Archive

A MAN who dressed up as Daffy Duck for a gala day parade was stabbed later, a court heard yesterday. Mark Berry, 22, told the High Court in Glasgow how he took off his costume before being stabbed in his colon and bowel. His brother Greig, 18, told

THE European Union was urged yesterday to make local and regional authorities full partners in its strategy to introduce Economic and Monetary Union rather than just part of the target audience. The plea was made in Brussels to the EU's Committee

THE rapid recovery at Safeway took the market by surprise yesterday, with like-for-like sales growth of 6% achieved in the first six weeks of the financial year, writes Andrew Wilson. Increased investment in the ABC customer loyalty card scheme has contributed

THE Scottish approach to the imprisonment of women offenders is set to be revolutionised after the Government's acceptance yesterday of the key findings of a major report which recommends a drastic cut in the number of females sent to jail. Scottish

EXCLUSIVE STUDENTS who score as little as 13% in degree exams at a Scottish university are being passed in a drive to boost the number of graduates it produces. A series of internal documents obtained by The Herald claim lecturers at Heriot-Watt University

qTours to South Africa by England, Ireland, and Wales will be allowed to proceed following a landmark agreement yesterday between the republic's rugby union officials and controlling sports body. The meeting diffused a crisis that had threatened

If the fantastic results of IIP seem too good to be true, take a look at the Hambleden Group's evidence of 2300 firms who have improved productivity, increased profits and reduced customer complaints THE best way a company can improve its financial

LAST night's National Lottery jackpot rolls over to Saturday because the estimated #4m top prize was not won. Preliminary results showed 13 ticket-holders won #89,337 for five balls plus the bonus ball, 536 players won #1354 for five balls, and

Hockey SCOTLAND'S women yesterday caught World Cup fever when they arrived in Utrecht to put the final touches to their preparations for the championship which starts there next Wednesday. Before their departure the girls received a timely boost

BRITISH Airways was yesterday given legal clearance for the launch next week of its no-frills European airline Go, despite objections from rival low-cost operator easyJet. High Court judge Mr Justice Tuckey refused to grant easyJet an injunction which

CABLE & Wireless pleased its followers with profits ahead of expectations, but disappointed some analysts by giving only a sketchy idea of its immediate strategy. Profits rose 13% to #1597m in the year to March, excluding exceptionals, which included

Tall story inches higher AN Author hopes to get a gentle giant recognised as Britain's tallest man. Fred Kempster, known as the Wiltshire Giant, who died in 1918 aged 29, never made it into the record books because his height was estimated at 7ft

Computer problems could occur up to a year before the ''millennium time bomb'' of January 1 2000 and for some time after, industry has been warned. The Health and Safety Executive said yesterday that if firms were not taking action

The chairman of British Regional Airlines, which has been severely criticised for its poor service in the Highlands and Islands, is set to pocket #30m when the company publicly floats next month. Sir Michael Bishop will also retain nearly 30% of the

It seems straightforward enough, yet IIP can work miracles for organisations of all shapes and sizes. John McKinlay speaks to a true believer. Persuading Joseph O'Neil of the advantages of the Investors in People programme was like preaching to

The debate continues to rage over how to control the oldest profession Balance is needed between society's wellbeing and protecting the vulnerable Around the world, ways are being sought to control and confine the oldest profession. Debate centres

HOSTING Europe's biggest Hogmanay party for the millennium could cost Edinburgh city council more than #3m, it was revealed yesterday. The giant street party, which has quickly become a tradition in the capital, is expected to more than double in

COUNCIL house tenants who want to buy their homes may face a #5000 price increase under new regulations proposed by the Government, a Scottish local authority has claimed. The City of Edinburgh Council said prospective purchasers would still get a very

THE controversial Wattersgate sleaze row, which flared in January and has split West Dunbartonshire Council, took another dramatic twist last night. The Labour administration decided not to contest a Court of Session action by replacing two councillors

WORSENING tensions in Indonesia and a spate of bad news drove Asian share prices and currencies sharply lower yesterday. Along with Jakarta, Singapore and Hong Kong were hit particularly hard. Traders in many markets cited fears that the deaths of six

LEADING share prices in London finished a directionless session yesterday with a modest gain, but investors were deterred from chasing the market higher by big losses on several Far Eastern bourses, relatively expensive blue-chip stock valuations and

English rugby may have believed all its problems were over when a peace deal was negotiated between their clubs and the RFU, but as international pressure mounts on them, Scotland's national director of rugby Jim Telfer threw himself into the fray

BUS and rail company FirstGroup yesterday announced a #105m order for rolling stock for its Great Western Trains and North Western Trains passenger franchises. The order has been placed with Anglo-French partnership GEC Alsthom Metro-Cammell, based in

JEREMY Irons had it written into his contract for Lolita that he would not have to do publicity for the film. Not so as you'd notice. Irons has been ubiquitous in the media in his defence of Adrian Lyne's film. ''I knew I'd get

The argument for investing in appropriate staff training is a strong one. Joan Grady sees the force of it in Strathclyde Police YOU can't have too much of a good thing, as Strathclyde Police have proved by gaining IIP status - twice. The IIP standard

George Soros once said that it was a sort of disease to consider yourself ''some kind of god'', but he got over it after he actually became one. His deity index is unlikely to be any more comprehensible than the stupefying amounts

The global sex industry is estimated to be worth more than #12bn a year. Even that figure is believed to be vastly conservative. The business can be divided into services (prostitution and sex shows) and products (pornography and sex aids). Over the

Strange. Extraordinary. Exquisite. Intriguing. This performance is all of that and more. A collage of intricate moments that don't easily lend themselves to the usual shorthand categorisation. In a way it's like being allowed into some eccentric

Catherine MacLeod EXCLUSIVE THREE Scottish MPs and a special adviser in the Scottish Office have failed to meet the Labour Party's strict standards for membership of the Scottish Parliament. It is believed that MPs Dennis Canavan, Michael Connarty

aWHILE anti-nuclear campaigners are predicting the final demise of Dounreay's operations, the plant's management hopes to be able to reopen the Fuel Cycle Area within a few months, thereby allowing work on the controversial cargo of highly-enriched

MOSCOW: Four Russian soldiers shot and killed their commanding officer yesterday then looted an armoury and fled in a stolen vehicle. They were later captured at a deserted rural hideout, but the incident, in a remote corner of north-eastern Russia,

Scottish house prices continue to rise at sustainable levels, according to TSB Scotland. The bank's latest House Price Monitor shows prices have risen by 6.1% year-on-year, falling by 1.4% in the three months to the end of April. The real gain,

THISTLE Hotels has unveiled a 6% rise in like-for-like business during the first 16 weeks of this financial year, with the company's 24 Scottish establishments performing slightly ahead of the rest of the portfolio. At yesterday's annual meeting

HAVE I missed something? To read your report on the last year on the railways, courtesy of the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising, you might think ScotRail had brought us to the promised land. Punctuality is up, reliability is up. Mr Ure, the rail

THE Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland has launched an attack on prevalent moral attitudes, highlighting a ''more confident mood among the gay community''. In the church's religion and morals report, be presented to its synod

THE skipper and crew of the stricken trawler Westhaven were blameless in the tragedy which cost them their lives and nothing anyone could have done would have saved them, according to Sheriff Alexander Jessop in his fatal accident determination which

MPs will put pressure on Robin Cook today to release key Foreign Office documents which could shed light on the role of British diplomats in the Sandline affair. The Labour-controlled Foreign Affairs Select Committee has demanded their disclosure, but

Press Complaints Commission chairman Lord Wakeham yesterday appealed to newspapers not to incite violence or disorder during the World Cup. ''We want to have robust reporting of the World Cup and we don't mind people being partisan - of

DAWN Goodfellow will be hoping to turn back the clock in style as she saddles her final runners at Perth today. The Earlston permit-holder, who is retiring shortly, had the first winner of her career at the course, when Larry Hill won a maiden hurdle

Called to account: training was a problem so Jack Brown sought help from the GDA. They already had comprehensive development programmes in place, but Clydesdale Bank's Glasgow Training Centre staff thought the IIP framework would give them an opportunity

Clare Henry surveys a stunning Glasgow show drawn from Mary Armour's colourful career. Our beloved Mary Armour is a mere 97 years young and enjoying every minute, as her appearance at her Billcliffe exhibition last week proved. I hope she knows

DUNBAR-BASED Belhaven Brewery hopes to dramatically increase its distribution activities in North-east Scotland, with a major expansion in the range of products available to its two managed pubs and 40 or so free trade customers in the area. The increased

A vital list of outlets which had been supplied with cooked meats from butcher John Barr was written by his wife, not by an environmental health officer, the E-coli inquiry was told yesterday. The list in Mrs Elaine Barr's handwriting was produced

DAVID Hill, Labour's self-proclaimed ''grandfather of spin'', said farewell to front-line politics last night with an unflattering comparison between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown's obsession of the media, and John Smith&apos

Fiction cuba libre Elmore Leonard Viking, #16.99 IT's all about hats. Elmore Leonard first earned recognition through writing westerns - Hombre, Valdez is Coming, and others. His books switched to more contemporary settings and were dubbed thrillers

THE killer of young Celtic football star Lawrence Haggart was jailed for life yesterday with a recommendation he serves at least 15 years for his ''brutal and ferocious'' crime. Cheers erupted from the public benches at the High Court

companies are catching on to a simple truism - people make profits. In the global market where resources and technology are widely available, a motivated and flexible workforce can provide the business edge which separates success from failure. Hundreds

Jobless chef Ian Gallacher, 22, of Garvald Street, Greenock, who bought a 16-year-old girl a carry-out then raped her on a railway bridge, was jailed for five years at the High Court in Kilmarnock, yesterday. Gallacher admitted raping the girl on May

SCOTTISH Value Management's #89m Scottish Value Trust fell short of its benchmark during the six months to March 31, but continues to far outpace its comparison index in the long-term. During the first half of the year, net asset value rose 9.4%

MOSCOW: Four people were killed and several wounded last night when a terrorist bomb exploded in Grozny, the war-shattered capital of breakaway Chechnya. The blast damaged a car carrying Chechnya's deputy prosecutor-general, Magomed Magomadov, who

qSaratoga Springs provided Aidan O'Brien with another guide to the strength of his Classic armoury when taking the Dante Stakes at York yesterday. However, the Derby picture remained as confused as before with O'Brien and part-owner Michael

Scotland's boom in retail property is reverberating far beyond the main city centres. Construction is poised to start on a major new shopping complex for Dunfermline town centre. To be called Hiegait, the project is by New Edinburgh Ltd, a joint

Excessive wage rises could harm future job creation and slow down still further the downward trend in unemployment. Government Ministers seized on yesterday's unemployment and higher than expected average earnings figures to preach the gospel of

Big is often beautiful but sheer size can often cause immense communications problems for many firms - and that's always bad for business, as CWS Engineering Services Ltd discovered. The firm is a subsidiary of the Co-operative Wholesale Society

A flurry of recent major licensed deals in Scotland has demonstrated the buoyancy of the Scottish Licensed Trade market. Many of these deals are being struck by new or relatively new Scottish companies, which are beginning to build up impressive portfolios

RANGERS' pre-cup final build-up was tinged with sadness yesterday when their young defender, Alan McLaren, officially announced his retirement from football. An emotional McLaren talked at Ibrox of the total devastation he felt in being forced

STAFF at Greenock's Gateside Prison, where eight prisoners committed suicide in an 18 month period, have been cleared of blame over the death of an inmate. Henry Smith, 35 was found hanging on August 12 last year, just hours after starting a 14-

ALL you need to know about Investors in People is available at the end of the phone - thanks to the BBC Radio Helpline. The service, run by the charity Broadcasting Support Services on behalf of the BBC, provides additional, off-the-air information for

EXCLUSIVE MORE than 1500 curlers in 80 clubs and thousands more skaters and ice hockey players in Glasgow have been made homeless. The Summit Centre, Finnieston ''will never reopen'' operator Peggy Smith said yesterday. Clubs there

STRIVING for excellence in customer relations is a highly desirable option for many businesses. But in one sector it's crucial. Hotels rely on word-of-mouth recommendations from clients. If they offer anything less than superb service, those recommendations

AROUND 170 companies spring up every hour in Britain. With a combined workforce of more than 10 million people that represents a lot of new challenges in people management. Glasgow company Esteem has, for the last 10 years, been helping such companies

Religion beyond belief: ISLAMIC EXCURSIONS AMONG THE CONVERTED PEOPLES V S Naipaul Little Brown, 437pp, #20 SOME topics seem to obsess authors, and in Naipaul's case the magnet is the religions of Asia, on which this is his fifth volume. He is

THE father of one of the Dunblane massacre victims yesterday joined forces in London with leading charities and religious organisations in demanding that the leaders of the most powerful nations in the world this weekend give a lead to control the trade

Some firms don't need IIP to tell them how important their people are. Even before Image & Print Group gained accreditation, the firm had always believed in the importance of staff as the principal resource of the company. Dedicated to the development

THE new Scottish Parliament looks set to be up and running before the end of this century, some three hundred years since the last Scottish Parliament met in Edinburgh. There were no women in that legislature and it seems that if some men could have

Campaigners meet Reid Campaigners fighting for the release of two Scots Guards, serving life sentences in Northern Ireland for murdering a man while on duty, held their first meeting with a Government Minister yesterday. Both senior members of the delegation

Athletics SHOULD you be driving in Kintyre over the weekend, look out for some of the strangest open vehicles ever seen on a British road: 20-feet long, less than 18 inches high, and each carrying two passengers. The machines in question are more at

CELTIC coach Wim Jansen arrived back in Glasgow last night after having supervised his last game in charge of the Parkhead team in Lisbon, and fired a final salvo at the club management for claiming he would have been sacked if he had not resigned.

TRIED & TESTED Rosemary Long explores the developing world in search of the bigger picture SHOULD you happen to find yourself in a Ukrainian defence ministry one day soon, watch out for a rather nice photograph of a Scottish thistle, handsomely framed

A subsea construction company has won a #25m contract from Mobile North Sea to supply two pipeline bundles for the Buckland field development. It will save up to 180 jobs at Wick, Caithness. The contract, won by Rockwater, Brown & Root's subsea

MY words by George Wyllie Famedram, #4.95 POPULAR appeal is often a barrier to serious recognition, even in an age when popular culture is taken more seriously than ever before. Scul?tor George Wyllie is a case in point. His vision has provided a series

Sally Grummitt checks out a hotel with a reputation for fine service Old-fashioned values are what help keep one luxury town house hotel thriving in the modern world. Management at One Devonshire Gardens pride themselves on personal service in relaxed

Motherwell manager Harry Kampman has started what could soon become a common trend with other clubs by announcing a massive clear-out of players. Kampman has released 17 and promised: ''We will work hard over the summer to bring in new faces

for 50 years three generations of Macfarlanes have been postmen to the inhabitants of the tiny islands in Loch Lomond. The milestone was marked yesterday with a new Royal Mail pennant to fly from the little wooden boat, the Lady Jean, which started the

A woman who alleged she was raped by a cousin of mass killer Fred West when she was 15 denied yesterday she was lying to share in the ''glamour'' of the Cromwell Street inquiry. The woman, now in her 30s, told a jury that the cousin

RANGERS striker Brian Laudrup talked yesterday of how he wanted to end his four years at Ibrox on a high by lifting the Scottish Cup. However, Laudrup, who will be joining Chelsea, and his striking partner, Gordon Durie, believe they will have their

Success comes from within, as Joan Grady discovers In the run-up to Glasgow's year of architecture and design there is plenty of recognition offered to those who plan, design and construct the city's buildings. But without the unsung heroes

ONE of Scotland's most popular writers, David Toulmin, died yesterday at his home in Aberdeen, in his 85th year. A farm servant for most of his working life, Toulmin, whose real name was John Reid, was into his 60th year before his stories and recollections

n BOTH sexes had to learn new skills during the last war, but life went on much as usual for the multi-skilled men of the Merchant Navy, seen here washing their smalls aboard the MV Empire Unity. Philip Kaplan and Jack Currie rightly describe their pictorial

In an era where the pace of social change is overwhelming, how could education be other than at its heart? Yet, as a discipline devoted to meaning, knowledge, and understanding, how else could it be other than in a state of crisis? The words of the American

n Glasgow's high flying rugby club, the Hawks, are aiming for their next major achievement - but this time it's off the park. The club, who in their first year have swooped to success by winning Scottish rugby's Division Two and the Scottish

Theatre true and false David Mamet Faber, #9.99 AS A student, I once took an acting class that was supposed to be about naturalism. The teacher divided us into groups, and left us to learn chunks of Miss Julie. He, meanwhile, went off to write a play

Michael Bettaney was a heavy drinker whose unstable behaviour had been noted but never raised questions long before his ill-fated attempts to pass British intelligence secrets to the Russians in the 1983. The M15 officer turned traitor was a patriot

NHS Trust managers are to be told to put patient care ahead of cash targets, Scottish Health Minister Sam Galbraith said yesterday. In future, their performance will be judged on quality of care and not money, he said. The Minister said the trusts had

World Cup beefcake World Cup widows are being offered hunky ''shop-a-rones'' by a leading supermarket chain to help with the weekly shopping while absent menfolk watch the tournament on television. Asda said it will provide '

HUMPHREY the gander is a real love machine who saves all his affection for a mechical digger. Anyone who dares take the seven tonne machine out of its yard in Ross-shire gets a beakful when Humphrey flies at them in a jealous rage. Humphrey belongs to

After 22 successful years in business, alarm bells started ringing for the largest independent installer of protection systems in Scotland and the North of England. Pointer Alarms discovered its training left a lot to be desired. The firm, with a staff

BRITAIN'S farmers have been told that a bank account in the single European currency could cut the cost of borrowing and boost farm incomes. Opening a euro account and taking support payments and export income in euros will enable them to apply

CIGARETTE companies will not be able to advertise their products or sponsor sporting and cultural events under a ban overwhelmingly approved by the European Parliament in Strasbourg yesterday. Governments will now have three years to implement the new

RESULTS in the Regal Glasgow Bowling Association Championships: SINGLES: Clarkston (I Hunter) w/o Condorrat (J Cowie) scr; Victoria Park (A Bell) 21, Anniesland (F Bonis) 4; Strathclyde Police (R Morris) 21, Abronhill (J Meechan) 9; Stepps (R Black)

The benefits of a class act are easy to see in one firm, finds Joan Grady. IT WAS a matter for serious study when Hirst Landscape Architects, decided to commit to IIP. It was after an employee decided to use the company as the subject for his MBA thesis

MORE than 500 houses will be built throughout East Ayrshire over the next three years in a #20m council and private sector partnership, it was announced yesterday. The plan, the first to directly involve the council in house building for almost 20 years

TIGHTER management of finances and critical examination of duplication of services between the UK farming unions have been identified as key priorities for the restructured National Farmers' Union of Scotland. The Angus area executive of the union

DOUNREAY nuclear plant, which has previously leased highly-enriched uranium to the Indian authorities, is contributing to the global proliferation of nuclear materials, the Scottish National Party warned last night, writes Craig Watson. A Dounreay spokesman

IF eating out is one of your pleasures be prepared to arouse your palate with the delights of Italian cooking served up by masters of this genre at La Villa, a new Trattoria and Pizzeria newly opened at 679 Pollokshaws Road in Glasgow's South Side

Millennium living at the end of the world Marina Benjamin Picador, #12.99 AS the Millennium grinds interminably towards us, perhaps only one thing is certain. There are going to be an awful lot of books about the millennium. Another fairly established

Ask Charles McSherry how he doubled the turnover of his IT company, and he won't blind you with science. His answer is simple - invest in people. ''Many businesses are not interested in developing their biggest asset,'' said

ON Sunday afternoon I set out on a Ryanair flight from Prestwick to Dublin. The vast majority of my fellow passengers were dressed in green and white; it would have been obvious to even Inspector Clouseau that (a) they were Celtic supporters and (b)

POLICE last night warned members of the public not to approach a man who has escaped from Woodilee Hospital, Lenzie. Mr Mark Quinn, 18, a detained patient, is thought to have been violent in the past and in need of medication. He has no fixed address

THERE is no better qualified choice for the role of examining the cycle of offending and imprisonment of women in the West of Scotland than Sheila McLean, writes Kirsty Scott. The professor of law and medical ethics at Glasgow University is the voice

There is a certain buzz when a theatre plays host to a work's world premiere - even more so if that work is by Ian Rowlands, a playwright whose last work Marriage of Convenience was acclaimed by press and public alike, even winning the highly desirable

A dynamic approach to the changing demands of a diverse client base has made Mail Marketing (Scotland) Ltd one of the best established handling and fulfilment companies in the UK. Since it was established in 1950, its skills base has grown. Trying to

Marian Pallister tells of a campaign to reduce the amount of salt in our diet IF the food manufacturers of Britain were worth their salt, they would reduce the amount of sodium chloride in the foods they sell and save the nation. That was the essence

Joan Grady discovers a firm where commitment to training has resulted in a rather special brew the fabulous features of Charles Rennie Mackintosh's Willow Tearooms are still there after 70 years. Miss Cranston, who opened them in Glasgow's

THE father of Lawrence Haggart last night relived the nightmare of the past two years in which he not only lost a son, but saw his youngest son accused of the murder. At his home in Dunipace, Stirlingshire, Mr Larry Haggart, 37, described the conduct

May 14, 1986 n THE Herald reported: ''Many drug addicts would welcome life imprisonment, confiscation of assets, and perhaps even death sentences for long-time professional suppliers, according to a Glasgow lawyer. But they feel the courts

A teenager who felt she had been ignored when she tried to alert the authorities to the dangers of Dunblane killer Thomas Hamilton has been found dead. Seventeen-year-old Vikki Haggar, who had been caught up in the terrible aftermath of the tragedy but

Sally Grummitt discovers one firm who used IIP to get out of their business and into a new one. Most firms use IIP to ensure that they stay in business. For the founders of Flashback Communication the scheme allowed them to let go of their firm. Flashback

IT was not quite an Ally MacLeod fanfare, but the current leader of Scotland's international team, Craig Brown, gave his own bugle call that ought to send his chosen squad off to the World Cup with a spring in their step, writes Ian Paul. However

Labour's chief fundraiser yesterday defended the controversial #1m donation to the party made by Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone, but said lessons had been learned from the affair. Music business millionaire Lord Levy said there had been '

qJanice Moodie received an early morning telephone call yesterday with the news that she wanted: a place in the $1.3m McDonald's LPGA Championship at Wilmington in Delaware. The 24-year-old, who heads the US Rookie of the Year standings with more

HOW do you start a cult? Ask Earl Spencer. As one who, on your behalf, was at the funeral at Westminster Abbey it's starting to dawn that the eloquently angry speech he made then held a meaning deeper and shallower than any of us imagined. All that

WARSAW: Relatives yesterday told the trial in the southern city of Krakow of a 16-year-old boy who hacked his parents to death, that his strict father made the family's life hell. The boy, identified only as Tomasz S., killed his parents while they

Business is booming in Tayside with more than one new firm being set up every day, according to the latest figures from Scottish Enterprise. A network of advice shops has doubled the area's business birth rate with more than 432 firms launched in

THE Board of Communication rejects the complaints by its staff and urges the General Assembly to dismiss the petition. It also denies that there is a crisis. ''Every effort has been made by the acting convener, board and director to keep channels

A STORM erupted over the dumping of recycled waste on agricultural land yesterday, after animal waste and human sewage spilled into a burn feeding into the water supply. Environmental protection officers were investigating the damage in Blairingone,

In the mind of a child Fiction the everlasting story of nory Nicholas Baker Chatto & Windus, #12.99 BAKER is one of those intense, intellectual American writers whose books brim with innovation and totter on their own complexities, and yet his new novel

Maya Angelou has reached 70 but, Ann Donald finds, she's enjoying ageing and has just been published again. MAYA Angelou answers the phone promptly and demandingly. It's early morning and the writer's creamy deep voice sounds just a breath

Rugby Ferrie joins Herald ''Is the life being squeezed out of international rugby by the actions of clubs?'' asks our new rugby correspondent Kevin Ferrie. Before joining The Herald he had been editor of Scottish Rugby Magazine. Ferrie

BLOOD product services in the UK are to go ahead with importing plasma from abroad as soon as possible to avoid the risk of transmission of new variant CJD, the Committee on Safety of Medicines said yesterday. Confirmation of measures proposed in February

LARGE-scale mergers are notoriously difficult to achieve, as progress is undermined by disgruntled staff worried about their jobs or concerned about having a different employer. Tensions can emerge years after the event. However, General Accident&apos

An army of volunteers to help the elderly in their homes became restless when they lost their regular monthly training meeting slot to a local dancing group, an industrial tribunal heard yesterday. Relations deteriorated between the executive committee

A former soldier who experienced the horror of seeing an Army colleague kill himself in front of him escaped a jail sentence yesterday for a terrifying attack on an 83-year-old widow in her home. After hearing that David Smith is still suffering from

EXCLUSIVE Ron MacKenna A TAIWANESE electronics company which opened its #40m Scottish manufacturing plant in a fanfare of publicity only a year ago is set to announce massive job losses. Up to two thirds of the workforce at Lite-On, which makes computer

THE advantage of coming late to an argument - Lolita has already opened in London - is that one can refute some of the dafter things already said. Whatever else it may be, Adrian Lyne's film, against which a sustained campaign of vilification has

The trial of a pilot at the centre of a helicopter crash at Glamis Castle in which a a nine-year-old boy died was delayed yesterday. The jury left the court after Captain Robert Hobson's defence lawyer objected to the Crown's line of questioning

brewery giant Belhaven yesterday announced a #5m investment which will create 40 new jobs with 200 more in the pipeline. The new enterprise, to be known as Belhaven North, was launched in Aberdeen. The siting of the company's first distribution

Kelso's Iain Fairley has become the latest player to be drafted into Scotland's squad to tour Australia and Fiji, replacing Bath captain Andy Nicol, who suffered a hamstring tear playing for his club against Newcastle on Tuesday. For the 24

SCOTTISH drinkers will travel farther than anyone else to find a decent pub rather than visit their local, an industry report on the nation's drinking habits revealed yesterday. However, once they get there, they couldn't give a Castlemaine

The new Scotland should be a nation of partners, not customers - of citizens, not subjects. The coming months will determine whether this is a dream or a reality. The next year will be critical in giving shape to the procedures and policy directions

IN the light of the suggestions made in your letters section that our feudal system needs to be overhauled may I bring to your attention the case study of the west coast port of Arisaig - population, 270? In 1964 a 27-year-old entrepreneur, Murdo Grant

A FEASIBILITY study into sustainable transport commissioned by the Scottish Office in the run-up to the Government's Integrated Transport White Paper has concluded that a pivotal role in changing current travel patterns must be taken by local authorities

EVEN if sunscreen-makers do grudgingly respond to Nigel Griffiths's plea to cut prices, thousands of young Scots will remain exposed to harmful UV rays this summer - because their parents simply can't afford protection money. For the very poor

EXCLUSIVE THE civil war within the Church of Scotland's board of communication is set to erupt into a bloody battle at next week's General Assembly. In an unprecedented move, virtually the entire staff of the board will present a petition

AS a season-ticket holder at Celtic Park and having held family shares at Celtic Football Club for the past 50 years, it is with much regret that I find myself having to write this letter in the week in which Celtic FC won their first league trophy in

PROFESSOR Stephen Little-child. the electricity regulator, ruffled the feathers of Scotland's two power companies yesterday by urging them to hive off their pylons and wires to separate companies under independent ownership. ScottishPower and Scottish

THE Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee's inflation report for May, completed ahead of the latest labour market data, shows a slight lowering in the central projection for inflation compared to the February report. Underlying inflation

SOME companies do value people as their greatest asset. But even in the most innovative, whose purpose is to promote best practice, humanity and efficiency at work, there is always some room for improvement. For the Industrial Society, the largest independent

CLYDE Blowers director Alec Stewart bought 1100 shares in the company on Tuesday at a price of 180p a share. The company's share price slumped by 64p to 189p a week ago after a profits warning. Stewart's transaction cost him #1980.

There are many reasons why companies take the route to IIP accreditation. For Glasgow-based company Real Time Engineering Ltd a plaque on the wall was not one of them. ''We felt very strongly that it was a sensible method by which we could

Underpinning the report, A Safer Way, is the idea the majority of women sent to Cornton Vale are a nuisance rather than a serious threat to the community and that they need not be behind bars. The authors nail their colours to the mast on the fly-leaf

PERHAPS you reckoned that ventriloquism was harmless kids' stuff involving coy fluffy ducklings called Orville. Actually, the voice-throwers' art was invented by Satan. Yon persuasive evil spirit Mephistopheles was Old Nick's original

PROSTITUTION was probably not what Henry McLeish wanted to talk about so soon after his honeymoon. Not just because of the uncomfortable dissonance involved in combining the lingering notes of marital romance with the crashing cymbals of commercial unchastity

Political Editor ROBIN Cook must rue the day he agreed to let the cameras record his first days as Foreign Secretary. Never famous for taking advice, he felt confident enough to reveal his recipe for success in the international hot-seat: '&apos

It started life as a one-man band 15 years ago, but now the Aitchison and Colegrave Group conducts more business than any other privately owned independent financial adviser in Scotland. The firm was founded in 1983 by managing director Brian Aitchison

HEWDEN Stuart chief executive Alistair Napier received a total remuneration package of #255,100 for the 10-and-a-half months he was on the board the plant hire company. The annual report discloses that he was paid more than chairman Sandy Findlay, as

THE Caledonian MacBrayne ferry Isle of Lewis, whose absence from the Ullapool to Stornoway route since April 19 has caused disruption throughout the CalMac network, will be back in service this morning, four days earlier than expected. She had been withdrawn

A NEW report from Shelter claims that the health and welfare of up to 1.5 million people are under threat from poor housing. At least one million people are in homes unfit to live in, while nearly 500,000 others live in overcrowded accommodation. This

Grampian Fire Brigade's announcement on April 1 that it would be switching from red to white engines was not an April fool, it emerged yesterday. There was a lot of scepticism when news of the change first broke, but yesterday the first of eight

THE Bank of England has stopped short of signalling that UK interest rates have peaked, though its latest inflation report concluded that the outlook for inflation was better than at the time of its last report in February, and the deadlock on the monetary

6THE man charged with restoring the battered image of Grampian Police was last night named as Mr Andrew Brown, head of crime strategy for Lothian and Borders Police. Mr Brown was appointed Chief Constable of Grampian and will take over the #85,000 a

HAS Mr Cook's ''Ethical Foreign Policy'' lasted longer than Mr Major's ''Back to Basics''? I think your readers should be told. Arthur J A Bell, Culter House, Coulter, Biggar. May 12.

SO Mr Jansen has quit Celtic and the football writers tell supporters this is a disaster for the club. Can these be the same writers who, not so long ago, produced headlines like ''Wim Who?'' and ''Celtic pounce for their

A SEX attacker who returned to the scene of his crime after abducting and indecently as-saulting a teenage girl was ordered to be detained for five and a half years yesterday. Ross Dewar, 18, of The Heathery, in Dunfermline, who had been drinking Buckfast

THE small team of bankers which will run the new European Central Bank in Frankfurt is set to be formally appointed next week after winning the endorsement of the European Parliament in Strasbourg yesterday, writes Rory Watson. MEPs overwhelmingly supported

Dundee United captain Dave Bowman is leaving Tannadice after a 12-year association with the club. Manager Tommy McLean announced last night that they would not be offering the 34-year-old former Scotland midfielder a new deal. In fact, it has been

Fiction cloudsplitter Russell Banks Secker & Warburg, #16.99 THE most obvious feature of Cloudsplitter is its size, the 758 pages; though, as with any writer, this novel carries echoes of Russell Banks's other works. In novels such as Rule of the

Sally Grummitt finds that even the city's youngest residents can benefit from IIP Working in the commercial fast track is not the only area which demands the best service for clients. For Kidcare Ltd., a not-for-profit organisation working for

THE casualties of the troubles in Northern Ireland yesterday welcomed the appointment of a ''Minister for Victims''. Mr Adam Ingram, the province's Security Minister, is to take on a new Ministerial responsibility as '&apos

n Judy Finnigan has left Richard. Gasp! Gosh! Shiver me This Morning timbers! Alas, this is not a separation of the marital but rather TV kind. Comely Judy is making tentative steps to fill that feisty mistress Anne Robinson's boots in the consumer

GLASGOW Lord Provost Pat Lally yesterday astonished business leaders by claiming the Edinburgh establishment may try to stop Civil Service jobs relocating in Glasgow - just as it had scuppered plans for a national gallery in the city. His assertion,

The first signs of real trouble are brewing for the Government on the back benches. It is always when the weather warms up, towards the end of the parliamentary year, that political life gets more heated and the portents all point to an imminent spot

SPEAKING as a humble taxi driver who doubtless cannot understand the complexities of traffic management might I suggest a simple answer to the problem of congestion on our streets? Require all buses to carry a conductor! This would also solve a lot of

THE ingenuity of the Scots has given the world inventions ranging from steam power to the television. Add the ordourless loo to the list. Invented by Don Aitchison, it was formally unveiled yesterday at a special ceremony in Paisley. Inspiration for

SPECULATION over the future of the troubled Rosyth Royal Dockyard is mounting as rumours suggest that up to 1300 workers may be on the verge of losing their jobs, it was revealed yesterday. Concern is so acute in the Fife naval base that local MP Rachel

LEADERS of the train drivers' union Aslef may mount a legal challenge to last week's election result which saw general secretary Lew Adams ousted in favour of a member of Arthur Scargill's hard-left Socialist Labour Party. Leeds train

LITTLE Gianfranco Zola rose to his full 5ft 6in, puffed out his chest, and restored the hurt pride that had seen him left on the bench and on the verge of World Cup exclusion by powering home a winning goal worthy of a giant of European football. His

LORD Weir was close to tears yesterday as he addressed his last annual meeting as chairman of Glasgow-based engineer Weir Group. The ardent anti-devolutionist stumbled over his words as he told shareholders: ''When I retire, it will be over

A PLAN to make the Forest of Spey a ''working'' forest, where timber production works hand-in-hand with nature conservation, farming, tourism and recreation, was outlined yesterday. Launched by Forestry Commission chairman Sir Peter

Victims of one of Scotland's most devastating floods are demanding urgent action before their homes and businesses are hit by a repeat of the disaster. Community leaders in Kirkintilloch, where #11.5m of damage was caused during severe flooding

THE murder of Lawrence Haggart presented Central Scotland Police with one of the most baffling crime scenes its officers had ever encountered. A strong, athletic young man had been brutally beaten to death in his own home while his two brothers slept

Paddy Ashdown probably best summed up the whole thing. ''It is,'' he remarked earlier this week, ''a murky old business, foreign affairs and intelligence.'' If Robin Cook and others manage to extricate themselves

HANDS up all of those who know the best way to beat boredom at work. Most of us recognise that the answer lies in updating skills and learning new ones. But lifelong learning isn't only beneficial to the individual - for enlightened employers it

A BUSINESS plan for building a replacement for Glasgow Western Infirmary on the Gartnavel Hospital site has been put on ice pending the re-organisation of acute hospital services north of the Clyde. A top-level meeting of officials from the West Glasgow

A CANCER specialist yesterday invited smoking footballer Paul Gascoigne to visit her hospital to see the effects of cigarettes and alcohol. Dr Melanie McKean, a clinical research fellow at the Beatson Oncology Unit at Glasgow Western Infirmary, spoke

The police officer heading the investigation into the disappearance of Elgin mother Arlene Fraser believes she may have been murdered or abducted. Detective Inspector Peter Simpson says that the ''vibes'' the police are picking up

AN ISLAND school has become the first in Scotland to ban children from eating sweets and drinking fizzy drinks- and its 18 pupils are in favour of the move. Kilmuir primary on Skye has imposed the ban in a bid to reduce the damage to the pupils'

FOur years ago, Peterkins Solicitors wanted to develop its Glasgow branch but IIP wasn't the answer - until it introduced a more flexible approach two years ago. The structure of IIP did not suit the structure of the company, which has one office

The summer of 1997 was a busy time for Bruce Murray Recruitment. Business levels were rising and co-founding partner of the company, Jennifer Clarke, gave birth to a baby boy. Despite the chaos, Clarke, Nora Stewart and their eight staff still found

qNorman Williamson could face over a week on the sidelines after sustaining torn ligaments in his left knee at Chepstow yesterday. He started in style when winning on Bad Bertrich but he later missed the winning rides on Hazaaf and Gran Turismo. The

Employees at Strathclyde Homes believe in wearing their hearts on their sleeves. So pleased is every individual in the company at its IIP accreditation, every one has, since the award was presented in 1996, worn the official IIP pin badge. It is to them

Your Diary correspondent was instrumental in helping Brian Simmers piece together his weekend, which turns out to have been completed successfully with the help of the SNP. Simmers celebrated the Hawks' victory by going back to ''Three

A new study finds travellers continuing to suffer discrimination. Anne Johnstone reports What would you think if you saw a notice on the door of a hotel that read: ''No Blacks or Asians''? How would you feel if someone turned you

Glasgow's George Square was the setting for mezzo-soprano Michelle Walton, who, accompanied by pianist Richard Peirson, sang to celebrate Scottish Opera's free Soundbites concerts this weekend.

THIS stained glass window featuring Sir Paul and Linda McCartney is one of a series based on her work that will form an exhibition opening in Germany this weekend. Linda, who died of breast cancer last month, had been secretly working for three years

WEIR Group shares tumbled nearly 6% yesterday in a fairly weak sector, after the Glasgow-based engineering group said operating profits in its latest four-and-a-half months were ''much in line'' with last year, writes Ian McConnell

AMBITIOUS plans have been unveiled to secure the future of the historic Garrison House in Millport which local people feared would fall into disrepair. A packed public meeting in the Clyde island town heard a variety of proposals which included private

THE merger of General Accident (GA) and Commercial Union (CU) is starting on a dull note as far as trading is concerned, with bad weather causing a sharp increase in the new group's underwriting losses. The pro forma first-quarter profits from the

Changing nappies and doing the household chores is hardly the ideal preparation for a champion, but then Colin Montgomerie is no ordinary golfer. Despite a four-and-a-half-week absence before and after the birth of his son Cameron, during which he never