DUSK and the drift of pungent wood smoke. Common sense says we're clustered on the back lot at Tramway, but our other senses whisper differently. Sporadic flames and the overhead moon reveal six other-world figures: ancient, ghost-like. Or perhaps
THE Conservatives last night demanded a full Commons statement on the Sierra Leone arms affair from the Foreign Office Minister of State Tony Lloyd as Sandline, the company involved, added to the row by naming the officials it had informed of its actions
Partick Thistle v Ayr United AFTER 3150 minutes of football and still separated by a mere hairsbreadth, Ayr United and Partick Thistle today face a final sprint to a finish that means much more to both clubs than a mere jump above the relegation line
n Ballykissangel (BBC1, Sunday, Monday) n Killer Net (C4, Tuesday) n Invasion Earth (BBC1, Friday) n Seven Days (ITV, Sunday) n Kiss Me Kate (BBC1, Monday) SHE made a lovely corpse, if a wee bit green about the gills. You can't go wrong with a
Listening to the hum of cyberspace or ... WHAT'S up with you? Greyman says to me. That woman annoy you? No. Not especially. She certainly hasn't meant to annoy me. She is one of a group of five, three women and two men, who have come into The
Golf: Sara Lee Classic Kathryn Marshall justified her decision to send her husband, Scot, behind the ropes when she produced her best opening round of the season in yesterday's first round of the Sara Lee Classic at Nashville, Tennessee. In blustery
Built in 1960, this architect-designed detached villa which stands in more than an acre of level ground on the old Humbie Road in Mearnskirk, has a number of highly unusual features which give the house a decidedly Spanish feel. The large reception
Thomas Donald Mackay Shaw, 3rd Lord Craigmyle, has died aged 74. He played a leading role in galvanising Catholic laity into effective action in charity and politics, while quietly giving away his fortune. In 1993, the Pope recognised the extraordinary
WHEN the Samaritans put the phone down on you, when a mouthful of Prozac cannot induce a smile, when your emotional forecast predicts a sea of clouds with a persistent depression, remember - it could be worse. You could be a Manchester City fan. Following
The traditional family, as we have known it, is ripe for transformation into something phenomenally different. The pressures created by families may be imploding under their own weight . . . So wrote an obscure philosopher last century. He failed to
BETTER times for Dumbarton, as they enter the new era that was outlined yesterday, have come at the worst of times. All season the Sons have taken a sore skelping and at the bottom they sit. For three seasons most of the fun for their fans has been akin
English rugby union's top clubs have won their conflict with the Rugby Football Union after they agreed to the expansion of Premiership One and Two to 14 teams each and accepted the boycott of European competition next season. After more than a
Captain Matthew Lindsay, Master Mariner; born January 28, 1933, died April 3, 1998 CAPTAIN Matthew Lindsay was born in Glasgow, the fourth eldest of a family of six. They lived at Roybridge for a time before moving to Trosaraidh, South Uist, when he
THEY are not everybody's cup of tea but it has to be admitted emerging markets investment trusts are looking tempting. The emerging markets, romantic, volatile and hot places, have always had a special appeal for the more adventurous investor, and
MICHAEL Fry's latest instalment of the alleged History of Scotland is really too much (May 7). The rubbishing of Thomas Muir and the whole pantheon of Scottish Radical history is nothing new but at least in the past those engaged in this dubious
THE writer George Gunn's aim is to create a theatre of the north. He is artistic director the aptly named Grey Coast Theatre as the programme note explains, is dedicated to the belief that ''the indigenous culture of the North of Scotland
Division Two One team out of three chasing promotion will suffer heartbreak tonight, but Clydebank fans will not be shedding a tear if their team misses out. The Bankies' follow-follow brigade will be backing relegated Brechin today in a game that
SCOTTISH Labour yesterday launched an ambitious crusade to combat social deprivation by borrowing ideas over New Deal schools from the USA and announcing the creation of community-based action groups across Scotland to combat social exclusion, writes
EMI Group said yesterday it had terminated talks with a third party about possibly acquiring the music company since no offer had been made after several weeks. The announcement came one day after the Dutch music and film giant PolyGram was effectively
THE eyes of Berlin Airlift veterans welled with tears of nostalgia as the drone of the old McDonnell Douglas C54 was heard before it could be seen over Prestwick yesterday. Then the great Candy Bomber wiggled his wings during a fly-past, just as he did
FINANCE ministers from the world's most powerful economies will today hear a stark warning from Chancellor Gordon Brown about the ''major social problem'' sweeping Asia on the back of its economic crisis. The preparatory meeting
''A shock half-time score from Division One up in Scotland'' announced Capital Radio Sports, ''Dundee nil, Partick Thistle three!'' An almost-interested expert added: ''I suppose you get these results
Ann Donald meets Danny La Rue, the dame who blazed the trail for female impersonators and who remains the acknowledged mistress of glitz and glam I am trapped amid the Woodbine Generation. Trapped in a mass cross-handed sway-a-thon with the rest of row
THE Yes in London's referendum for an elected mayor handed Tony Blair a political dilemma yesterday as Labour's most popular candidate urged the Prime Minister to give party members a free vote, writes Benedict Brogan. Ken Livingstone, the
MANAGERS behind a buy-out deal which will save some 40 skilled engineering jobs near Ravenscraig in Lanarkshire have resurrected the highly-regarded Anderson Strathclyde name in preparation for expansion into new European markets. The head of the newly-formed
FOOD, furniture and housebuilding group Hillsdown Holdings duly unveiled its promised restructuring programme at the annual meeting yesterday. Shareholders, anxious to see how this sluggish, somewhat hotch-potch of a company could change its spots, heard
TWO oil exploration workers died yesterday after their vessel capsized in the North Sea. The men were part of the four- man crew of an inflatable workboat which was servicing an oil survey vessel 15 miles east of Wick. The identities of the dead men,
SECURING the former royal yacht Britannia for Leith has led to ''significantly more interest'' being shown in the Ocean Terminal development, Forth Ports said yesterday. The group's shares rose 22.5p to 665p on the announcement
May 9, 1836 n THE Herald reported: ''On Saturday evening, while the railway passenger carriages were proceeding eastwards to Airdrie, a wheel of a small open wagon attached to the regular train broke, and three or four passengers in the wagon
HE sounded pretty creepy, with hawthorn and oak leaves branching from his mouth, his head antlered with foliage - the Green Man, this was, profiled on Radio Four by Joanne Pinnock; nature's representative, found at May Day festivities and on innumerable
IT is always sad when a newspaper dies. Next week, however, the mourning will be among more than the redundant staff, when the Sporting Life puts out its last edition. There are many punters who swear by the Life and regard the form in its great rival
We should be well used by now to familiar words taking on entirely different meanings. Even so, anorak has taken many of us by surprise. How did it leap from being an ubiquitous waterproof, hooded jacket to being someone who bores us rigid? The answer
Celtic's preparations for the final game of the season, the one which seems certain to deliver them the premier division title, were still being overshadowed last night by the worries over the future of their Dutch coach, Wim Jansen. Yesterday at
ECONOMIC factors have played a relatively marginal part in attempts to ascertain the origins of the recent Balkan war. In contrast, myth and legend have been writ large, often obscuring realities on the ground, and clouding the judgment of international
ANDREW Parker's point-to-point season came to a premature end in County Durham on Monday, when he broke his jaw at Witton Castle. The former northern area champion then saw one of his intended rides win under replacement Luke Morgan. '&apos
Rucanor Jets are leaving nothing to chance as they prepare for the Scottish Women's Cup final against Su Ragazzi at Meadowbank a week tomorrow. The Edinburgh side have hired the hall where the final will be staged for a training session this weekend
SARAH Kane's reputation for the singular and extreme now goes well before her. And she doesn't disappoint. After Blasted, Cleansed. After rape and buggery now comes drugs, incest, mutilation, trans-sexual gender transplant, and the phallus
THE Jockey Club's decision to throw out Richard Guest's appeal against his third contravention of Rule 151, has again brought the contentious rule back into the spotlight. The dissention over the rule - horses not being run on their merits
A WEEK tomorrow, some 4000 women will race round Glasgow's west end in the Britannia Women's 10,000 metres. At the sharp end, there will be #450 for the first finisher, and a further #500 in unit trusts should last year's winning time
Leonor Greyl This Parisian range of botanical haircare has been mentioned frequently in the beauty press over the last while because of movie star and shopaholic Nicole Kidman's fondness for it. The range was the brainchild of pharmacist Jean-Marie
THE Scottish Labour Party last night launched an inquiry into the letting of a house to the mother of a former councillor. Mrs Susan Dalgety, deputy leader of City of Edinburgh Council, said: ''There are serious concerns raised by this. The
Kilmarnock v Hibernian AFTER a mammoth result against championship-chasing Rangers at Ibrox last week, which kept them a point ahead of the other team craving the final European spot, St Johnstone, Kilmarnock enter the final day of premier-division
Anyone with a touch of entrepreneurial flair would be stationed outside Tannadice and Paradise this afternoon, selling the most sought after of commodities. Not the Prozac or Pampers, although they too might be useful; not even the usual array of scarfs
Steve Ravenscroft, Saracens centre in today's Tetley's Bitter Cup final, could be in for the month of his life. On May 1 he qualified as a solicitor and now on the pitch there are more glittering prizes in prospect for the Bradford-born player
BRIAN SANDS put his money where his mouth is to put speedway back on track in Glasgow and is now beginning to see his gamble pay off. Despite a depressing start to the season with two rained-off matches and an injury to Swedish star Dalle Anderson, the
Division Three THERE will not be many folk at Alloa today who will remember the last time the Wasps won a championship - it was 76 years ago. It will therefore be a new experience for everyone concerned when the trophy and the championship flag are
Division One AYR and Partick may be the only ones in the first division for whom today's results matter a jot, but the two clubs battling to avoid relegation are not alone in having their futures hanging in the proverbial balance. St Mirren manager
Despite a promising start, the relationship between jazz and television has never fulfilled its potential. But, 30 years after the heyday of such important and icon-packed British jazz programmes as Jazz 625, the music appears to be staging a television
In England NOW is the time for Duncan Ferguson to stand up, be counted and head the goals that will save Everton from the ignominy of relegation to a division in which they last played in 1954. The only problem, of course, is that he could score six
Almost two-thirds of lenders may be pocketing all the interest on money put into repayment mortgages during the course of a year. Although some UK lenders have for years been ensuring the capital element of mortgage repayments is used immediately to
Rugby Australian rugby union chief executive John O'Neill insisted yesterday that under-fire Louis Luyt would resign as president of the South African Rugby Football Union and revealed that the Tri-Nations series would not be affected. Luyt refused
WB YEATS: A LIFE by Stephen Coote (Sceptre; #8.99) The obvious problem of writing a life of someone like WB Yeats - not only a giant in poetry, but a political figure and a philosopher of sorts; a man whose active career was almost as long as his long
Conference A A BUSY weekend lies ahead for the two clubs in Conference A who have yet to begin their campaign. There has been praise over the impeccable condition of Boghall for the Benson & Hedges match last Saturday which meant the postponement until
Whatever the predictions about the Tennent's Velvet Scottish Cup final today at Murrayfield between Glasgow Hawks and Kelso, the one certainty is that the trophy and the winner's cheque for #20,000 will go to a second division club for the
If you have a problem - or a solution - you would like Tessa Simpson to consider for this page, please write to her at The Herald Magazine, 195 Albion Street, Glasgow G1 1QP, send a fax on 0141-552 2128, or e-mail her at heraldmail@cims.co.uk Identities
AT a wedding in Dumfries I agreed with the poet Willie Neill that it was awkward for us to communicate - our linguistic abilities just weren't good enough. Both of us are reasonably fluent in Scotland's three languages but, to our great disappointment
HIRTY-four-per cent of Londoners turned out to vote in their referendum. If Labour are going to be consistent, they will presumably now deny Londoners their Assembly for another 18 years and another referendum because the turnout didn't reach 40%
Scotland's capture of an unprecedented three titles in the Austrian Open has led to yet another boost for the world standings of the leading Scottish players and more than justified the decision not to support the last of the Grand Slam series in
Money World Guide To We would like to begin a programme of investments for our grandchildren but are uncertain about the tax implications. Could you offer some guidance? From an investment point of view, the tax tail should never wag the dog, but on
IF the Scottish Claymores are to have any hope of dousing Rhein Fire in Dusseldorf's Rheinstadion tonight and revive their season then they must first extinguish running back Derrick Clark. Clark rushed for three second-half touchdowns to bring
As we sailed into Aswan, night had already fallen. The soft blackness was broken only by the twinkling lights of the town and the tasteful illumination of the Tombs of the Nobles on the opposite bank. This was our final port of call on a cruise which
If the powers that be in Scottish Gymnastics are successful in a lobby to increase the allocation of Commonwealth Games places then Craig Barry and Jamie Barlow will have the chance to earn the trip of their young lives at next month's National
IS it a bomber, is it a Calvin Klein scent, is it a record label? No, it's Barclays new trend-setting financial happening with the attention-grabbing name b2, writes Simon Bain. A ''guess what it is'' advertising campaign has
There is not a lot of Buddha about Budda, which perhaps explains why this new Glasgow cellar restaurant is spelled the way it is. The name is clearly meant to tease. Whatever its inspiration, it carries gastronomic implications which remain deliberately
The lyrics ran through my head as I donned my flying costume - ''I believe I can fly. I believe I can touch the sky.'' I had the knee pads, elbow pads, voluminous suit, crash helmet, ear plugs. Those envisaging the more conventional
Allan Laing talks Tarantino with the grandaddy of modern crime fiction One day in 1984 I found a novel called LaBrava in a bookstore. It was written by a guy called Elmore Leonard, of whom I'd never heard, but the blurb described him as '&apos
SCOTTISH Equitable Asset Management (SEAM) has switched #150m from equities into cash but it still believes that European markets could be ''modestly higher'' than at present at the end of 1998. SEAM has had one of the lightest cash
Venus Williams yesterday again brushed aside her father's prediction that sister Serena would become the better of the two by sweeping past her younger sibling 6-4, 6-2 to reach the semi-finals of the Italian Open in Rome. Victory in the baseline
Conference B Poloc have been given an early boost by the return of Scotland international Craig McKnight after an absence of four years. The left-arm spinner returned to the country last week after emigrating to Australia in 1994, and immediately linked
Albert Camus, philosopher-goalkeeper, saw football as a metaphor for life. The beautiful game also was about destiny, winning and losing, joy and despair. Such contrasting emotions will be felt in equal measure by Old Firm fans today when the domestic
David, 22, from Edinburgh, sent in this most unusual dream that has recurred three times. David, a computer operator, says that he is experiencing difficulty over his recent break-up with his girlfriend. He is also nervous about the possibility of being
SINCE qualifying for the finals of the respective World Cups the form of Scotland's footballers, cricketers and women's hockey players has gone into decline. The footballers recently found Finland a hot handfult, the cricketers have been unable
qJames Fanshawe, who saddled a treble on Monday, maintained his excellent start to the season when 25-1 shot Bryony Brind opened her winning account at Nottingham yesterday. Fanshawe said: ''That is seven winners for us, and it is the best
Juniors WITH less than four weeks to go, many of today's games will go a long way to settling several promotion and relegation tussles. After reaching the final of the OVD Cup and the Whyte and Mackay Cup, Pollok turn their attention to the Reebok
Rep of Ireland 2, Italy 1 A performance full of passion and commitment secured Ireland's first international trophy in the UEFA Under-16 Cham-pionship final at Perth. Goals by Keith Foy and winger David McMahon made sure Ireland's noisy 2498
EDINBURGH University has struck an unprecedented blow for UK academe by simultaneously filling three chairs in the same subject area with candidates from the US. This reversal of the traditional brain drain comes in the wake of additional money for the
HUGH DAN MacLENNAN Caberfeidh, who have made the Balliemore Cup virtually their own property, meet Perth-based Tayforth at Kingussie today in the final of the intermediate championship. Cabers have won the trophy for the last three years in succession
The Grigson factor lives on. Not just in three decades of brilliant food writing by the late Jane Grigson, but now by her daughter, Sophie Grigson, who is joined in the family tradition by her husband, William Black. Together they have written Fish.
Honorary role: Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam speaks with Harry Belafonte yesterday after the two had received Honorary Degrees from Newcastle University.
Tomorrow's third fixture in the Scottish league at Dumfries, the last of the spring series, should see positions stabilised after the previous two races finished with two very different leader boards leaving matters wide open. Title holder Rob Lee
Landlords and ladies from Troon to Thurso are gearing up for another season of B&B breakfasts, all of which should (if they're worth their salt) finish up with the crunch and tang of toast and marmalade. Thank you, Mrs James Robertson, of Paisley
Oh to be thin now that summer is near. Determined not to have the possibility of an all-over tan reduced by having to lie in the shadow of a beached whale, my dearly beloved decided to place me on a strict diet. And I can tell you that it was hell, trying
From the verdant Imola parkland, near Bologna, to a dusty, sunbaked hillside 12 miles north of Barcelona, Formula One motor racing treks west to Catalunya this weekend for the Spanish Grand Prix. Inevitably the main world title protagonists, Mika Hakkinen
DUNDEE United chairman Jim McLean is set to anger supporters further by snubbing an offer from a millionaire businessman to buy shares in the club, writes Keith Sinclair. Mr Eddie Thompson, who owns the Dundee-based grocery chain Morning Noon & Night
AS you alight from the train from Central Paris on to the long avenue that has been created to enhance the approach to Le Stade France, your eye can be distracted easily by the sight of a knackers yard just to your right as you survey the scene. It
q I will receive about 6000 shares when Australian Mutual Provident Society lists on the Australian stock market shortly. I do not need to raise any money from them for the next few years. Since the pound has strengthened considerably against the Australian
Golf: Turespana Open Seve Ballesteros crashed out of the tournament his own company promotes in Majorca yesterday. Needing a birdie at the final hole to survive the halfway cut in the Turespana Masters-Balearic Open at Santa Ponsa - a course where he
STAGE and screen have always enjoyed a symbiotic relationship. Whereas in earlier years films have largely relied on theatrical origins, more and more successful films are now being adapted as stage musicals. The latest of these is the 1977 film Saturday
Ian Lindsay, Secretary General, World Energy Council; born January 26, 1935, died April 5, 1998 Ian Lindsay was born in Edinburgh and had part of his education at Glenalmond; however, in his professional career the world was his stage. He was proud
Tennent's Shield Selkirk it seems have become synonomous with Tennent's Cup final day. Two years ago, the Soutars lost to Edinburgh Academicals in the final of the Bowl, last year they won the competition by defeating Biggar, and today they
Motherwell v Aberdeen Harri Kampman has formed some harsh judgments in his short tenure at Motherwell and these will be reflected in the blue-print he will unveil next week. The Finnish coach, like today's opponents Aberdeen, will restructure his
James Percival Agnew, former Deacon Convener of the Trades of Glasgow; born February 17, 1905, died May 3, 1998 James Percival Agnew, who has died suddenly aged 93, was born in Glasgow and educated at Kelvinside Academy and Glenalmond. On leaving school
ATHOL Fugard's two-hander, first seen in Johannesburg in 1995, is more interesting on a metaphorical level than on the surface. Ostensibly it's about Veronica, a young woman approaching adulthood, as her grandfather and guardian approaches
SCOTTISH Hydro-Electric yesterday announced a deal to fit new, more efficient turbines to its troubled Keadby power station in Lincolnshire. This gas-fired power station has suffered repeated problems with its turbines, made by General Electric of the
''Om mani padme hum.'' I first heard, or rather read this Tibetan Buddhist prayer, ''Hail Jewel of the Lotus Flower'' when, as a 12-year-old I avidly consumed a book called ''With Mystics and Magicians
AFTER much to-ing and fro-ing from the Old Firm in recent weeks the destination of this year's championship will finally be decided today and, taking into account how the season has panned out, I believe that Celtic will be the most nervous team
DISASTROUS turn-out figures in England's local elections and London's referendum for an elected mayor prompted political leaders from all sides to promise urgent measures to rejuvenate local government yesterday. Evidence of widespread voter
EMMA Guy knows all about the school of hard knocks. It goes with the territory as a downhill rider in Britain's fastest-growing sport, mountain biking. Last year just before the start of the racing season the 27-year-old from Lanark broke a collar
MUCH of the hysteria surrounding the SNP's recent rise in the polls is wholly unnecessary. It has been shown in the past that opinion polls are invariably wrong. However, even if they are not it is not the end-of-the-world situation being promoted
ONLY a Labour cooncillor could show enough lack of embarrassment to write such a sycophantic letter praising England's Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott (May 7). As Labour Convener of Transportation for Edinburgh City Cooncil, Cooncillor David
Tennent's Bowl The restructuring of the Tennent's Bowl competition this season was all about ensuring that finals day at Murrayfield would not be the preserve of the premiership clubs. Today that thinking is translated into reality in the
DOUNREAY was last night facing calls for criminal prosecution and a full independent inquiry after a breach in safety which anti-nuclear protesters claimed could have caused the worst accident in the plant's 40-year history. Management at the Caithness
THE Scottish Conservative Party last night picked Mr David McLetchie as its candidate for the Edinburgh Pentlands constituency at next year's Scottish Parliamentary Elections, writes Ian Smith. Mr McLetchie, 45, who is vice chairman of the Scottish
Peter Nicol has been named the first two-time winner of the Colin Keith Memorial Plate, surely the first of many awards that will come his way this year. Becoming world No.1 and winning the British Open is a double that would merit any sports person
Aberdeen-based H&R Insurance Services have elected not to continue with their sponsorship of The British Alpine Ski Team after six years of support worth around #400,000. This leaves the British Ski Federation with the tough prospect of finding funding
AERO-engine maker Rolls-Royce plc may yet hold the key to who finally ends up controlling its eponymous former luxury car subsidiary currently being fought over by German rivals Volkswagen (VW) and BMW. For Rolls-Royce plc stressed yesterday that while
CANADA and cricket are not usually linked. But Uddingston reckon their chances of success in Conference C of the Scottish League can be boosted by a man from the nation of the maple leaf. Ian Dickson, a Canadian studying at university in Glasgow, makes
SCOTTISH Coal will sign new long-term supply agreements with Scotland's two electricity companies early next week worth more than #450m, power industry sources said yesterday. The separate agreements with ScottishPower and Scottish Hydro-Electric
PRINCES Street in Edinburgh is less than a mile long and the wide and gracious carriageway is world-renowned. It used to have three lanes of traffic in each direction. It is bounded on the north by almost exclusively commercial buildings of a considerable
Celtic coach Wim Jansen looked back to his own career yesterday - which included two World Cup finals with Holland - and decided that today's game, between Celtic and St Johnstone, required total concentration from his players and, if that
Helen Ward, whose supple voice and sense of swing contributed to the early success of the Benny Goodman band, has died aged 82. She toured and recorded with Goodman's band from 1934 to 1936 and rejoined him for performances and recordings after
By their banning orders shall ye know them. Glasgow's city fathers have once again set themselves up as the guardians of decency and wholesomeness. But the decision by the council's licensing applications sub-committee not to grant a licence
BellSouth Classic Sandy Lyle's sad story continued when he slumped to a three-over-par 75 in the second round at the BellSouth Atlanta Classic in Georgia yesterday. The Scot double-bogeyed his penultimate hole, the par-four seventeenth, to post
The Jazz Touring Collective has brought a breath of fresh air since it began operations last autumn and even if its best-supported venture to date featured a musician who actually lives in Glasgow, Tommy Smith, its main policy of introducing bands who
FRIENDS of the Earth Scotland has launched a ''green office'' action plan aimed at encouraging environmental savings. It calls on companies to reduce the amount of materials they use, re-use materials wherever possible and maximise
Tiger Woods is a near neighbour at home in Isleworth, Florida, and two of California's best known courses, Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill, are emblazoned on her golf bag. Well, by golly, isn't Janice Moodie just your typical all-American girl
The dramas produced over the years even include an episode that would bewilder the conspiracy theorists: the day in 1959 when a Celtic win gave the title to Rangers. The post-war era was one when goal average counted instead of goal difference, and a
Iam sure many of us have enjoyed in our own gardens, if not the neighbours' or perhaps in the local park, the blooms of some of the popular spring flowering shrubs. For example, it's difficult to miss the profusion of tubular, four-petalled
A CHARACTER portrait of letter bomb victim Michael Coyne was offered last night by Mr Norman Smith, a past president of the Association of British Investigators. ''I have known Mike for some time. He runs an established agency. He has a CID
IRISH Prime Minister Bertie Ahern will join 50,000 Celtic fans today to support the club in its bid to win the Scottish league championship for the first time in a decade, writes Keith Sinclair. The Taoiseach will watch the match between Celtic and St
THE #1700m flotation of Thomson Travel left would-be investors angry and frustrated this week as application forms failed to arrive on time - but late applicants still have a chance. Thomson earmarked 10% of its shares for private investors and 90% for
The children of Moray woman Arlene Fraser, who vanished without trace 10 days ago, yesterday begged her to get in touch with the message: ''Mummy we are missing you.'' However, they made their appeal as police became more convinced
NAPOLEON gets his comeuppance noisily in Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall next Sunday night (May 17), but it's all in a good cause. Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture is the climax to the first half of the Gala Scottish Prom being held in aid of
Is this bike the vehicle of the future? Maxwell Macleod passes sentence on a new champion of pedal power My first reaction on seeing the long-awaited result of Raleigh's 10 years of research into electric bikes was a hoot of horror. ''
THE ''70 wild miles'' race celebrates its tenth anniversary this summer with organisers Gordon Gooch and John Allan preparing to welcome more than 100 competitors to Glencoe. It's a rigorous event which offers a significant glimpse
Buying residential property to let out is one of the fastest growing forms of investment. Being a landlord used to be a mug's game: rental levels were fixed and if you had bad tenants you couldn't get rid of them. But since the introduction
beastie of the week two-spotted or glasshouse red spider mite (Tetranychus urticae) This pest can affect a whole range of indoor plants and even outside in the warm summer months. Figs, cucumbers, carnations and busy lizzies are just few other likely
IF, despite the odd glitch in synchronisation, the RSNO never sounded less than idiomatic in their performances of Hollywood movie music - classics brand new and brand old - last night, then there is a very good reason. Simply, they have been up to their
SCOTTISH Secretary Donald Dewar yesterday denied that he was prepared to consider doing any sort of deal with the Tories to prevent the Nationalists from using the Scottish Parliament to propel the country towards independence. He went further by dismissing
Scotland v Derbyshire Scotland were left to rue a suicidal middle-order collapse at Forfar yesterday as Derbyshire scraped their way to an uneasy three-wicket victory in the final Benson and Hedges group tie. Play had been held up in the late morning
SOME writers have an especially powerful gift for creating a fictional world, conjuring characters and places that connect with an identifiable reality, yet heightened, resonating in the imagination. Thomas Hardy's Wessex, in his own words a &apos
GREAT Britain's selectors could be for the high jump after their latest snub to Scots athletes: overlooking Gillian Black and Aileen Wilson for the Great Britain junior match at Loughborough a week tomorrow. Once again, lack of Scottish input to
LONDON blue chips recovered from earlier losses to close on positive ground yesterday as Wall Street investors breathed a huge sigh of relief after much-awaited April employment statistics bolstered market hopes for steady US interest rates in the near
l If a luxurious short break to London sounds like a capital idea, look no further than the fabulous Landmark London Hotel in Marylebone. This elegant five-star hotel is offering a bargain weekend rate during the month of May: #79.50 per person, based
The time, the place: BBC1, 1978-1991. But really: Southfork Ranch, Braddock County, Texas, in the hog-heaven years after the A-rabs obligingly hiked the oil price. Format: a rich extended family of oil tycoons spend their lives eating Texas-sized outdoor
KEN Murray is hungry for the launch of his second bank with the raison d'etre of eating building societies. Bank of Edinburgh, launched in 1990 but in most respects identical to the new Murray Financial Corporation, was ahead of its time and lost
A FUGITIVE doctor who sparked a nationwide manhunt after his girlfriend was gunned down in a pub car park in England was arrested by police in Lennoxtown outside Glasgow last night. Dr Thomas Shanks, a former SAS soldier trained in counter terrorism
EROTICA arrived in London last November with all the energy and confusion of your average adolescent. Torn between a mission statement (''You will be part of A UNIQUE SOCIAL EXPERIENCE that the public richly deserve''), commercial
STAGECOACH is to seek a review of competition issues in its rebuffed bid for a New Zealand bus company, Yellow Bus of Auckland. The Perth-based group first approached Yellow Bus last year but was told any deal would be ruled out because Stagecoach already
THE Church of Scotland should not be obsessed by negative statistics and instead concentrate on delivering its positive messages, according to the Moderator-designate, writes Chris Holme. The Rev Professor Alan Main, 62, said although Kirk membership
DESPITE the problems being faced by farmers relatively few of them will be forced out of business by bankruptcy, David Douglas, senior agricultural manager of the Clydesdale Bank, predicted yesterday. Speaking at Ayr Show he said the more likely cause
IAN Saint-Yves notes (May 7) that, in British TV drama, a lot of drunks and criminals are depicted as Scots. He asks if this accurately reflects the place and character of Scots in British society. Assuming this inquiry is humorous, the humorous answer
Fortunes continue to change with nearly every report from the front line of the eighth leg of the Whitbread Round the World Race as the nine competing yachts head north towards the Grand Banks and Newfoundland heading from Baltimore to La Rochelle in
As the World Cup looms once more there is a Scot whose contributions in three successive finals in West Germany, Argentina and Spain were recognised throughout the world, who will be taking a professional as well as a patriotic interest in what is happening
A BID by local authority employers to bypass unions and take a teachers' pay offer directly to schools is revealed in a letter leaked to The Herald. It was greeted with fury by unions, who accused the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities of
IT was perhaps not quite on the scale of routing the money- lenders from the temple, but a unique coalition of churches, community groups, and individuals yesterday stopped a three-day exhibition of ''erotica'' from taking place in
NOTHING much fazes Davie Hay, least of all legal arguments with his beloved Celtic. Perhaps that is no great surprise when you consider that, aside from his laid-back personality, the man known in his playing days as The Quiet Assassin has been involved
Fattorini has been reading again. The book in question is Andrew Barr's 1988 classic, Wine Snobbery. Ten years ago Barr shocked the wine world by suggesting (among other things) that wine makers and merchants often hoodwinked their customers with
SCOTLAND lie in second place four points behind England going into today's concluding day of the Israeli International Youth Tournament in Ra'anana after both sides scored 8-0 whitewash wins yesterday. England were first in action in the morning
SCOTLAND'S four national arts companies were yesterday told that they would receive long-promised extra funding from the Scottish Office, but at the cost of jobs. Announcing that he was releasing #2.4m to be shared among the four companies - Scottish
IT would be criminal to leave the Buchanan family - you'll recall that last week we were checking out the fifteenth US President who carried that name - without making mention of some mysterious links between the clan and hats and headgear of all
From now on I will buy all of my clothes in Marks and Spencer, including my underpants. If they sell prawn cocktail sandwiches I'll get them. And the day they produce an electric bike count me in the queue. Why? Well, they are backing youth rugby
THE Fife home of a former lawyer was last night under police guard as it emerged he had also been the target of a parcel bomber who left a private investigator and his wife badly injured after an explosion at their Dundee home. Mr Derek Lawson, now a
In good faith FUDGE is definitely preferable to tablet, especially when you taste the theological varieties. Fudge is soft, yielding, melts away, and leaves you wanting more. Tablet is hard, unyielding, like the stone tablets on which commandments are
Dundee Utd v Rangers Rangers' outgoing manager, Walter Smith, held his last pre-league game press conference at Ibrox yesterday and he did so knowing that, no matter what his team can do tomorrow against Dundee United at Tannadice, the outcome of
While museums cannot dispute the fact that native peoples are still very much among us, there has been a conspiracy of silence, contends Maria Visconti THE scene opens at the Smithsonian - Washington's most-visited museum. There is a box on top
T Perhaps the most interesting aspect of your System Three opinion poll (SNP surges ahead, May 6) is the lack of response from the Liberal Democrats. The Lib-Dems have consistently maintained that they would not enter a coalition with the SNP if a precondition
BRITISH Digital Broadcasting yesterday confirmed it planned to launch digital television services in the final quarter of this year, and revealed that it would need just under two million subscribers to breakeven. Profits for the venture will total #100m
Gojko Susak, the hard-line Croatian defence minister and closest ally of President Franjo Tudjman, has died aged 53. A tough nationalist who devoted his life to creating and preserving Croatia's independence, he also became a useful ally of the
IT is a sad indictment of our declining footballing standards that the last European trophy won by a Scottish club occurred 15 years this week, when Alex Ferguson's Aberdeen stormed past some of the finest names in Europe to win the Cup-winners&
Pond-hopping has long been a vital ingredient of the hoops game and, though the sale of transatlantic air tickets dried up in the early part of this decade, due to the exclusion of foreign players from the Scottish League, business looks like being brisk
Former Scotland football hero Denis Law waits to present awards at the 3rd European Film and Multimedia Festival at Edinburgh International Conference Centre yesterday.
Dream trip for young stars TWO of Scotland's most promising tennis players, Frances Hendry (12) and David Brewer (13), pictured above, jetted off to Florida this week for a two-week scholarship accompanied by Judy Murray, the Scottish national coach
Aberdeen-based H&R Insurance Services have elected not to continue with their sponsorship of The British Alpine Ski Team after six years of support worth around #400,000. This leaves the British Ski Federation with the tough prospect of finding funding
THE man accused of murdering Scottish schoolboy international footballer Lawrence Haggart told a jury yesterday that he had been repeatedly slapped and punched and deprived of food and sleep during a weekend in police custody. Mr Brian Beattie denied
THE Government's plan to make part-time higher education available free to those on low incomes or benefit will come as a welcome relief to students who might otherwise have found themselves drowning in debt. The Scottish Office plan will enable
NOT before time Alec Stewart has been appointed to the captaincy of England. His has been a curious case of negative nepotism. For years the buzz on the county scene was that he had got where he had because his father was Micky Stewart, captain and later
Why would anyone want to go to a converted old school to learn how to breathe? Surely, if we don't breathe we are dead? Breathing is a reflex action which each of us takes countless times in our life - an effortless process, which allows oxygen
Compared with the anticipated 120mph-plus average race speed for tomorrow's Spanish Grand Prix, the first winner of the event, local hero Carlos de Salamanca, set a more leisurely pace on board a Rolls-Royce in 1913. He completed three laps of the
An investigation into the disappearance of #40,000 of taxpayers' money at the West Dunbartonshire Activity Centre has been identified as the origin of the Wattersgate affair by the district Labour Party, writes John Linklater. Breaking silence for
Monday. Forecast: ''It will be a bright day.'' At 7.45 it was raining and the peaks were white. The lone walker who'd shared a bunkroom with me was getting his gear together. A man of few words and those monosyllabic, but I quizzed
SIX years ago today, Rangers were celebrating when they clinched the double by beating Airdrie 2-1 in the Scottish Cup final at Hampden. May 9, 1992, saw the Lanarkshire town dress up in its red and white best. The streets became deserted as kick-off
Hearts v Dunfermline Athletic HEARTS club captain Gary Locke was yesterday rated highly doubtful for next week's Scottish Cup final against Rangers. The full-back, whose season has been dogged by injury, is now in a desperate race against time
THE current tendency of Glasgow and Edinburgh city council leaders to treat motorists as semi-criminals whose anti-social tendencies will have to be curbed by punitive measures is preventing any rational debate on the transport crisis in these cities
vBronze silk and linen mix jacket, #329. Matching pencil skirt, #109. Both by Nicole Farhi from selections at Frasers, Buchanan Street, Glasgow; Cruise, Ingram Street, Glasgow; Kafka, Union Terrace, Aberdeen; Nicole Farhi, New Bond Street, London W1
NORTH Korea's favoured method of diplomacy is blackmail; it has threatened the mass starvation of its own populace if its enemies did not provide food, and now it has returned to its old habits of nuclear brinkmanship. With a regime as unstable
THEY say that angling is not just fun or a sport, but with many it is an all-consuming passion. I'm a great believer in passion. If somebody is enthusiastic about something and can communicate that enthusiasm, that's great by me. If, say, it
Many young people who have experienced jail describe it as an early learning centre for crime. Yet statistics show that most of the children who appear in Scottish courts are not their for wrongdoing but because they have been wronged. In part two of
BUT BEAUTIFUL by Geoff Dyer (Abacus; #7.99) Three rousing cheers and a chorus of My Funny Valentine for this reprint of one of the few truly imaginative (as opposed to merely informative or worthy) books ever written about jazz. It's a collection
Gutted: members of the Galashiels Academy rugby squad, only weeks away from representing Scotland. Picture: PETER KEMP YOUNG rugby players whose comprehensive school raised #18,000 for them to represent Scotland in a world championship tournament
Benson & Hedges Cup Ben Hollioake bounced back to form with both bat and ball as Surrey completed their Benson & Hedges Cup qualifying campaign with a 100% record, and effectively ended Somerset's interest in this year's competition. New England
The jazz pianist Jess Stacy, who died on New Year's Day in l995 at the age of 90, would have been surprised that anyone had deemed him worthy of a biography because the man who graced the big bands of Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey and Bob Crosby
Millions of new shareowners have now had their first real feel of what a rollercoaster ride the stock market can be. The endlessly rising share prices of the converted building societies have been sliding back, bringing home in a pretty dramatic fashion
Fraserburgh yesterday signed Caley Thistle striker Brian Thomson to spearhead next season's title challenge. The league runners-up are understood to have paid #5000 for the striker, who has scored 20 goals this season. Thomson has enjoyed
qLeading Irish trainer Aidan O'Brien has confirmed Saratoga Springs a runner in the Dante Stakes at York on Wednesday, for which 10 horses were left in yesterday. ''While he will improve for the run he's ready for the race,'&
A RETURN is made to the full international circuit this weekend, with a squad of 40 athletes taking part in the Ghent International Regatta in Belgium - the first substantial Scottish presence in Europe for four years. For more than a decade leading
FIFE Indmar has responded to shareholder concerns by abandoning its micro-conglomerate strategy to focus on one of its two divisions. The Edinburgh-based industrial distribution and engineering group is to concentrate on its industrial distribution and
STOCKS closed higher yesterday as Wall Street bet the Federal Reserve will hold off raising interest rates, despite news that unemployment last month fell to a 28-year low. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 78.47 points at 9055.15, its first higher
James Hickman, who is arguably Britain's current leading swimmer, bailed out when his Stockport Metro coach Dave Calleja missed much of the early part of the season due to illness. But Scotland's Olympic medalist Graeme Smith refused to take
film soundtrack THE RAINMAKER (HOLLYWOOD RECORDS) Elmer Bernstein has produced a characteristic score that matches exactly the various moody, sinister and humorous elements in Francis Ford Coppola's new film of John Grisham's novel. Although
HE is a very ordinary racist. The only unusual thing about Mickael Freminet seems to be his first name, a version of the French Michel inspired by American television series and common when he was born, 22 years ago. Freminet is the main defendant at
Spending 18 days with 20 kilos on your back, a machete in your hand and bears and bamboo shoots for company isn't many people's idea of a good time. But then no-one ever claimed exploring the unfrequented corners of the world was easy. That
I MUST respond to the letter by Mr Greig of Bishopton (May 2) regarding the SFA allocation of tickets for the World Cup. Of course he is disappointed at not receiving World Cup tickets but he should remember that the root cause of his disappointment
CONTRARY to the statement on your front page (May 6) the Scottish Liberal Democrats currently have no plans to be in a coalition with New Labour. We will contest the Scottish elections on our own radical proposals to improve health, education, transport
PRO-independence business leaders yesterday threw down the gauntlet to those who have reacted against the SNP surge in the polls, inviting them to join in a constructive debate about Scotland's future, writes Robbie Dinwoodie, Scottish Political
What entertainment value anyone holding a Rangers or Celtic title bet has had in this roller-coaster season. A bookmaker acquaintance will not like to be reminded about his pre-Christmas tidy, binning all Celtic bets saying: ''These can&apos
Robert Logan, former Glasgow councillor; born December 24, 1940, died May 4, 1998 Rob Logan, who died earlier this week following an accident while hillwalking, will be much missed, particularly in the world of the arts. He was a striking figure, who
Race is on to break a UK record of embarrassment When it is billed as the world's premier international offshore and inshore sailing series, and was inaugurated by the British in 1957, is hosted from British sailing's historic home, Cowes,
Alan Cumming ALAN Cumming is a star who is born again - and again. He is currently the toast of Broadway where he is playing the Emcee in the revival of Kander and Ebb's Berlin musical, Cabaret, about Sally Bowles and the Nazis, based on Christopher
ZENECA has removed #800m of its pension funds from Mercury Asset Management, Schroders and PDFM, the three biggest UK fund managers. The drugs giant says it is looking for ''up and coming'' fund managers to handle a 40% chunk of its
James McConnell Orr, librarian; born August 19, 1926, died April 27, 1998 James (Jimmy) Orr was an outstanding figure in Scottish librarianship. An adopted Aberdonian, he was born in Motherwell, and attended Knowetop Public School and Dalziel High School
THE usually busy streets of Kelso will be empty this morning as locals head en masse for Murrayfield to cheer on their rugby team in the final of the Tennents Velvet Cup, writes James Robertson. On a normal Saturday morning, The Square would be buzzing
n Everyone Says I Love You (12) (Miramax, to rent/buy - #12.99 - from Monday) I love musicals - not in any camp or ironic way, but simply because of how they can blend the naturalistic and the fantastic like a waking dream, which is pure movie magic
JOHN PRESCOTT did not mince his words when evidence of a disastrously low turn-out came through late on Thursday night. ''I'm concerned about complacency. This low vote is bad for democracy,'' the Deputy Prime Minister warned
