12/04/2014 Reporting Scotland

Good evening. On the final day of the SNP conference, the First

Minister, Alex Salmond, has made an explicit pitch to women voters in

the independence referendum. He promoted two women to his Cabinet

and said that companies in an independent Scotland should aspire

to have women make up at least 40% of their boards. Our political

editor Brian Taylor reports from Aberdeen.

SNP delegates don't need convincing to vote yes but people outside the

conference hall do and women seem notably reluctant. Alex Salmond

announced two women will join his Cabinet. He said company boards

should be 40% female as a minimum and applied that rule to Government.

If these outstanding ministers in the Cabinet we will practise what we

preach. The cabinet is our board as a country and women will make up 40%

of the members of the Scottish Cabinet. MrSalmond also stressed his

offer to enhance child care under independence. He said his wider

pitch was inclusive, a vote for independence was not a vote for the

SNP, it might lead it a Scottish Labour Government but again

appealing to Labour voters he said one scenario was ruled out. The era

of Tory governments unelected by the people of Scotland handing out

punishment to the poor and the disabled, these days will be gone

and gone for good. The conference closed in customary

fashion. Delegates now face an unprecedented challenge, to win the

independence referendum. Meanwhile, supporters of the Union

say there was nothing new in the First Minister's conference address.

And that it was more of the same from a party who seem reluctant to

answer the big questions over what independence would truly mean for

Scotland. A Scottish businessman has died from

catastrophic injuries after a skiing accident in the French Alps. Its

understood that Jeremy Salvesen, who was 51 and from Elie in Fife, fell

and hit his head on a rock on Thursday.

A public protest has been held in Inverness following the deaths of 19

birds of prey in Ross-shire. Tests have confirmed the majority of them

had been poisoned. Our reporter Jackie O'Brien was there.

People of all ages and from all walks of life gathered in the

Highland capital today to share their disgust at the poisoning of

the much-loved birds of prey. This is murder, pure and simple, whether

it's a bird or a human being, this is murder. Someone out there is

shielding whoever is doing this. Where I live I see the kites on a

daily basis and I miss them. There's been huge public revulsion at this

incident... The protesters carried bird-shaped placards, and a crime

scene was depicted on the streets to highlight the growing threat to the

area's wildlife. We have to see the police and ure procurate service

take this seriously. We have to see potential changes in the law to

ensure that this cannot continue. Tests have confirmed that 12 of the

dead birds found were poisoned and earlier this week police searched

local farms for clues. A reward is still being offered for information

that could bring an end to the single worst persecution of a

NSPCCsy the RSPB -- of a species the RSPB have seen in Scotland.

Dundee United have gone through to the Scottish Cup final. They

defeated Rangers 3-1 in today's semi-final at Ibrox. United went

two-up in the first half with a deflected shot by Gary

Mackay-Steven. Steven Smith's free kick reduced Rangers' deficit before

half-time. But a mistake by Rangers' keeper Steve Simonsen allowed Nadir

Chifchi to make the tie safe. Time for the weather outlook.

It's been a windy day today and that continues. The north and west are

suffering the most with the wind. Gusts of up to 60mph there. Windy

elsewhere. Showers feeding through from the west tonight, as well. We

have temperatures down to about five or six. Come the morning the showers

start to merge into longer spells of rain, heavy at times in the north

and west. And spread outwards through the day. More protected in

the east, that's where the best of any sunshine will be where there are

more breaks in the cloud. You are still likely to see one or two

showers. Still windy, as well. To the south more cloud so less

sunshine and the showers join you later. Temperatures reaching 11 or

12 to the east and the south. We have slightly cooler conditions

elsewhere. Monday we have got high pressure building so things settle

down somewhat. Our next bulletin is tomorrow

afternoon. Until then, have a good night, bye.

We start with a look at the latest satellite sequence, because it shows

what has been going on over the last few hours. This band of cloud has

been slipping south across England and Wales. A bit of patchy rain to

come