26/07/2011 Reporting Scotland

The funeral of a 20-year-old soldier who died after going

missing in Afghanistan is taking place in Edinburgh. Scott McLaren

was found dead with gunshot wounds after disappearing from his army

checkpoint in central Helmand. The circumstances of his death there

remain unclear. A brave Highlander comes home. Rifle man Scott McLaren

is saluted by a standard bearers from the Royal British Legion.

Members of them came to carry their friend and colleague on the last

part of his journey. His time as a Highlander cut all too short.

talent was only just beginning to shine. It was remarkable to see him

carrying the heaviest of Lords without complaint, just a smile.

was just 20 years old. He had been in the Army for less than two years.

Until then he had lived inside fell with his parents and two younger

brothers and sisters. He always pushed himself. He tried the best -

- to be the best he could be. died in mysterious circumstances.

He went missing on his on from money to a checkpoint in Helmand

and was found several hours later with what was believed to be

gunshot wounds. The Taliban claimed responsibility but there is no

proof of this. An international investigation is under way. Today

was all about remembering a young man who made his Peers proud.

boat he was not in the battalion for long he definitely left his

mark. Fit, tireless, a great character, he was a true friend to

many. One operations in Afghanistan he was calm under pressure,

dedicated and committed to the cause. A final farewell from his

comrades. The majority of his battalion are still on duty in

Helmand. They held their own memorial for him today. I young man

lost so early doing the job he loved. Police say there has been a

good response India appealed for information about the murder of a

brother and sister in Helensburgh at the weekend. Door-to-door

inquiries are continuing. The died after fire swept through their home

early on Sunday morning. Our reporter is in Helensburgh for us

tonight. What is the condition of Mr and Mrs Shah Kivu were in the

house at the time? -- Mrs Sharkey. We are told they are critical but

stable. Mr Sharkey has been told now that his son and daughter have

died. Both parents had been heavily sedated since being rescued from

the flat. And how is the investigation itself going? There

are more than 50 officers working on this murder case now. They have

been doing door-to-door inquiries and also say they have had some

very valuable calls to the incident room. Police are adamant that the

answers to what went on here will lie in the local community. A

couple of months ago Thomas Sharkey senior was stabbed at the house. A

man has been arrested and charged in relation with that very serious

assault. Thomas Sharkey is a local businessman. They will look at

business dealings and any family background issues. The police crime

stoppers the team have put up a reward of �10,000 for information

on what happened here at the weekend. The public are clearly

horrified with what they have seen happen in the neighbourhood. They

want to try to help their community to get over this. If anyone else

has any information I would seriously ask them to contact crime

stoppers. It seems that Bridget, the young eight year-old girl who

died here at the weekend died just after she was taken to hospital.

She was not even supposed to send - - spend the night here. She was

supposed to have a sleep over with a friend but came home because she

could not settle. Bridget was a very popular girl at the local

primary school. Any friends of hers who feel they need help when they

return to school, they will be laying on counselling for any of

her friends to feel they may benefit from that. 12 people have

been rescued from an island on the Pentland Firth after the ball broke

down in a sea cave. All are said to be fit and well. -- after their

boat broke down. Also, we are live at the Royal Yacht Britannia in

Leith. In sport it is all about Europe. Hearts fly out to Hungary

and one player is hoping to join the squad after passport issues. We

also meet with Malmo who are in relaxed mood ahead of their

Champions' League qualifier with Rangers at Ibrox. Scottish

universities will be adversely and unduly affected by UK Government

plans to reduce these as for foreign students. -- these as. Just

a few students left at Glasgow University during the summer

holidays. -- visas. There could be even fewer if these are limited.

think that would be a shame, the quality of education here is very

good. There are lots of people from different countries and different

backgrounds. It is very good. Scotland could also miss out

financially. 11 % of all students in Scotland are outside the EU, in

St Andrews the make-up almost one- third of the role. At Heriot-Watt

48 % of graduates are from overseas. Glasgow Caledonian had its licence

to sponsor foreign students suspended in April after 150

Filipino nursing students were found working almost full time.

Some believe these proposals go too far. We appreciate the want to

restrict numbers and we are sympathetic to that but we feel

this is putting at risk a whole number of university courses and

the financial viability of universities themselves. The nature

of Scottish Higher Education is that our degrees are longer so

restricting the time that students can stay disproportionately

disadvantages Scottish universities. While we Eddie very strongly with

the recommendation to extend flexibility. The calls for a

rethink are falling on deaf ears. Today be immigration minister said

that changes to student visa inquiries would not have a

detrimental effect on Scotland's universities and colleges. Attacks

office worker who hijacked a woman's identity and invented four

children to fraudulent reclaim �90,000 in benefits has been jailed

for four years. She began claiming a stranger's benefits after moving

into the woman's former home. A soldier has been found guilty of

supplying cocaine after he had tens of thousands of pounds of the truck

sent to his barracks. The man, originally from Nigeria, had his

cousin sending cocaine to them at barracks. He was caught when Border

Agency officials examined the package which contained a leaking

highlighter pens. A man who was involved in a serious road accident

just an hour before his wife was found murdered has awoken from a

coma. Police are waiting to interview 45-year-old Neil coming

about the death of his wife Jane who was found stabbed to death at

their home just over a week ago. Detectives have been waiting to

speak to Neil coming since he was taking here to Dundee's Ninewells

hospital after being involved in a serious road accident. That crash

involved his car and a lorry and it left him in a coma. It was soon

after that they travel to the home he shared with his wife, Jane, and

their children. When the police got there they discovered inside the

property her body lying dead. Then they launched an inquiry into the

circumstances of her death. The neighbourhood is still shocked by

what happened and it has now become a murder inquiry. Police believe

the crash and the murder of Jean coming is linked. It will be some

time before they are able to speak to him, it is understood he has

made progress, having emerged from a coma, but he is still sedated and

cannot be interviewed yet. Medical staff do not believe he will be in

a fit State to speak to police for another week at least. Police say

they are seriously concerned for a 29-year-old woman who has gone

missing in Aberdeen. She is described as five foot five inches

tall with rose and eyebrow piercings. It is believed she could

have travelled to the London area. Scottish fishing leaders say they

will keep pressing for sanctions against Iceland and the Faroe

Islands after both states have once again awarded themselves huge

increases in the macro quota for this year. A book of condolences

has been opened at the Norwegian Consulate in Edinburgh after the

attacks by Anders Breivik. Letters and flowers have been placed in

memory of these 76 people killed. Shetland Islands Council has

written to the Norwegian Prime Final preparations are underway for

Scotland's very NYO when dink -- wedding. Zara Phillips marries Mark

Tyndall in the Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh on Saturday. The night

before, they will be toasting their impending nuptials at another Royal

venue and our reporter is there tonight. You can guess what is his.

We understand the Royal got will host a private ceremony for the

reception between 7:00pm and midnight. -- a royal yacht.

There will be scores if not hundreds of people here with long

lenses hoping to catch a glimpse of the Royal and sporting stars as

they arrive. Britannia shines in the sunshine,

ready to welcome back the Wales. It was a haven for honeymooning

couples in past decades. Now the tourist attraction is to

host an exclusive reception for up to 380 family and friends on Friday

evening. Pre-dinner drinks will be followed with dinner. It still

takes three hours to set the tables here. Afterwards, guest will be

invited to the Royal DEC for music and dancing with carriages at

midnight. The police had been planning this event since March. It

is reportedly costing �500,000 from the policing budget. This is a

private wedding. It just so happens that they have a certain amount of

personality and have famous family and friends. It is a situation we

are reduced to and had planned in advance. It is a short distance

back to the palace for the reception afterwards but consumer t

-- security concerns and the weather means we will only find out

if they will walk the distance. Businesses and local residents have

been assured destruction will be kept to a minimum. For it is a

great thing from -- for the street. People will come from everywhere.

Not just local people. It will be busy but I am sure if they don't

come shopping on the Saturday, they will come out on the Sunday.

the authorities say the couple have chosen to have a traditional

Scottish wedding. This long line of Jaguar's means they are preparing

for the top end of luxury. There will be road closures in the area

throughout Saturday. It is being held at the height of the tourist

season with public interest. This is meant to be a private

celebration, not in any way a state occasion. There is considerable

interest in this and the police accept this will be a challenge.

They stress this is a challenge they are looking forward to and

they are well prepared. Time for sport now.

The Wallis gets wed before his debut, the head coach believes his

team can cause a -- cause an upset tonight. It is Ally McCoist's first

match as boss. Fans of the Swedish club have mixed thoughts at about

their chances. The Malmo players looked relaxed as

they return to their hotel after a walk round Glasgow's Park. Could

they match fitness be an advantage? If we hope so. We are in the best

shape at the moment. I think the players of Glasgow will be even

more shocked. If we try to score a goal and keep a clean sheet, that

would of course be a very good result for us. At the same time, it

is the best out of two games and that is the most important. For how

many my elbow -- Malmo fans can you get in a taxi? They tried to tour

the city before heading to the game. Their fans had been enjoying the

good weather here in Glasgow today. They have tasted the Scottish

Football cuisine also. What fare will be experience this evening?

expect to lose. Why? Glasgow is a better team. 2-1 to Malmo or maybe

1-1. This is where we belong. We are doing it again in Europe. We

have a good chance to go on. Rangers' last qualifier was in

Lithuania three years ago. They lost out then so they don't want a

repeat against the Swedish champions.

There is action on the radio Hearts have to have David Obua

available for their league taking hungry after a day of passport

problems. Hearts left Edinburgh airport ahead of Thursday's

qualifier against passes without him and Andy Webster and Mehdi

Taouil. After a -- to London, he has renewed his passport and is

waiting on a visa. The manager is confident of his side's chances.

we play as well as we did on Saturday, we have a chance of

winning. The most important thing is you never know when you go into

these things how it will pan out. We believe we are good enough to go

there and get a result and finish the job. Celtic midfielder Ehud,

Efrain Juarez, is appearing on loan. He would be knocking on the

manager's door seeking assurances for regular first team football.

Anthony Stokes is hoping to play tomorrow. While he started against

Hibs, scoring the first goal, he says he is not taking anything for

granted. Looks good so far. I started up front the other day. I

can try and score goals and work as hard as I can. I left it where it

was at the end of last season and I knew there were plays coming in. I

have to work hard, there is not much more I can do. Dundee United

manager, Peter Houston, says David Goodwillie must think carefully

about his future as transfer speculation mounts. 10 clubs have

expressed an interest in the 22- year-old Scotland international who

is valued at �2 million. A second bid was rejected last month and

Blackpool have been asked to be kept informed.

Jim MacIntyre says his team will adapt to the pace and qualifier

quality of the first flight. They had a chance to score before half-

time. John Potter accused of holding back Steven Thompson. Keen

to get his first competitive goal, but his effort was salt -- saved by

Paul Gallagher. That is your sport.

There is disappointing news today about the lack of growth in the UK

economy but it is not all doom and gloom. One group of entrepreneurs

here are enjoying rapid growth and are having fun while they are at it.

Douglas Fraser has been finding out more.

It is fashion but not as we know it. This is the suit, printed on up all

in one polyester and like crash. They are everywhere. This is a

business empire controlled from a small flat up there. Two brothers

and a flat mate noticed there were a -- there was a market for getting

people noticed. Hallowe'en is a great time where people wear

costumes. In America, there is a sick -- six-week festival. We

combined the two. We have created a pumpkin Munster. They began selling

the suits two years ago. They have sold 250,000 in the year two. They

are conquering America. snowballed to a whole new level,

giving the engagement people have on our Facebook competition. --

Facebook Page. We have a competition where people can design

the suits. They love that. We have 700,000 Facebook fans which is more

than Guinness and Toyota. This year, they are more than doubling their

turnover beyond �10 million. What is the secret of their success?

There is only one way to find out. And see dress is for all. Initially

it is the exhibitionist that his first. People think it is great and

want a bit of it. It looks like a tiny bit of fun. Profits are

stretching around the world. You reckon an extra-large is good for

me? He perfect. It was a lovely day in the south

and the West again today but cooling in the north and the north-

east. This evening, it will be fairly fine and staying dry. There

is cloud to the west and the South. -- to the east and to the north. It

will be milder than it has been of late with temperatures down to nine

Celsius. Tomorrow morning, that cloud will linger in the east. All

places will see a fine and dry eight day. It will feel warmer.

Heading down to the north-east, highways of 13 Celsius -- 21

Celsius. Our top temperature tomorrow again will be in the West.

You may have temperatures of up to 24 Celsius. We have a week weather

front pushing in for the second part of the day. The pressure to

chart, we can see that weather front coming in and it will reach

into the West tomorrow evening. It will creep across the country

during Thursday. High pressure is building behind it said by Friday,

we have a return to more settled conditions. -- so by Friday.

Temperatures were not suffer through the central belt with highs

of 28 Celsius. Into Friday, we have a return to settled conditions. The

time it is beginning to pick up a little bit again.

little bit again. That is the weather.

Tours the end of the programme, some footage coming in to us. The

Lockerbie bomber has been shown on Libyan state television. He was

shown taking part in a wheel chair. He was freed from prison on

compassionate grounds two years ago after being diagnosed with terminal

cancer. Just before 7pm, let us resit --

recap. The funeral of a 20-year-old

soldier who died after going missing in Afghanistan has taken

place in Edinburgh. Scott McLaren of the 4th Battalion the Royal

Regiment of Scotland was found dead with gunshot wounds after

disappearing from his army checkpoint in the central Helmand.

The circumstances of his death are still unclear.

There was a fall in the rate of growth in the UK economy, down to

0.2 % between April and June of this year. The Office for National

Statistics says events like the extra bank holiday for the Royal