Sunday Herald

Police Find Body in Search for Diver

Police searching for a scallop diver missing in the Forth Estuary say they have found his body. James Irvine, 42, from the Glenrothes area, disappeared in Largo Bay on Thursday. He was reported missing at lunchtime after requesting more diving weights from his boat crew then failing to return from a dive.

24/7 Watch to Protect Falcon Eggs

They are fierce, they are famed as the fastest creatures on earth, and now they are under 24/7 surveillance. A pair of peregrine falcons nesting at the Falls of Clyde nature reserve in New Lanark has been put under constant guard to protect their eggs from thieves, and their chicks from human predators.

Tories in Crisis: Backer Withdraws Pound(S)1m Offer

THE Scottish Conservatives were plunged into a fresh crisis last night after a sacked election candidate said he had been denied natural justice by the party's "dysfunctional" leadership. Malcolm Macaskill, who was dumped as the leading candidate in Glasgow last week, said his treatment would cost the party pound(s)1 million, because his friend, Tom Coakley, a former footballer who made a fortune in property, had now withdrawn a pledge to give the Tories pound(s)100,000 a year for a decade.

Fire Chiefs Angry at Single Service Plan

Chief fire officers have criticised the Scottish Government for failing to provide evidence for a "compelling case" for a single fire and rescue service for Scotland. The Chief Fire Officers' Association in Scotland has written to Community Safety Minister Fergus Ewing outlining its concerns.

Since the Sunday Herald Relaunched As a Single-Section News Magazine... [Derived Headline]

SINCE the Sunday Herald relaunched as a single-section news magazine we've had great feedback from readers. But a significant number of you have said you enjoy our journalism so much you want to be able to share it with family and friends. We like to make our readers happy ... so today we're introducing a separate sports section. We hope that lets you pass the Sunday Herald around and share your favourite writers with your favourite people.

Dundee Confirms Legionnaires' Case

A man is being treated in hospital for the potentially fatal Legionnaires' disease after using a hotel leisure centre. NHS Tayside said he had been at the four-star Landmark Dundee and was among 66 people who reported feeling unwell. Teams from the NHS and Dundee City Council launched an enquiry after some staff and visitors developed a flu-like illness. The single positive case was confirmed last night and the man was taken for treatment at Ninewells Hospital in the city.

How to Drum Up Interest in the Royal Wedding? It's a Piece of Cake

ROYAL wedding fever started in earnest this weekend with a series of Palace "revelations" about which biscuits guests will enjoy and glimpses into how the cake plans are shaping up. The royals have started releasing any titbit of information to feed the media. It'll be like this until the big day on April 29, say royal watchers.

Alexander: 'I Won't Apologise for Levy'

AN unrepentant Danny Alexander last night refused to apologise "one bit" for the Treasury's pound(s)2 billion raid on North Sea oil profits, despite alarm among industry leaders that it will choke off investment and cost thousands of jobs. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury said he understood the anger about the surprise levy, but insisted that high oil prices meant producers could afford it. He dismissed warnings about job losses as "scaremongering".

'We Need to See the International Community Moving Together'

IF you were looking for someone with particularly good reason to worry about global warming, Yvo de Boer would be a pretty good candidate. The former United Nations climate change supremo oversaw the failure of the Copenhagen conference 15 months ago. He has previously talked about his "depression" following the gruelling 11-day event, a few months before he quit the organisation. Last week he told the Sunday Herald he remains deeply unsure of our ability to overcome the problem.

L Alex Salmond has Been Accused of Exploiting the Unfolding... [Derived Headline]

l ALEX Salmond has been accused of exploiting the unfolding tragedy in Japan after saying nuclear power would be a major issue of the Holyrood election campaign. The SNP leader said Labour was "obsessed" with expanding nuclear power, and had only a paper-thin commitment to renewables. Labour leader Iain Gray, whose East Lothian seat includes the Torness plant, says nuclear should be part of the UK's energy mix.

Human Remains Found in Double Murder Case

HUMAN remains have been found by police investigating the murder of Sian O'Callaghan after the suspect in her death told them of a second body. Detectives have not yet disclosed the identity of the body, saying only they believe it could be a young woman abducted in Swindon between 2003 and 2005.

Machar Says Proposal to Close Course That Inspired Her 'Beggars Belief'

Scotland's national poet Liz Lochhead has condemned the University of Glasgow's proposed closure of the course that inspired her to be a writer. Lochhead has rallied to the defence of the university's department of adult and continuing education (DACE), one of the areas under threat as part of proposals to save pound(s)20 million by 2014. The poet and playwright, earlier this year made Scotland's makar, said without the university's evening classes in creative writing in 1970 "I would not be ...

Scottish Parties Divided On Issue

SCOTLAND'S two main political parties threw their weight behind the demonstrators in London, while the Coalition partners were conspicuously muted. First Minister Alex Salmond sent a message of support to TUC general secretary Brendan Barber, saying he believed Chancellor George Osborne was cutting too fast and too deep, threatening jobs and public services. The SNP leader said Scotland was proof that there was an alternative way, adding: "We deferred cuts this year in order to build recovery...

'Hit Squads' Pledge to Disrupt Holyrood Campaign

CAMPAIGNERS against public service cuts are planning to send roving 'hit squads' to disrupt speeches and photocalls by the main political parties during the Holyrood campaign. The Citizens United movement, which has already occupied banks in Glasgow and Dundee, will try to shame senior politicians into actively opposing Treasury cuts in the next parliament. Teams of five to six people, including pensioners and the low-paid, plan to show up wherever the main parties are campaigning in the Cent...

Seafield, Edinburgh (Veolia Water Since 2007) - Public Cost: Pound(S)800... [Derived Headline]

Seafield, Edinburgh (Veolia Water since 2007) - Public cost: pound(s)800 million - Problems: Mechanical breakdowns, major leakage, bad smells for years, 26 alleged defects and defaults Levenmouth, Fife (Northumbrian Water) - Public cost: pound(s)780 million - Problems: The "Methil ming"

L Inverness Airport: Bought Out by the Scottish Government For... [Derived Headline]

l Inverness airport: Bought out by the Scottish Government for pound(s)27.5 million in 2006 to avoid paying millions more to private operators. l Skye bridge: Bought back by the Scottish Government for pound(s)27m in 2004 in order to end controversial tolls.

'This Is Damning Evidence of the Dangers of Handing Control of Public Services to Private Firms'

A MASSIVE pound(s)4.8 billion of public money is being paid to multinational corporations to run water-works that are plagued with breakdowns and pollution, an investigation by the Sunday Herald has revealed. Internal reports from Scottish Water lay bare for the first time the scandal of contracts signed under the private finance initiative (PFI) backed by Labour and Conservative governments.

Edinburgh Residents 'Sick and Tired' of Foul Smells

Rob Kirkwood of the Leith Links Residents Association in Edinburgh is angry. He's sick and tired of being told that just because he lives near a sewage plant he has to put up with horrible smells."On that basis, of course," he says, "if I live next door to a zoo then I should expect the occasional lion in my garden." For more than 10 years the association has been fighting to prevent Seafield sewage works, pictured left, on the Firth of Forth, one of the biggest in Scotland, from polluting re...

John Wood Group Plc, Which Is Listed On the London... [Derived Headline]

John Wood Group PLC, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, is an internationally-renowned energy business based in Aberdeen. Founded in 1982 by Sir Ian Wood, it provides numerous services to oil and gas firms, including well support, engineering and gas turbine services. The Group currently employs around 29,000 people in 50 countries. The PLC's website states that its strategy is to "achieve long-term sustainable growth by adding value to our customers' operations". Its CEO is Allist...

This Is Shameful but Not Unique ...Up to Pound(S)25bn of Tax Is Being 'Avoided'

The brazen offshoring of employment contracts to save on employer National Insurance contributions is one of many widespread and perfectly legal tax avoidance measures. Wood Group Engineering's behaviour might be shameful, but it is common. Even the Scottish Government-owned CalMac completed the same manoeuvre in 2006 to create 'a level playing field' for the Clyde and Hebrides ferry route tender it was about to enter.