay
:01:36. > :01:37.nothing at all. A busy lunchtime at
:01:38. > :01:46.the Marcliffe Hotel in Aberdeen. But owner Stewart Spence
:01:47. > :01:51.isn't celebrating. His business rates are set to rise
:01:52. > :01:55.by 25%, an extra ?1000 a week. At the same time, turnover
:01:56. > :01:59.has plunged by 40%. Mr Spence is refusing to pay
:02:00. > :02:01.the increased ratee, and is calling I'm going to continue to pay my
:02:02. > :02:16.old rates which is ?252,000 a year, I'm going to continue to pay my
:02:17. > :02:19.old rates which is ?253,000 a year, in which I ask for nothing,
:02:20. > :02:22.until I have a satisfactory Are you concerned about
:02:23. > :02:32.legal ramifications? I would love to go to
:02:33. > :02:36.court to challenge it. Rates rises aren't confined
:02:37. > :02:39.to the hospitality sector. The managing director of this
:02:40. > :02:41.nursery, and four others in the west of Scotland,
:02:42. > :02:55.will see her bill increase It's hugely concerning because a lot
:02:56. > :02:59.of people initially say, that's OK, you can charge it back to the
:03:00. > :03:03.parents. But there's obviously a ceiling to what we can do there and
:03:04. > :03:06.there's a saturation point, and we will come to a point where parents
:03:07. > :03:09.will say, we can't afford to go out and work.
:03:10. > :03:10.And every business in Scotland will be affected.
:03:11. > :03:13.This Glasgow laundrette will see rates more than double.
:03:14. > :03:15.The bill for a restaurant a few doors down, almost
:03:16. > :03:18.The Scottish Conservatives are calling for an "immediate
:03:19. > :03:23.The Scottish government say its up to local authorities
:03:24. > :03:33.The Scottish Government say thousands will play nothing at all.
:03:34. > :03:37.We have increased the threshold for the small business bonus to ?15,000,
:03:38. > :03:41.lived in about 100,000 businesses out of rates altogether.
:03:42. > :03:43.Businesses like this one can appeal their revaluation
:03:44. > :03:46.if they think the assessors have got it wrong.
:03:47. > :03:51.One thing's for sure - this rates row looks set to rumple on.
:03:52. > :03:55.So why are some businesses facing big increases while others are not?
:03:56. > :04:02.Our Business and Economy Editor Douglas Fraser explains.
:04:03. > :04:10.I have travelled all the way to my place of work, the BBC headquarters
:04:11. > :04:14.in Glasgow, which is liable for nondomestic rates, as our other
:04:15. > :04:28.offices, factories, warehouses, schools and hospitals, a bothy, a
:04:29. > :04:29.satellite mast and salmon. It can go up and down at different rates. It
:04:30. > :04:33.satellite mast and salmon. It can go depends on the business sector and
:04:34. > :04:39.on the location. Seven years ago the value placed on renting this was
:04:40. > :04:44.?3.75 million. Along with office rental in this area, it's going up
:04:45. > :04:50.15%. That's not the actual bill, the bill is based on the poundage, the
:04:51. > :04:55.rate levied on each pound of the valuation. That's roughly half the
:04:56. > :05:00.annual rental cost. In the case of the BBC, ?2.1 million from April.
:05:01. > :05:06.That's quite a hike, but in the tourism sector, there are much
:05:07. > :05:11.bigger rises. That hotel across the Clyde, its rateable value is going
:05:12. > :05:16.up around 50%, the bill will be around ?570,000 per year. There are
:05:17. > :05:20.catches around this, big properties pay a supplement, and 100,000
:05:21. > :05:26.smaller properties are exempt. So what does all this add up to? In
:05:27. > :05:30.total, ?2.8 billion this year, that is to pay the government bills, to
:05:31. > :05:35.pay for public services. Business isn't going to pay more in total, it
:05:36. > :05:39.will just pay different shares depending on properties that have
:05:40. > :05:45.risen or fallen relative to others. Some will pay more and some will
:05:46. > :05:50.play bass. Those who pay less tend to make less of a fuss. That's
:05:51. > :05:54.explaining why the government has been afraid to revalue homes for
:05:55. > :05:58.council tax purposes. They have been stuck for more than a quarter of a
:05:59. > :06:01.century without a re-evaluation. More than half of us are reckoned to
:06:02. > :06:07.be in homes are in the wrong band. We might be furious if the council
:06:08. > :06:09.tax bill was to go up a band or two, but probably half of us are paying
:06:10. > :06:14.far more than we should. Four people have been
:06:15. > :06:16.arrested in Slovakia as part of an investigation into human
:06:17. > :06:18.trafficking, which also saw the arrest of five people
:06:19. > :06:20.in Glasgow last week. The operation has so far
:06:21. > :06:22.uncovered sixteen possible victims of trafficking,
:06:23. > :06:24.with officers from Police Scotland, Slovakian Police and Europol
:06:25. > :06:27.involved in the raids Police Scotland said it was "very
:06:28. > :06:33.much a live and ongoing inquiry". Four men have appeared
:06:34. > :06:37.in court in Slovakia. Glasgow University has been granted
:06:38. > :06:40.planning permission by the city council for a ?1 billion
:06:41. > :06:43.redevelopment project. It will see the university expand
:06:44. > :06:46.into the old Western Infirmary site The plans include new research
:06:47. > :07:05.and teaching buildings. Its 19th century tower may be one of
:07:06. > :07:09.the city's famous landmarks, but Glasgow University has a whole
:07:10. > :07:12.variety of buildings, old and modern, spread around University
:07:13. > :07:17.Avenue, all the way down to Byres Road. Now the Western Infirmary next
:07:18. > :07:21.door has closed and the university wants to transform that site from
:07:22. > :07:26.one where patients of the past were treated, to a centre pioneering cure
:07:27. > :07:30.is for patients of the future. That vision, though, spreads far beyond
:07:31. > :07:37.just medicine or indeed Glasgow. Mixing it up, they say, could bring
:07:38. > :07:40.the rewards. Here we would produce a campus that is innovative and
:07:41. > :07:44.Glasgow University will be at the centre of that translation of
:07:45. > :07:50.research for economic activity in Scotland, driving care industries
:07:51. > :07:55.like quantum technology and precise medicines. As well as prestigious
:07:56. > :07:59.research, universities are competing to attract students from around the
:08:00. > :08:00.world. They have doubled the number of international students here
:08:01. > :08:04.world. They have doubled the number recent years, so there will be new
:08:05. > :08:08.lecture theatres and study areas to encourage more. West end shops saw a
:08:09. > :08:12.dip in trade with the closure of the hospital and there have been some
:08:13. > :08:16.objections to the proposal with concerns new on-campus shops and
:08:17. > :08:22.cafes will take trade, rather than spread spend. Concerns the
:08:23. > :08:25.University is keen to calm. We think it will actually create an extra
:08:26. > :08:30.buzz that will attract more people to the West End. We really wanted to
:08:31. > :08:33.be part of this community. Where we are standing now will be a new
:08:34. > :08:39.Square. It will be a square similar to many of the other large squares
:08:40. > :08:44.we have in Glasgow. We want that to be used by the university, but also
:08:45. > :08:48.by the people of Glasgow. Outside of graduation, you will not see many
:08:49. > :08:52.members of the public wandering round this part of the University.
:08:53. > :08:56.This is the preserve of students and professors. But the development plan
:08:57. > :09:00.will last ten years. But five years from now, that square down the hill
:09:01. > :09:03.should be in place and handier for everyone, whether your degree is
:09:04. > :09:09.from here or from the University of life.
:09:10. > :09:12.We were talking of business rates earlier.
:09:13. > :09:14.Three Labour-run councils are to voluntarily freeze the basic
:09:15. > :09:16.rate of council tax, even though this adds
:09:17. > :09:21.South Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire and Inverclyde councils all decided
:09:22. > :09:24.against increasing bills for the majority of local residents.
:09:25. > :09:26.But the move leaves them open to criticism
:09:27. > :09:35.Our local government correspondent Jamie McIvor
:09:36. > :09:40.Jamie - the council elections are two and a half months away.
:09:41. > :09:58.I'm sure that's a factor in Council decision making up and down the
:09:59. > :10:03.country. Here in Glasgow, the decision today was to increase the
:10:04. > :10:07.basic rate of council tax by 3%, but I think it's very interesting that
:10:08. > :10:11.we have seen three Labour councils now confirm that they intend to go
:10:12. > :10:14.ahead with a voluntary freeze, so the majority of bill payers in those
:10:15. > :10:19.areas will not see any increase at all. There's definitely an element
:10:20. > :10:23.of risk to that strategy. For a start, they leave themselves open to
:10:24. > :10:27.accusations by anti-austerities campaign is that by not raising
:10:28. > :10:32.council tax, they are not doing all within their power to at least
:10:33. > :10:35.mitigate local cuts and savings. But the Scottish Government might say
:10:36. > :10:38.that a council that decides against raising council tax can hardly
:10:39. > :10:43.complain about how much government funding it's getting. Certainly an
:10:44. > :10:47.element of risk. Tonight there is speculation a fourth Labour Council,
:10:48. > :10:51.in Aberdeen, where labour is in the driving seat with support from
:10:52. > :10:54.others, might also decide to go for a council tax freeze. No
:10:55. > :11:00.confirmation yet, but we should get solid news and early next week. It's
:11:01. > :11:05.a freeze for the majority of people in some areas, but everywhere in
:11:06. > :11:08.Scotland, the bills any higher property bands will increase because
:11:09. > :11:13.of national changes to how those bills are calculated.
:11:14. > :11:15.It's one of the country's best known paintings,
:11:16. > :11:18.and now the National Galleries of Scotland is making a final
:11:19. > :11:20.fundraising push to buy The Monarch of the Glen.
:11:21. > :11:22.The current owner, the giant drinks company, Diageo,
:11:23. > :11:24.is selling the 19th century masterpiece, and has offered it
:11:25. > :11:27.to the National Galleries for what's described as a knock-down price
:11:28. > :11:37.Our reporter John McManus is in Edinburgh for us tonight.
:11:38. > :11:43.As you can see, the National Gallery is really making the point about the
:11:44. > :11:47.Monarch of the Glen this evening. This iconic painting has meant so
:11:48. > :11:54.much to so many people throughout the years, carried so many meanings
:11:55. > :11:58.about Scotland. Painted in 1851, but the current owners, Diageo, say they
:11:59. > :12:02.will sell it. They say it's worth ?8 million, but will offer it to the
:12:03. > :12:06.National Galleries if the galleries can offer ?4 million. Half price,
:12:07. > :12:13.but can they do that? I'm joined by the gallery 's Director-General,
:12:14. > :12:16.John Leighton. It's a fantastic offer, but can you raise the money
:12:17. > :12:21.because time is running out? We had four months to raise ?4 million, a
:12:22. > :12:26.very generous offer. We had tremendous support from the arts
:12:27. > :12:32.fund, among others, and we have reached ?3.5 million. We have three
:12:33. > :12:36.quarters of ?1 million to go and we are reaching out to anyone who has
:12:37. > :12:43.an interest in Scottish art, culture and heritage to help. Every penny
:12:44. > :12:48.counts. What happens if you can't secure the ?4 million? That's a
:12:49. > :12:52.question for the owners, Diageo. I think there's every chance it will
:12:53. > :12:54.be sold and probably end up going abroad and we will have missed a
:12:55. > :12:58.unique opportunity to bring a abroad and we will have missed a
:12:59. > :13:02.fantastic, resonant, powerful image back to Scotland where it can be the
:13:03. > :13:07.subject of debate and delight for future generations. Thank you very
:13:08. > :13:12.much. The deadline is March 17 for the deal to be done between the
:13:13. > :13:16.National Galleries and Diageo. The clock is ticking. Here's hoping it
:13:17. > :13:20.can stay in Scotland in the hands of this public gallery.
:13:21. > :13:22.You're watching BBC Reporting Scotland.
:13:23. > :13:27.Business rates rebellion, as an Aberdeen hotelier
:13:28. > :13:33.And still to come - we meet the farming brothers aiming
:13:34. > :13:43.for sporting glory in the winter Olympics.
:13:44. > :13:45.The Motherwell boss and Scotland assistant manager, Mark McGhee,
:13:46. > :13:47.could be in trouble again with his part-time employers at
:13:48. > :13:52.During angry scenes at Pittodrie last night, McGhee was sent
:13:53. > :13:55.to the stands during his side's heavy defeat to Aberdeen.
:13:56. > :13:57.Afterwards, he said a match official had an "agenda"
:13:58. > :14:14.It was enough to make a manager's blood boil. With his team already
:14:15. > :14:18.4-0 down and on their way to an even bigger defeat, a clearly furious
:14:19. > :14:22.Mark McGeeney is set to the stands by the referee. The dismissal came
:14:23. > :14:34.about on the advice of the fourth official, John McKendrick. --
:14:35. > :14:38.clearly furious Mark Mcghee. It was disgusting. I was astounded by the
:14:39. > :14:41.attitude the fourth official took. I wasn't getting excited about the
:14:42. > :14:45.fact we were losing the game. I wasn't losing my patience or
:14:46. > :14:51.tempter. I was actually having a laugh. But from the first minute the
:14:52. > :14:54.fourth official seemed to me to have made his mind up on the attitude he
:14:55. > :14:58.was taking and to be honest, he spoiled the game for me as much as
:14:59. > :15:05.the seven goals we conceded. His attitude was diabolical. If the
:15:06. > :15:10.attention of a police officer was unwanted, Mark McGhee's evening got
:15:11. > :15:20.worse when he got up to the stands to find a Havana filming his
:15:21. > :15:23.arrival. -- to find a fan filming. It's not just that outburst that
:15:24. > :15:33.could land the assistant manager of Scotland in trouble.
:15:34. > :15:39.McGhee has already served a two match ban this season for insulting
:15:40. > :15:43.or abusive language towards a match official in November. It was a
:15:44. > :15:46.miserable night all round for Motherwell who shipped seven goals
:15:47. > :15:50.to Aberdeen, the pick of which came from on loan midfielder Ryan
:15:51. > :15:56.Christie. But it's his words post match that might yet her to the
:15:57. > :15:59.manager more. Following McGhee's comments we contacted Motherwell,
:16:00. > :16:04.the Scottish Football Association at the National Stadium, and senior
:16:05. > :16:08.figures from the refereeing world, none of whom wanted to comment for
:16:09. > :16:17.Vera prejudicing a possible disciplinary case. But it's clear
:16:18. > :16:19.the SFA who employs Mark McGhee as assistant manager to the national
:16:20. > :16:22.team, will want a full explanation. A look at other stories
:16:23. > :16:24.from across the country. A man has died after a fire
:16:25. > :16:27.broke out at a house The emergency services were called
:16:28. > :16:31.to the property at shortly before Meanwhile, a man who died in a house
:16:32. > :16:35.fire in Lossiemouth in Moray yesterday afternoon has been named
:16:36. > :16:43.as 88 year old Kenneth Hall. He was in the property
:16:44. > :16:46.on Elgin Road, when fire crews arrived at the scene shortly
:16:47. > :16:50.after four o'clock. St Mirren Football Club is one of 15
:16:51. > :16:53.companies named by the UK Department of Business as guilty of failing
:16:54. > :16:56.to pay employees the national The biggest offender
:16:57. > :16:59.here was Crossroads Caring Scotland, which failed to pay more
:17:00. > :17:01.than ?17,000 to 40 Members of Muirfield Golf Club have
:17:02. > :17:09.begun voting in a fresh ballot The postal ballot will be
:17:10. > :17:26.independently scrutinised, and the outcome is expected next
:17:27. > :17:27.month. A similar vote last year
:17:28. > :17:30.narrowly failed to achieve the two-thirds majority required
:17:31. > :17:31.to change club rules. Commuters crossing the Forth and Tay
:17:32. > :17:34.bridges have saved about ?2000 each, since tolls were abolished
:17:35. > :17:36.by the Scottish Government Councillors in Aberdeenshire have
:17:37. > :17:40.agreed to promote the historic Doric Teaching of the language
:17:41. > :17:51.won't be compulsory, but the authority says all pupils
:17:52. > :17:53.should develop an understanding of it, as an integral
:17:54. > :17:55.part of their education. Doric is the north-east dialect
:17:56. > :17:58.of the Scots language. Jumpers are being knitted for
:17:59. > :18:04.so-called "discriminated-against" dogs that an animal welfare charity
:18:05. > :18:07.finds among the hardest to rehome. Dogs with dark-coloured coats
:18:08. > :18:08.are being overlooked at Scottish SPCA centres
:18:09. > :18:18.in Inverness and Caithness. It's thought the dogs' features
:18:19. > :18:20.don't show as well in photographs. Scottish Women's Institute groups
:18:21. > :18:22.have been knitting the jumpers as part of celebrations marking 100
:18:23. > :18:25.years of the institute. The Scottish curling
:18:26. > :18:27.championships start this weekend. The winners will represent
:18:28. > :18:29.Great Britain at the World Championships, where they can
:18:30. > :18:31.qualify for the Winter Olympics And that's the aim of two curling
:18:32. > :18:39.brothers who share another passion, but also a keen rivalry,
:18:40. > :18:52.as David Currie's been finding out. Thomas Bjorn head is eyeing up the
:18:53. > :18:59.Scottish title and a place at the Winter Olympics -- so is elder
:19:00. > :19:02.brother Glenn Muirhead. That is why they are spending as much time as
:19:03. > :19:06.they can on the ice. Away from the they are spending as much time as
:19:07. > :19:10.ice the Muirhead brothers are busy boys. That's why I've come to the
:19:11. > :19:19.heart of the Perthshire countryside to see them going about their day
:19:20. > :19:26.job. Curling and farming have both been in the family from the very
:19:27. > :19:32.onset. The two are working well and we are passionate for both. They
:19:33. > :19:37.work well together which is the most important thing, really. We've both
:19:38. > :19:40.got our things we specialise in. We pulled together when we need to.
:19:41. > :19:45.We'd be stuck without each other, really. At this time of year Thomas
:19:46. > :19:52.and Glenn have their hands full pretty much all the time. The
:19:53. > :19:55.lambing always comes about the same time as the Scottish Championships.
:19:56. > :20:06.We've just learned to really work around it, reschedule things. So you
:20:07. > :20:10.work on the farm during the day, then you are back on the ice?
:20:11. > :20:14.Straight from the ice rink into the lambing shed and then catch up on a
:20:15. > :20:20.few hours sleep then do it all again the next day. It's all about team
:20:21. > :20:26.Muirhead down on the farm. Not so on the rink. Thomas is all about team
:20:27. > :20:32.Smith, Glenn is team Brewster. We are best friends off the ice but
:20:33. > :20:38.when it comes to the crunch there's no friends in business really. One
:20:39. > :20:42.of your teams gets to the Winter Olympics, the other brother will be
:20:43. > :20:48.minding the farm? Yeah, hopefully one of us is therefore a start, and
:20:49. > :20:52.that's exactly the case. We will be pulling out all the stops for each
:20:53. > :20:57.other if one of us is at the Olympics. And the Winter Olympics
:20:58. > :21:01.might just coincide with the lambing season.
:21:02. > :21:03.It was the world's first science festival, and it's
:21:04. > :21:06.The Edinburgh International Science Festival has
:21:07. > :21:07.unveiled its programme for this year, featuring hundreds
:21:08. > :21:13.of events in dozens of venues over two weeks in April.
:21:14. > :21:15.The launch included a police box, a toaster -
:21:16. > :21:25.Our science correspondent Kenneth Macdonald was watching.
:21:26. > :21:34.OK, what's going on here? Certainly some of the onlookers seem a little
:21:35. > :21:40.confused. The presence of the press gives it away. It's the programme
:21:41. > :21:44.launch for this year 's Edinburgh science Festival. The phone is just
:21:45. > :21:48.one of the long list of great Scottish inventions. We were the
:21:49. > :21:51.worlds first and we are still one of the largest science festivals in the
:21:52. > :21:56.world, we've got a two-week programme that takes over 30 venues
:21:57. > :22:01.around the city, hundreds of events for families, teens, adults, ranging
:22:02. > :22:06.from a brand-new exhibition at the National Museum of Scotland called
:22:07. > :22:10.plate onto our city arts Centre activities, five floors of hands-on
:22:11. > :22:14.fun, and a big programme for as well. One of the things the festival
:22:15. > :22:19.is doing is drawing up a list of Scottish inventions. For example,
:22:20. > :22:34.the telephone. Sherlock Holmes, he's one of ours. Paraffin lamp. The
:22:35. > :22:43.toaster. And Irn Bru, other spellings are available.
:22:44. > :22:48.Unfortunately I can't cram everything into just four police
:22:49. > :22:51.boxes. I'm focusing on the lady of Enlightenment, the Scottish
:22:52. > :22:56.Industrial Revolution, and 101 Scottish inventions. Looking to the
:22:57. > :23:01.modern-day and celebrating the information age. We are going to
:23:02. > :23:04.make a cloud. Our connected world is just one of the big themes. If
:23:05. > :23:10.previous years have anything to go by, the serious stuff for grown-ups
:23:11. > :23:16.will be almost as fun as for everyone. Does it have a lasting
:23:17. > :23:20.effect? We genuinely believe science is integral to so many lives that it
:23:21. > :23:24.is relevant to everybody and we just need to find the right ways of
:23:25. > :23:27.reaching them. We do a bit of science by stealth programming,
:23:28. > :23:33.programme around food and reading in the knowledge that all we have to do
:23:34. > :23:36.is ignite a spark of interest. The festival runs to two weeks over the
:23:37. > :23:38.Easter holidays which gives us plenty of time to work out what the
:23:39. > :23:44.birds heads were all about. Aurier Here are Shereen and Glenn
:23:45. > :23:55.with the details. Tonight, new figures show Scots
:23:56. > :24:00.spend more on booze than people in the rest of the UK. Would
:24:01. > :24:04.restricting sales tackle that? Poking fun at the politicians, Ian
:24:05. > :24:08.Hislop on how satire is engaging a whole new audience. West Wing actor
:24:09. > :24:17.Richard Schiff talks to us about making a Scottish anti-Trump hashtag
:24:18. > :24:20.go global. I don't try to live my life insulting people but I think in
:24:21. > :24:25.this case it adds a little bit of fun to the fury. And Amy MacDonald
:24:26. > :24:36.is live in the studio. In the meantime let's see how the
:24:37. > :24:39.weather is shaping up. Good evening. After all the rain many had this
:24:40. > :24:47.morning it did improve in the end. Lovely picture there. Tonight
:24:48. > :24:50.largely dry, quite cold compared to last night thanks to this ridge of
:24:51. > :24:55.high pressure sitting overhead, keeping things try and settled. Warm
:24:56. > :24:59.front in the South West meaning outbreaks of rain at times. For many
:25:00. > :25:04.a dry night and where those skies clear it will be cold. There will
:25:05. > :25:09.also be missed and fog particularly for central and southern Scotland.
:25:10. > :25:12.Towns and cities with overnight temperatures two to four Celsius, in
:25:13. > :25:16.the countryside freezing or just under. Thick cloud in the south-west
:25:17. > :25:20.and across western parts cloudy skies tomorrow, some spots of rain.
:25:21. > :25:24.Central and southern largely dry but murky at times. Best sunshine in
:25:25. > :25:30.towards Murray and Aberdeenshire but even here the cloud will increase
:25:31. > :25:36.through the day. By mid-afternoon largely dry but very cloudy. Mild,
:25:37. > :25:42.910 Celsius, generally light winds inland. The hotspot or two of rain.
:25:43. > :25:47.Still holding onto the sunshine across the north-east where we will
:25:48. > :25:51.see temperatures into double digits. Orkney and Shetland not too bad
:25:52. > :25:57.either. The rest of the afternoon and overnight, fairly cloudy, winds
:25:58. > :26:02.picking up around the west Coast and a change afoot as we head overnight
:26:03. > :26:06.in towards Saturday. This weather front sweeps in from the Atlantic
:26:07. > :26:10.bringing outbreaks of rain. A wet start to the weekend. Here are the
:26:11. > :26:15.details for Saturday, outbreaks of rain across the West, edging
:26:16. > :26:18.eastwards but by afternoon a lot of them will have cleared away. A dry
:26:19. > :26:25.afternoon with spells of brightness coming through. Easy from the
:26:26. > :26:30.south-west. The mild theme continues towards Sunday, some outbreaks of
:26:31. > :26:31.rain across the West and north-west, in the north-east potential highs of
:26:32. > :26:35.40 degrees. Thank you. Now, a reminder of
:26:36. > :26:37.tonight's main news. An Aberdeen hotelier is calling
:26:38. > :26:39.for a nationwide boycott of new business rates,
:26:40. > :26:41.and says he'll refuse New rates come into force in April,
:26:42. > :26:47.after a national revaluation. However the Scottish government
:26:48. > :26:50.point out that an extra 100,000 businesses will now
:26:51. > :27:03.pay nothing at all. Three Labour run councils are to
:27:04. > :27:06.freeze the basic rate of council tax. But other local authorities
:27:07. > :27:08.including Scotland's biggest council, Glasgow, have put them up.
:27:09. > :27:12.The new US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, has held his first
:27:13. > :27:14.face to face meeting with his Russian counterpart.
:27:15. > :27:17.It comes in the wake of turmoil in the White House over alleged
:27:18. > :27:18.links between the Trump administration and the
:27:19. > :27:23.Rex Tillerson also held talks with the foreign secretary,
:27:24. > :27:28.Boris Johnson as part of a G20 summit in Germany.
:27:29. > :27:31.I'll be back with the headlines at 8.
:27:32. > :27:33.And the late bulletin just after the ten o'clock news.
:27:34. > :27:35.Until then, from everyone on the team - right
:27:36. > :27:50.across the country - have a very good evening.
:27:51. > :27:54.Two challenges await you today, and our genre is Landscape.
:27:55. > :27:55.The conditions are a wee bit challenging.
:27:56. > :27:56.I've really got to convince the judges
:27:57. > :27:56.The conditions are a wee bit challenging.
:27:57. > :28:02.I've really got to convince the judges
:28:03. > :28:05.It's colourful - but it was meant to be muted.