04/08/2011 Reporting Scotland

Welcome to Reporting Scotland. Tonight on your national news. Pass

rates hit another record high, as thousands of pupils receive their

exam results, and begin planning for the future. I was expecting to

do a little better, but I am pleased it does not prevent me

doing what I wanted. I am glad I will be able to do the Highers I

want to do. The government says the improvement is down to students'

hard work. Also coming up tonight. The First

Minister reveals details of his dealings with Rupert Murdoch and

News International over the past four years.

Former World Champion athlete Liz McColgan denies assaulting her

estranged husband at their home. And he hires and fires on a regular

basis but does not give interviews very often. But ahead of the Europa

League qualifier at Tynecastle for Hearts, the club's owner talks

exclusively to Reporting Scotland. Thousands of school pupils across

Scotland have been receiving their exam results and, once again, it

has been a record year. Over the past four years, there has been a

steady improvement. Passes for Highers are up by 3.5%. For

Advanced Highers, they are up nearly 5%, and for Access Three

exams, there has been an even bigger jump, up nearly 7%. With the

details, here is our education correspondent, Seonag Mackinnon.

Special delivery at West Lothian's Academy, to do some of the 160,000

candidates receiving results today. -- to just some of. The waiting is

finally over. I was expecting to do a little better but I am pleased it

does not prevent me doing what I want. More relief than anything

else and I am glad I will be able to sit Highers that I want.

some, the content is not be surprised. By mistake, the Scottish

qualifications Authority dispatched results yesterday, a daily, to

almost 30,000 pupils. I looked at it and I saw the message and I was

just shocked! I had not been expecting it. I was in a charity

shop and had come back from lunch and was not expecting to see the

message, it was a surprise! Edinburgh, more of those results,

with the potential to change lives. I am staying on for the 6th year

and hopefully will go to college to do travel and tourism, and if not I

would like a job in a bank. It adds up to another year of record -- of

record-breaking results. It is a testimony to young people who have

worked hard to get the results they need. I congratulate them for that.

For those who have not done as well as they wanted, do not despair,

helpline people are available to use. For and they are waiting for

your calls. Sometimes, parents say they tried to rink but are too

upset to talk, it is perhaps first talking to their parent and making

sure they are not panicking and finding out there are a lot of

options. Avon exam result is not the end of the world, there are a

lot of options. Fewer calls than they might have been because of a

high pass rate. Pupils are believed to have been working extra hard

because of the recession. They know there is a big fight ahead to

secure jobs, apprenticeships, college and university places.

Anyone looking for help or advice about their exam results can

contact the helpline. Alex Salmond has released details

of his dealings with News International over the past four

years. They show that the First Minister had around 25 meetings

with staff from News International, including three with Rupert Murdoch

and one with Mr Murdoch's son, James. Laura Bicker is here now.

What other details are there, Laura?

There are a number of letters dating back to 2007. In one, he

describes a meeting in New York with Rupert Murdoch and says his

views were, in sight for and stimulating. In another, the First

Minister says he hopes News International goes from strength to

strength. And that his big bet in newspapers will pay off. As well as

inviting Rupert Murdoch to Scotland as part of a homecoming

celebrations, the First Minister also extends an invitation to the

Ryder Cup intent -- in Kentucky. He offered to pay for accommodation

and for his tickets as part of a hospitality package given to the

Scottish government by the Ryder Cup. But neither man actually made

it to this competition, it has to be said. But it is noteworthy that

of everyone given these tickets, the one person who was was Rupert

Murdoch. And the reason the SNP felt they

had to release this information? The First Minister has come under

increasing pressure over last few weeks. Nick Clegg, Ed Miliband,

David Cameron have released details of their meetings with News

International. But the First Minister has today gone one better.

He has released details of his meetings with News International

and these letters, which is more than any other UK party leader.

What are the other parties saying? The Liberal Democrats have

described the First Minister's behaviour showing a cosy

willingness to cosy up to the executives at News International,

and Iain Gray, the Scottish Labour leader, said the First Minister's

behaviour has been highly questionable. But Alex Salmond says

his relationship with News International has been reasonable

and proper. The former World Champion athlete

Liz McColgan has appeared in court in Arbroath charged with assaulting

her estranged husband, Peter. She denies the charges and will stand

trial in November. Andrew Anderson reports.

In 1991, Liz McColgan take Cup -- takes Golden the 10,000 metres at

the World Championships in Tokyo. - - takes gold. She was at the peak

of her career, one of the top women athletes in the world. She had

already won gold and silver medals at the Olympics and Commonwealth

Games. Husband and wife, Peter. A alongside her always was a husband,

Peter. He is a great husband! as the years passed, the couple

grew apart and agreed last year to separate, they said it was amicable.

Today, Liz McColgan appeared at the sheriff court in Arbroath accused

of assaulting Peter. She is alleged to have attacked her husband last

month at the family home would be both continued to live. She is

charged with repeatedly punching him and acting in a threatening and

abusive manner, and it is alleged she threw his clothes out of my

window. Liz McColgan is back in court in November to stand trial.

You are watching Reporting Scotland from the BBC. Still to come before

seven. Were there two Greyfriars Bobbies?

Doubt is cast over the tale of Edinburgh's old faithful.

In sport. He has sacked a manager who was a club legend and brought

in a new boss days before a big European tie. Tonight, in an

exclusive interview, the Hearts owner Valdimir Romanov tells us why.

That is in an exclusive interview. We'll also be looking ahead to

Hearts' Europa League qualifier against Poksh here at Tynecastle,

and picking through the bones of Rangers' failure to qualify for the

Champions League. The new Chief Executive of the

Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games could be in post by the end of next

month. Chairman Lord Smith has told BBC Scotland that a world-class

candidate will be appointed to deliver a world-class Games. And as

that search continues, the Glasgow 2014 board is also being helped by

the Olympic organisers in London. Our Games correspondent, Kheredine

Idessane, got exclusive access to the Olympic Park in Stratford.

For the Olympics is changing London's landscape. And with a

Commonwealth Games to deliver, the Glasgow organisers do not want to

miss the bus when it comes to learning lessons. We have got to

remember it is unprecedented we signed a memorandum of

understanding with the 2012 people, they said they would co-operate

with us and we would co-operate to learn as much as possible. And it

stretches across a whole area, equipment, hardware and software

that they have that is not a value to them at the end of the Games may

find its way into the Commonwealth Games. So there is a range from

knowledge and expertise, experience of being involved in the Games that

we can benefit from. The 2014 team got the best seats in the new

Velodrome. Few others have set foot, and Reporting Scotland got

exclusive access to an arena designed by a famous cycling

Scotsman. Chris hot as design it so we were eager to see him do well. -

- helped us design it. You could sell tickets here 10 times over. A

staging the Olympics is much harder and expensive than hosting the

Commonwealth Games. London has a budget of over �9 billion and

Glasgow has feet -- and Glasgow has 524 million. And the Commonwealth

Games only have to cope with 61,000 from 71 countries. One board member

was keen to see what London is doing for the athletes. With the

venues so close to the athlete's village, it has a massive impact

because it reduces transport time and everything, so that in itself,

if the venue is close to the athletes village, that makes a

tremendous difference to preparation and everything else to

watch your performance. Olympics is widely regarded as the

greatest show on earth and it is certainly -- and it certainly seems

a great state has been built in London on which the Scottish

athletes will hope to perform to the best of their abilities this

time next year. Scottish Water say they are

confident that an e-coli scare in Moray will be short-lived and that

there is little risk to public health. Householders in three

communities have been told to boil all water for drinking or food

preparation after the bacteria was found in the water supply. Craig

Anderson reports. Water, water everywhere today, but

the advice is not to drink it, not without boiling it at least. E-coli

has been detected and samples taken from the supply here and consumers

have been told to boil and to call any tap water for drinking, cooking

or brushing teeth -- to cool. samples we have taken today are

very positive and if we get a few more of those, the advice have for

They will be to return to normal very quickly. But because it is e-

coli, we cannot take chances so the advice is to boil water before

consuming, and that is good advice. At this stage, it is nearly an

inconvenience rather than a concern for villagers and businesses.

small things like we have to buy up ice and we have to buy bottles

rather than using machines, if we have to boil water for cooking, so

used to things -- so they are just things we have to do and hopefully

it is short-term. There is confidence this will not break out

into an infection of e-coli in the area. The risk is low and we found

only a small number of bacteria in the water so we would be surprised

if we got Alness, but as a cautionary measure, we are advising

people to boil water. If people get symptoms and are concerned, you

should discuss it with your doctor. The mention of e-coli justifiably

causes alarm, with deaths of dozens of people in Germany this summer

showing just how dangerous it can be. Health experts do not expect an

outbreak as a result of this finding, but for now, these

Some of the other stories across Scotland this Thursday: Police

investigating the murder of three family members in a deliberate

house fire in Helensburgh want to speak to two people seen in the

area around the time. 21-year-old Thomas Sharkey and his eight-year-

old sister Bridget died following the blaze last month. Their father,

Thomas, died six days later. Of she has now been told about the deaths

of her children and husband. BP says it still intends to restart

the Forties oil pipeline tomorrow despite delaying the detonation of

a World War II bomb. The device has now been moved a safe distance from

the North sea pipeline, but a controlled explosion won't now

happen until visibility improves. The Scottish entrepreneur Michelle

Mone has offered to help pay the cost of returning the body of a 21-

year-old from Glasgow who drowned while on holiday on the Spanish

island of Ibiza. Barry Hesford is believed to have been pulled

unconscious from a hotel swimming pool in the resort of San Antonio

on Tuesday. A day out to an agricultural show

may not sound like everyone's idea of a summer treat, but the events

have been part of rural life here for 200 years and are still popular.

They used to be a showcase for an area's progress, but in the 21st

century, do they have any relevance or are they just a habit from days

gone by? Willie Johnston went to the Wigtown Show to find out.

The lairds and gentry were among the founding fathers. Now, royal

approval as prized for major milestones. This week, Princess

Anne went to the 175th Arran Shaw. This one marked the 200 anniversary

of the society behind it. Rural Scotland, a very definite place in

1811. -- different. It used to be a purely subsistence activity. There

was very little surplus to maintain a town population. As a result of

the changes that took place in agricultural revolution,

agriculture became an industry. was all about the improvement of

land, crops and livestock, and to a large extent it still is. Three

generations of this man's family have shown deary cattle here.

were very small and very traditional. It is modernised now

it and some people may say we have modernised too far. That is

debatable, but we have certainly modernised. Cows give up about

twice as much milk as they used to do, which they need to do to keep

us in business. Showing of genetic and other developments to farmers

remains a key function. They also entertain the non- farming public

who flock in their thousands to see their animals and passing royalty.

They show, it seems, still has its place. We're here to learn about

other farming methods and other farmers. The social side and the

competitive side - it is always great if you have a cow better than

your neighbours. The life of a farmer can be very lonely, and it

is nice to come here and beat friends and make friends. For have

a talk and a drink. Even after centuries, year-on-year improvement

is still their aim. Perfection is hard to achieve, but showed

champions are pretty close. Let's go to Tynecastle for the

sport. Welcome to Tynecastle where Hearts

play Paksi of Hungary for a place in the final qualifying round of

the Europa League in just over an hour. It's 1-1 from the first leg

in Hungary, so you'd expect Hearts to be favourites to go through, but

things are seldom straightforward here. Just a few days ago, Jim

Jefferies was sacked as Hearts manager on Monday and replaced by

Paulo Sergio, the former Sporting Lisbon boss. The man who hired and

fired, the Hearts owner Vladimir Romanov, has been outlining why in

an exclusive interview with BBC Scotland's Brian Mclauchlin.

On a morning of Hearts's Europa League tie, the Hearts owner

decided the ideal preparation with a dip and Loch Ness. Speaking

through an interpreter, fresh in his mind was the reasons for the

sacking of Jim Jefferies. I have wasted a lot of nerves taking this

decision. This was a hard time. The last 15 games there has not been a

lot of achievements or good results. That is something that we have to

do. Vladimir Romanov did say that he offered Jim Jefferies the

possibility to bring in a European courts. He also said that the

sacking of himself and the Billy Brown could have been avoided.

don't know how he took it. Perhaps he took it as an insult or

something, but that wasn't the purpose. I was trying to help and

to find a way forward. Obviously, we were not looking to replace

anybody with this. He says the new coach will be allowed to bring in

some new players. Now, we have to improve their game of the team. We

need to improve the play of the team, and obviously we still lack a

number of positions. We need to strengthen number of positions.

thing that is for sure is that defeat tonight it will mean that

our Hearts's European campaign will sink without trace.

Well, I'm joined by the Dundee United manager Peter Houston, who

is part of the BBC Radio commentary team for tonight's match. How

significantly do you think the managerial turmoil all affect the

result tonight? I don't think it will help the players. They were a

very good team with Jim Jefferies as manager. It remains to be seen

whether Paulo Sergio can make it any better, so it is a massive game

for Hearts. It is a big risk for Vladimir Romanov making a change

it's such a late stage? Absolutely. Jim and the delay got them here,

they got a fantastic one-1 draw up over and Hungary. The later stages

are where every Scottish club want to go. If you were in Paulo

Sergio's shoes, and had just taken over, what would you be saying to

the players now? You have to look at the opposition and see what kind

of team they have. It is a difficult situation to come into

when you don't even know your own players, but I'm sure the Hearts

players will know the Hungarian side and will do well and get the

result that is needed. A quick prediction from yourself, Hearts to

go through? I think 3-0, I think they will do well.

And you can listen to the match live on BBC Radio Scotland, 810 MW

and on digital. You can also listen to the action online. If Hearts do

go through, the draw will be tomorrow. Rangers also be in at

having failed to qualify for the Champions League following their 1-

1 draw last night. The financial implications of that future could

be felt well be on the Ibrox. This is the goal that cost Rangers

another crack at the Champions League, and a guaranteed �15

million that comes with it. It could also be argued that the

needless red card for Stephen Whitaker and then Madjid Bougherra

or cost their team very delay. The financial consequences will be felt

Biondi drugs. We get Solidarity money from Uefa. That amount of

money depends on whether we have a team in the Champions League. It is

about �1.3 million. If we don't, just about �300,000. There is about

�1 million expected to come out of the Budget and the pockets of the

other SPL clubs. Despite a lack of Champions League

cash, Ally McCoist knows his club needs further strengthening.

have been attempting to get players in but we have not got his many and

as we would have liked. We will continue to search and press for

new talent to come to the club. Craig Whyte, who said today but Mac

Madjid Bougherra is pushing for a move to another site. We have

already seen Vladimir Romanov take a bit of a dip earlier, but on to a

significantly more serious woman now. Hannah Mike Leigh says she is

prepared to work even harder in her bed to win an Olympic medal. The

Inverurie swim and had that, Patrick, who is also her coach,

have arrived home with a world championship silver medal. She was

second in the 400 metres individual medley in China, but after a brief

break, the training will begin for the 2012 games in London.

Gold would have been very nice, that would have been a cherry on

top, but getting silver is just fantastic. I think it was

definitely all about the race, and better MoD believe everything

happens for a reason. All the hard work we have put on it now makes us

realise there is the long way to go. We are making plans to hopefully

make next here in next season tough and challenging, and hopefully

produce better results. The winger Andrew driver is in the

side for Hearts tonight, he makes his first appearance this season.

He's famous around the world as the dog whose loyalty lasted beyond

death. Greyfriars Bobby kept vigil at his masters grave for years

after the owner had died. But, new evidence appears to suggest that

the whole story may have been a fake to attract tourists. Gavin

Walker's been investigating. He may be on a little dog but the

story of Greyfriars Bobby has been a big attraction to tourists in

Edinburgh for up hundreds of years. I came up from Yorkshire because

apparently he died with his master. New research suggests much of the

story may be faked. It turns out Greyfriars Bobby did

not belong with -- to the policeman whose grave he was supposed to stay

with. He was in fact a stray from over the wall. The story proved so

popular and profitable that when the original dog died, local

traders and we got another dog, so they could continue to pull in the

cash. The news has come as a shock to some. I am a bit disappointed. I

made a lead my photograph actually. Is this not really that of us sat

on the grounds? There was no dock. There was no grave. What light tell

my wife! It seems many locals already knew it was a shaggy-dog

story. In actual fact, John Gray was a policeman and he is buried in

East Preston Street, which is two- and-a-half miles away. The dog was

apparently sitting in the wrong graveyard entirely.

The revelation could be a blow for the local tourist industry, but

thankfully there are still other tourist attractions on a more solid

footing. Ruining a few days there. Now let's

see how our erratic weather is What a wet day we had with some

heavy rain moving up from the south. You can see where their heaviest of

the name was, across the north-west and also the east. It was also

fairly mistake, but clear skies came in behind. For the rest of

this evening and overnight, that rain band is slow to clear from the

North and eventually, through this evening and overnight, it will

continue his journey northwards. It will become confined to the

Northern Isles. For the bulk of the country, mainly dry with one or two

showers in the West. Winds blowing westerly. Tomorrow morning, for

most of the country a better day. The cloud will break up through the

morning with some decent spells coming in. It will be wet across

the far north. There is that rain tomorrow, still affecting Shetland

with highs of 15 Celsius. It will come further south and some decent

spells as sunshine, up to 18 Celsius. Temperatures up to 20

Celsius for Dundee and Edinburgh. How's it looking for the weekend?

Sunshine and showers sums it up nicely. Some of them may be merging

together to produce longer spells of rain. This is all down to the

area of low pressure that will stick with us. White winds and this

front will be the trigger factor for showers. Some decent spells of

sunshine across the sheltered north-east. Temperatures Med to

high teens. This theory a of low- pressure skirting to the South of

Scotland but this front will produce some longer spells of rain.

This is the picture for Sunday - longer spells of rain in the North

and temperatures at 18 or 19 Celsius. A mixed bag for the

weekend. Now, just before 7pm, a summary of

tonight's top stories: World markets have suffered further big

falls after the President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel

Barroso, warned the sovereign debt crisis was spreading.