The Herald

Revealed: The True Cost of Strathclyde's 1000 Parades Marches Leave Police with Gbp1.7m Bill

POLICE determined to crack down on the rising number of parades in the west of Scotland have compiled a groundbreaking report detailing for the first time their full cost and links to outbreaks of violence. In the first full analysis of its kind Strathclyde Police revealed there are on average between two and three marches every day within its force area.

Prime Minister Denies Painkiller 'Rumours'

GORDON Brown yesterday denied that he was dependant on prescription painkillers after a series of awkward questions about the state of his health. He emphatically denied the rumours, generated on an internet blogging site, and said that he had no medical problems that would inhibit his ability to lead the country.

Diplomatic Row Looms After Swiss Arrest Roman Polanski

FILM director Roman Polanski was last night being questioned by police in Switzerland over sex crimes against a 13-year-old girl which took place more than 30 years ago. Officers swooped on Polanski as he arrived to receive a lifetime achievement award at a film festival.

Nazi Pow Leaves All to Village

A FORMER SS officer has pledged to leave his home and life savings to the elderly residents of a tiny Scottish village where he was kept in a Second World War prison camp. Heinrich Steinmeyer, 84, says he was treated with humanity by both the troops who captured him and the guards at the camp in Comrie, Perthshire. Now, 65 years on, the former SS officer has pledged to leave his house and GBP430,000 as a gesture of gratitude .

Lifeboat Rescues Charter Yacht

Glasgow Vet Elected to Head Uk Association

PROFESSOR Bill Reilly of Glasgow was yesterday elected president of the British Veterinary Association. The ceremony took place during the annual meeting of the BVA at the close of its congress in Cardiff.

Mystery of Injured Man in Car Park

Nine Rescued As Boats Run Aground

Police Seek Couple After Car Incident

Anger As Question Time to Host Bnp Debate Bbc Confirms Nick Griffin to Appear with Jack Straw

BRITISH National Party leader Nick Griffin is to take part in a televised debate with Justice Secretary Jack Straw on BBC1's Question Time . The announcement came after Mr Straw became the first senior Labour politician to say he was willing to appear on the show with Mr Griffin.

Grand Start to Merchant City Parade

CARNIVAL TIME: Glasgow's Merchant City Festival ended last night after a weekend of colourful celebrations, Now in its eighth year, the four-day event has become an annual fixture and has helped to establish the Merchant City area as a cultural quarter Although the number of visitors on the ground yesterday appeared to be quite sparse, organisers insisted it had been a huge success with up to 70,000 people attending more than 300 performances across 80 different venues and three street stag...

Scot with Swine Flu in Intensive Care in Ibiza

A YOUNG Scottish woman is on a life-support machine in Ibiza after contracting swine flu. Lindy Paterson, 26, from Fife, fell ill shortly after arriving in Spain with three friends for a summer holiday and is now in intensive care.

Anger As Macaskill Releases Record Number of Killers Early

THE Justice Secretary has released more killers on compassionate grounds in two-and-a-half years than his predecessors did in eight, it has emerged. New figures show that, since the SNP took charge of a minority government in 2007, Kenny MacAskill has granted early release to three terminally ill prisoners sentenced to life for murder. They include Abdelbasset Ali al Megrahi, the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing, who was released from Greenock Prison last month after becoming ill with ...

Family Funeral for Scottish Cleric at the Centre of Child Sex Investigation

THE funeral of the Glasgow-born Cambridge University cleric, under investigation for sex offences against children in Scotland, is expected to be restricted to family. Police sources say the Rev Ian Thompson, 50, Dean of Chapel at King's College and the university's director of studies in theology and religion, died of asphyxiation at his house in Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire, on Thursday afternoon.

Scotland's Lawyers in Jobs Crisis

JUSTICE Secretary Kenny MacAskill has criticised some of Scotland's universities for luring students into taking law courses when only one in four trainees can find work. The minister said he was "unimpressed" by the attitude of law schools and expressed concern they were not putting the needs of students first.

Top 500 Doctors Sharing Gbp30m in Pay Boost Critics Call for End to Scheme

A BONUS scheme for senior NHS consultants has been defended by the Scottish Government after it emerged that 500 top doctors are sharing a GBP30m pot of public money to boost their incomes. It was revealed yesterday that a government review of the bonus scheme for senior consultants failed to bring about a major dismantling of a system criticised as an "old boys' network".

Roman Polanski Is Held by Swiss Police Over Us Under-Age Sex Charges Director Faces Extradition As Authorities Act On 31-Year-Old Arrest Warrant

ROMAN Polanski, the Oscarwinning film director, has been arrested in Switzerland in connection with a 31-yearold US warrant for having sex with an underage girl. The 76-year-old was placed in custody by police at Zurich Airport as he flew in from France to collect a lifetime achievement award at the Zurich Film Festival scheduled for yesterday .

Critics Call for Nts Rethink at Stormy Annual Meeting

CRITICS of the National Trust for Scotland have called for Scotland's heritage sector to be re-examined and reconstructed in the wake of the conservation body's annual general meeting. The trust held one of its most vociferous AGMs on Saturday, including a passionate and tearful speech from the charity's outgoing chairwoman Shonaig Macpherson.

Rsamd Design Team Named Best in World at Top Exhibition

A GROUP from Scotland's leading talent school has been named as the best design team in the world. The team from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, based in Glasgow, has been given the title by the International Organisation of Scenographers, Technicians, and Architects of Theatre (OISTAT) at the World Stage Design Exhibition in Korea.

Iain Gray Set to Challenge First Minister to Debate Scotland's Future

IAIN Gray, Labour's Holyrood leader, has issued Alex Salmond with an "anytime, anywhere" challenge to debate the future of Scotland Addressing the Labour conference in Brighton today, Mr Gray is to throw down the gauntlet to Mr Salmond and challenge him to a head- tohead debate on Scotland's future on St Andrew's Day. It is Labour's second attempt in a week to bait Mr Salmond. Last Monday, he dismissed a similar invitation from Jim Murphy, the Scottish Secretary, on the grounds he debated, an...