AN ARMY major who gave an illegal order to punish Iraqi looters destroyed his records two weeks before three of his men were to be court-martialled for allegedly abusing the prisoners, it was claimed yesterday.

A BRITON died and five others were missing yesterday after a speedboat packed with tourists capsized off the coast of Thailand.

A MAN who was left behind by a bus as he kissed his girlfriend goodbye was crushed to death as he chased the vehicle, begging the driver to stop, a jury heard yesterday.

THE Child Support Agency (CSA) should be shut down if it cannot overcome its failures in a matter of weeks, according to an influential committee of MPs.

THE football pundit Rodney Marsh was sacked by Sky Sports yesterday after making an "inexcusable" joke about the Asian tsunami disaster.

THE Ministry of Defence was embroiled in a new row last night over the merger of Scotland's infantry regiments after appearing to blame defenders of the regimental system for falling army recruitment.

ANDREA Levy made literary history last night when she won the prestigious Whitbread Book of the Year Award for her novel Small Island.

TEAMS of suicide bombers are heading from Baghdad to pick off soft targets in the British-controlled south of Iraq in the run-up to the country's elections, British forces believe.

THE last four Britons held without trial in the United States prison camp at Guantanamo Bay flew home yesterday, a move that civil rights groups said raises the pressure on the UK government to release terror suspects jailed arbitrarily in

KATE Winslet and Imelda Staunton led the British nominations at this year's Academy Awards, with both featuring on a star-studded shortlist for best actress.

ALEX Salmond launched the SNP's election campaign yesterday, but was keen to play down the chances of a dramatic breakthrough.

COUNCILLORS in the Highlands have criticised the Executive for having no cohesive plan for wind or hydro power, leaving rural Scotland to work out the issues surrounding such developments without support.

ANALYSISTHE forthcoming Westminster general election poses a major problem for all the political parties in Scotland, though perhaps most of all for the SNP.

COUNCIL tax bills in Scotland have shot up by almost 30 per cent in the last five years, according to figures published by the Executive yesterday.

COUNCIL tax bills are rising faster than wages, faster than pensions and much faster than inflation. So what is going on and who is responsible?