The Herald

Now Patients Can Examine Their Doctors Computer Glitch Delays Website Launch

PATIENTS can assess the quality of GP surgeries across Scotland for the first time after details of how they perform were published yesterday. The online guide shows how well practices are looking after patients afflicted with killer diseases, reveals where it is easy to secure an appointment in two days and shows how surgeries do against a range of more than 140 other indicators.

Bbc Tilts Weather Map for Scotland

IRATE viewers yesterday forced the BBC to alter a new 3D weather map that made the south of the country look bigger than the north. About 4000 people wrote and bombarded the corporation's website with complaints about the new graphics, which also replaced familiar stationary cloud and rain symbols.

Celtic Want Victory for O'neill

CELTIC are determined to give Martin O'Neill a victorious farewell by winning today's Tennent's Scottish Cup Final. They meet Dundee United in the final at Hampden Park in O'Neill's last competitive match in charge of the Parkhead club.

Judge Rules British Museum Cannot Return Nazi-Looted Art

ARTWORKS looted by the Nazis and in the possession of the British Museum cannot be returned, a judge said yesterday, in a ruling that closed off an avenue that might have helped Greece recover the Elgin Marbles. Lord Goldsmith, the attorney general, had asked the High Court to establish whether the London museum - home to treasures like the marbles and Rosetta Stone - had a moral duty to return property obtained improperly.

World's Best to Hang Up His Trumpet . . . Voluntarily Professor Ends His Musical Odyssey

HE first picked up a cornet at the age of seven, the first step on a musical journey to becoming the world's leading trumpeter. Now Professor John Wallace OBE, who performed before millions at the marriage of the Prince of Wales and Lady Diana in 1981, is packing up his instrument for good.

Bbc Staff Halt Strike As All-Night Talks Make Progress

IMMINENT strike action was called off yesterday after unions representing BBC journalists and technicians said allnight talks with management and mediators had produced significant progress. A 24-hour strike last Monday caused severe disruption to BBC programming and in Scotland only 36% of staff turned up for work, affecting flagship programmes such as Good Morning Scotland, Newsdrive and Newsnight Scotland.

Prison Sentence for Drug Smuggler

Geldof to Invite Pope to Uk

BOB Geldof is to ask the Pope to come to Britain to support the Make Poverty History campaign. Geldof revealed his plans to Cardinal Keith O'Brien, the leader of Scotland's Catholics, during a meeting in London.

Fewer Hedgehogs Culled This Year

Mothers Sought for Thyroid Study

Man Held Following Death of Pensioner

Acclaimed Writer Named Capital's New Makar

VALERIE Gillies, the awardwinning writer, has been named as the new Edinburgh Makar, the official poet laureate for the city. MsGillies won a Creative Scotland Award earlier this year for her project to write a book of poems inspired by Scotland's springs and wells.

Final Push to Persuade French to Say Yes

BRUSSELS insisted last night that Britain should still hold a referendum on the new EU constitution even if France voted No tomorrow and Holland followed suit on Wednesday. As the last hours of campaigning across France came to a close, Margot Wallstrom, the EU vice-president, welcomed ratification by Germany's parliament yesterday, arguing the opinion of almost half the EU's 450 million citizens should not be disregarded - even if the French and Dutch became the first Europeans to reject the...

Malawi President to V Isit Scotland First Minister Ends African Trip by Raising Issue of Corruption

MALAWI'S president told Jack McConnell yesterday that he was serious about tackling government corruption as it emerged he would visit Scotland later this year. As the first minister completedhis five-day visit to the African country, it was announced that Bingu wa Mutharika, its president, will be the keynote speaker at a conference in November.

Memorial Held for Missing Mother

Health Checks Take Pulse of Surgeries New National Standards System Shows Quality and Breadth of Services On Offer Analysis

ITis the dawn of a new era in the doctor-patient relationship. For the first time, the public should be able to see clearly the differences in the depth and breadth of services offered by local GPs. Nearly every surgery in the country has been measured against a set of national standards. The Scottish results were published yesterday, throwing a new light on the variation in patients' experiences from health centre to health centre.

Where Health May Not Always Be Top Priority Urban Doctor

AMONG the high-rise flats of Muirhouse in Edinburgh, Dr Peter Shishodia along with six other doctors is striving to improve the health of the surrounding population. Health, however, is not always a priority for the 10,500 patients they serve.

Residents Rescued From Flats Blaze

FIREFIGHTERS rescued several people, including a man left clinging to a drainpipe, after a fire broke out in a firstfloor flat in Glasgow last night. Strathclyde Fire and Rescue said crews from Polmadie, Pollok and Cowcaddens arrived on the scene at about 6.45pm, to find a "well developed fire" in the mid-terraced tenement flat in Minard Road, Langside.

G8 Our Chance to Rid World of Poverty, Claims Curtis

RICHARD Curtis, one of the UK's leading screenwriters, yesterday urged people to seize the "unique opportunity" presented by this summer's G8 summit to make poverty history. He told the Glasgow and West of Scotland Newspaper Press Fund lunch that pressure must be brought to bear on the leaders of the world's most powerful nations ahead of the meeting at Gleneagles in July.

Man for Court in Rape Inquiry

A man has been arrested in connection with the alleged rape of a young woman on a country road. The 19-year-old Dutch woman was the victim of what police called a "sustained and vicious" attack just outside the village of Rosewell in Midlothian on Sunday, May 15.