The Herald

The Diary

Written off THEATRICALLY-MINDED residents of Glasgow's west end will soon be able to make lunchtime visits to OranMor in Byres Road for A Play, A Pie and A Pint, a season of 12 half-hour dramas, including Still Game star Greg Hemphill's solo writing debut, Poker Alice. Reassuring himself he was conducting essential research, poker fan Greg (pictured) alternated bouts of writing with lengthy on-line gambling sessions. As Greg now ruefully admits, within three days he'd gambled away his (pounds...

Trouble at Yukos Sends Oil Surging; Order to Halt Sales Lifts Us Light Crude to 21-Year High

OIL prices jumped to a 21-year high yesterday after the ongoing saga at Russia's Yukos took another turn for the worse, with the near-bankrupt firm ordered by government officials to halt oil sales. Yukos, whose difficulties stem from an unpaid tax debt of nearly (pounds) 1.9bn, pumps about one-fifth of all crude coming out of Russia. That country in turn is the world's second-largest oil exporter, eclipsed only by Saudi Arabia.

The Blind Golfers Driven by an Iron Spirit

MARJORIE Roberts travelled halfway round the world to come last in a game of golf. She took 238 strokes to complete her first round at Balbirnie Golf Club in Markinch, near Glenrothes, Fife, yesterday. "What you have to understand is that Marjorie isn't very good at golf," explained her friend, Delia Shipley. Judging by her scorecard, that is something of an understatement.

Father to Fight 'Unfair' Child Support Levy; Csa Computer Delay Could Affect 90,000

ALMOST 90,000 Scots could be paying over the odds in child maintenance as a result of computer system problems at the government's Child Support Agency. Absent parents who are liable to support their children through the CSA are being asked to pay 15% of their disposable income under a formula that has been applied to cases across the UK since March 2003.

70 Killed in Attack As Iraqis Queue to Join Police; Suicide Car Bomber Strikes

HIS face etched with shock, an Iraqi soldier grips his injured brother's hand in a hospital in Baqouba. Soon after a suicide car bomber struck outside a police recruiting centre, killing 70 Iraqis and turning the busy streets into a bloody tangle of twisted metal and dead bodies, the hospital was overwhelmed with casualties.

In Praise of the American Dream; Democrat Star in the Ascendant Wows Party with Vision of Future

WITH fewer than 100 days to go until the US presidential election, the Democrats are a party in a hurry. Yet no-one expected the next generation of stars to emerge so early, or burn so brightly, as they have at this convention. The talk here is no longer of Hillary Clinton and 2008. It's about John Edwards, 50, the vice presidential nominee, Barack Obama, the 42-year-old African-American state senator from Illinois, and even Chris Heinz, 31, stepson of John Kerry, the man who would be king in...

Face of the Day

Who is she? Elizabeth Edwards, wife of vice presidential nominee John, lawyer, mother to Cate, 22, Emma Claire, six, and Jack, four. A big gap? The Edwards's first born, Wade, died in a road accident when he was 16. Determined to become a parent again, Mrs Edwards had fertility treatment and gave birth at the ages of 48 and 50.

Tensions Stirred in Reagan Camp Over Speech

TENSIONS surfaced among the Reagan family yesterday following the appearance of the late Republican president's son at the Democratic podium to promote stem cell research. Ron Reagan, son of Nancy and Ronald, said on Tuesday he was not there to make a political speech and the topic "should not and must not" have anything to do with partisanship.

Weeks of Hell and Hope; Dr Krishna Goel Was Born in India but Was Shocked at What He Discovered When He Returned to Treat Children in His Homeland. This Is His Diary of the Moving, Harrowing and Uplifting Days He Spent There

WHEN Krishna Goel headed out as an idealistic young man from his home in Lucknow, India, to the unfamiliar city of Glasgow, he had no idea he would be spending the majority of his life there. After working for the NHS for nearly 40 years, based at Yorkhill Children's Hospital, he felt it was time to give something back to his homeland. During his lengthy career Dr Goel has made paediatric rheumatology his passion and was the man who initiated, developed and established paediatric rheumatology...

Where Art They?; a Year Ago a Da Vinci Was Stolen From a Scottish Castle. Lorna Maclaren Meets Three Men Who Are Still Hunting for the Holy Grail of Lost Paintings

LOUNGING back in his computer chair, Jim Hill, a former policeman turned art detective, half closes his eyes and smiles wistfully at a tantalising thought. "To get my hands on the Madonna with the Yarnwinder . . . now that would be something. It's the holy grail of lost paintings." The Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece being discussed with relish was stolen almost a year ago from Drumlanrig Castle, the Dumfriesshire home of the Duke of Buccleuch. At the time, police released CCTV images of the cr...

The Happiest Band in All Europe

The pub trail may have gone, the once-portly programme may have been slimmed down to a twentieth of its old size and there may no longer be the need to take the week off work in order to hear just a fraction of the world-class jazz on offer, but the history and spirit of the Edinburgh Jazz Festival lives on in the Hot Antic Jazz Band. Probably the longest-serving jazz festival band, this six- piece outfit has now been delighting Scottish audiences for more than two decades, and recently celeb...

Billboard

Short but sweet SHOULD the Edinburgh International Book Festival (August 14-30) leave you gagging for more literary festivities, the advent of Small Wonder will be a cause for celebration.

Theatre Fairy Tale, Tramway, Glasgow 3/5

Louise and Amy are sisters, playing in a Neverland of innocent games and endless fun. As big sis, Louise moves away from childish things; however, it's Amy who suffers. After her inexplicable disappearance, the games stop for everyone, Louise most of all. Children vanishing into thin air have become prime-time news on a worryingly regular occurrence these days. It's brave, therefore, that an otherwise light and fluffy crowd-pleasing Scottish Youth Theatre summer season (complete with glossy p...

The Genocide in Sudan We Must Not Turn Our Back On

There is no evidence of genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan, according to the United Nations and the American State Department. It looks like genocide: one million black Africans displaced and 50,000 killed by Arabs who also happen to be their long-term rivals for land and water. It sounds like genocide: just listen to the songs of the Arab militia's camp followers, who praise their atrocities and dismiss their African victims as "zurga", a term which, in English, roughly translates as "ni...

Which Hymn Moves You to Tears?

Sally Magnusson's innocent question, lobbed into the BBC newsroom, sparked a furious debate. People adopted immediate positions, insisting that they were right. Some would have fought to the last drop of the director-general's blood to defend their cause. Others responded passionately with personal anecdotes which, for them at any rate, clinched the argument in their favour. The question which provoked this outbreak was not about the ethics of the invasion of Iraq or the relationship between ...

Why Windpower Is Not the Answer

IT is a fact that those people who support windpower either know nothing about it or have a vested interest. At least two of the three letters of support in your letters page of July 28 fall into the latter category. Conventional power stations cannot be shut down regardless of the number of wind turbines erected, and once a certain level of input from them is reached the CO2 from the power stations will actually increase as they are switched to standby. Wind turbines cannot supply any electr...

Ratho's Fate

THE significance of world championship events to sports development in Scotland was well covered by Doug Gillon in his article on the World Bowls Championship now taking place in Ayr (July 24). Such events only take place when there is good co- operation between public and private funders, including such key players as the Bank of Scotland (HBOS). On the outskirts of Edinburgh is the Ratho Adventure Centre, prospective venue for the World Youth Climbing Championship in mid- September. Ratho i...

Snh Relocation Fiasco; Lessons Can Be Learned From Mishandled Move

Going, going, gone? An important milestone in the controversial transfer of some 250 Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) staff from Edinburgh to Inverness was reached yesterday when unions representing the affected public-sector employees recommended acceptance of a relocation package. Staff will now decide individually whether to agree to move or refuse. The package is very much geared towards encouraging staff to relocate. Those who do will receive two tax-free sums of (pounds) 10,000 each, the...

Briefing: Locusts

Millions are threatening to heap further misery on Africa. Q: Where, exactly?

Out-of-Hours Cover

ON two occasions now The Herald has reported growing alarm at the effects that the Primary Medical Services Bill (Scotland) is going to have on out-of-hours GP cover across Scotland. This is exactly the situation that the Scottish Socialist Party group in the Scottish Parliament warned about when we vehemently opposed this bill at every stage of its progress during the course of the last session. We did not anticipate that our warnings would be so quickly borne out by those on the front line ...