9am Briefing: Two dead after falling from tenement flats

An unnamed 31-year-old woman died after plunging from a first-floor flat in the New Town at around 2.30am. It is thought that she was attending a party in Dundas Street and slipped from the window ledge to the basement area.

Then yesterday evening, at around 6pm, a man was killed after falling from a flat in Leith.

The incidents are not thought to be linked and police are investigating.

Man dies after car crash

A MAN has died after a car crash in East Lothian this morning.

The man, believed to 28, was declared dead at the scene this morning on the A199 Abbots View Junction, near Haddington, after his Audi crashed into the centre of the roundabout and overturned.

Police, fire and ambulance services were called to the incident at 2.40am.

Trust urged to sell off properties

THE National Trust for Scotland should consider selling some of its portfolio of historical properties in order to stave off its financial problems, according to an independent review published today.

The NTS has been hit by financial difficulties that saw it make 45 staff redundant, sell its Edinburgh headquarters and mothball four of its sites.

The strategic review by George Reid was commissioned by the charity's council to look at its resources, organisation and governance and investigate how it could weather problems in the future.

He found the trust was "unsustainable" in its present state, with a budget that worked on a "needs must" basis.

He recommended that the trust should "concentrate on a smaller core portfolio" and review its properties and assets, with a view to identifying those that could be managed by other organisations.