Vikings, knights and so much more

• Mark Evans speaks of his joy in leading the Jarl’s Squad during Up-Helly-A’, despite concerns over his father’s health.

• Harsh criticism has been aimed at the Scottish government following plans to close emergency control centres in Inverness and Aberdeen.

• Medieval martial arts club, Vikingr Hjaltlandi, held its first tournament, with modern-day knights coming from far and wide.

• Electricity giant SSE is carrying out a public consultation in burying subsea cables to islands off the Shetland Mainland.

• Aviation chiefs met poloticians and Loganair bosses for crunch talks over the quality of air services to and from the isles.

• See pictures and reports in our 16-page Up-Helly-A’ pull-out.

• Jamie Hatch provides all the latest on the music scene in Music Matters.