26/12/2011 Reporting Scotland

Good evening. A man has appeared in court within the past hour -

accused of the rape and attempted rape of two women in the city

centre of Glasgow last week. The 21-year-old was arrested by police

after the separate incidents in the city centre in the early hours of

Wednesday. Julie Peacock reports from Glasgow Sheriff Court. When we

- just 21-year-old Scott Kerr from East Kilbride appeared in private

at Glasgow Sheriff Court, accused of the rate of one woman and the

attempt to treat for another in Glasgow's city centre. He made no

declaration and was remanded in custody. He has been refused bail.

The first incident to pip place at around 4pm on Wednesday morning as

a 20-year-old woman was walking home after a night out. She was

walking along Sheens of what Street in the Premier Long area of the

city when she was dragged into a nearby car park and seriously

sexually it salted. -- assaulted. She managed to flag down help, but

15 minutes later another woman aged 22 years old was raped in the car

park across the road from the first attack. Police in the city stepped

up patrols over the Christmas period.

A teenager has been arrested in connection with a murder in Airdrie

last week. 42-year-old Christopher Bergen was stabbed in the close of

the flats where he lived in the Plains area of the town, in the

early hours of Christmas Eve. He died later in hospital. A 19-year-

old has been arrested. He's expected to appear at Airdrie

Sheriff Court tomorrow. Police are investigating two

shootings in the Glasgow area on Christmas Eve. A 36-year-old man

was seriously injured in Springburn in the north of the city around 2am.

Police say he was shot by a passenger in a car. He's said to be

in a serious, but stable condition in hospital. Around ten hours later,

a 23-year-old was shot near a golf range in Bishopbriggs, around three

miles away. Four men were spotted running from the scene. Detectives

say they're not ruling out the possibility that the two incidents

are linked. There's been a lively start to the

post-Christmas sales, with some shops reporting that thousands of

customers were queuing from before dawn to pick up a bargain. Gavin

Walker reports. A thousands of bargain hunters hit the stores

today as a sales got under way. As retailers held their breath that

that money would finally start to flow. Below Christmas, shops

reported below average sales, but big discounts are finally getting

shoppers crowding through the doors. But so will Bowburn a shopping

centre in Glasgow was expecting 50,000 customers today and around

1,500 were queuing from 5am. Many stores offered substantial

discounts and in Edinburgh, it looked like shoppers were taking

full advantage. Just some jeans and shoes that were run as cheap offer.

Today it was just because I had some vouchers, but I do not tend to

brave the sales. It was madness. have spent quite a lot.

Christmas season is vital for shop's turnover. Pre-Christmas

purchases were slow, but there has been a lively start to the sales.

They will be hoping that continues. Rangers are appealing the red card

that Lee McCulloch received against St Mirren on Saturday in the SPL.

The midfielder was dismissed, because the referee felt he'd

caught Graham Carey with an elbow. McCulloch will now be free to play

against Celtic in Wednesday's Old Firm derby at Parkhead, as the SFA

are not due to hear the appeal until at least January 5th.

Christmas weather conditions in Shetland saw hurricane force winds

cause some damage - and some people there are still without any power.

Christopher is here now to tell us how it's looking there and across

The strong winds will ease as we go into this evening and tonight. The

rain making its way from the north- west down to the south-east this

evening. It will ease and fragment as it does so. Behind that front,

much colder conditions. We will see a pocket or two of frost and icy

patches idle one. It will be milder overnight. Into tonight and

northern Scotland stars brighten fine and crisper. Temperatures are

around eight or nine degrees for most, but wins much lighter

compared to today. This evening and overnight, heavy rain pitching in

from the West that will crossover Scotland fairly quickly during

their early hours. It is part of an area of low pressure that is

certainly Atlantic heading our way on Wednesday. It will bring very

strong winds indeed. We have an early warning in force from the

letter offers for that wind. It is yellow and that means to be aware

that the moment but we could see severe gales anywhere across the

country on Wednesday. West and central parts of the country, some

blustery showers. Temperatures average for this time of year, five

or six degrees. Stay tuned to the forecast, because details could

change. Thanks, Christopher. That's all