Scotland on Sunday back issues from February 2007:
BP braced for fall as Browne steps down
Feb 04, 2007; ... LORD Browne is expected to reveal a sharp fall in fourth quarterprofits at BP when he delivers his final set of full-year results aschief executive of the energy giant this week. The group is expected to say fourth-quarter earnings fell fromdollars 5.1bn (GBP 2.59bn) in the three ...
Magnier urged to increase offer for food firm Devro
Feb 04, 2007; ... IRISH horseracing tycoon John Magnier may have to pay as much as170p a share to get control of Scottish food casings group Devro,analysts believe. The Moodiesburn group revealed on Monday that it had received a150p a share "preliminary approach which may or may not lead to ...
Watt demands think tank on energy crisis
Feb 04, 2007; ... A SCOTTISH business leader is demanding the creation of an energycommission to cut through the political dogma that he says isfrustrating debate on developing a national fuel strategy. David Watt, director of the Institute of Directors Scotland, saidenergy production, supply and ...
Maclay poised to cross Quartermile threshold
Feb 04, 2007; ... LAW firm Maclay Murray & Spens is poised to become one of thefirst tenants to take space in Edinburgh's GBP 350m Quartermilescheme, the former Royal Infirmary site. Property sources say Maclay is close to signing a deal to occupy50,000 sq ft in an office building currently under ...
Gorilla warfare
Feb 04, 2007; ... AS A celebrated risk-taker, it is likely that Sir Richard Bransonwill spend this weekend relishing the prospect of renewinghostilities with one of the world's most powerful men. This week, theVirgin Group founder will launch Virgin Media - a business thatbrings the cable operators NTL ...
Sainsbury's predators help lift rival retail groups
Feb 04, 2007; ... THE FTSE 100 stormed higher on Friday amid expectations thatSainsbury's could fall prey to a consortium of private equity groups.The blue chip index ended 28.7 points higher at 6310.9, putting itback within touching distance of the six-year high recorded lastmonth. Sainsbury's ...
Interview: Crawford Beveridge: Putting trust in a nation of integrity
Feb 04, 2007; ... CRAWFORD Beveridge spends so much time on an aeroplane he mustwonder at times what country he is in. As vice-president of thecomputer giant Sun Microsystems, his main office is in Santa Clara,California, but he has government contacts to meet in Europe, theMiddle East and Africa. For ...
Columba beats Baileys to be cream of Waitrose
Feb 04, 2007; ... COLUMBA Cream, the recently launched liqueur that aims to becomeScotland's answer to Baileys, has taken a giant stride towards thatgoal by outselling its rival in Waitrose's Scottish stores. Figures released from the Perthshire-based company show that thebrand was the ...
Globalscot conference worth up to GBP 8m
Feb 04, 2007; ... THE Globalscot conference and dinner that attracted 170 expatriateScots business leaders has injected up to GBP 8m into the economy. Scottish Enterprise says the two-day conference at EdinburghInternational Conference Centre secured more than 800 links betweenScottish companies ...
Two top directors quit Whyte & Mackay as Indian takeover talks drag on
Feb 04, 2007; ... CONFUSION surrounded the protracted takeover bid for whisky firmWhyte & Mackay last night as it emerged that two senior directorshave left the company amid speculation in India that Vijay Mallyacould walk away from the deal. Richard Hayes, international marketing director, and ...
Profile: Silvio Berlusconi: I The Cringing Cavalier
Feb 04, 2007; ... HE IS the great survivor of Italian public life, a septuagenarianwho has endured a bout of cancer, defeat at the polls, sportingdisgrace, political and personal scandals ad nauseam, not to mentionyears of close attention from his country's legal authorities. Buteven Silvio Berlusconi, ...
Bears given sore heads as US economy grows
Feb 04, 2007; ... IN ONE week, America's economy looks to have turned a trickycorner. There is better than expected 3.5 per cent growth and betterthan expected figures on the housing market. Friday brought passablefigures on employment. And from the Federal Reserve came a pegging ofrates at 5.25 per cent ...
From Asia to East Anglia: how a global killer reached our shores
Feb 04, 2007; ... THE open skies of East Anglia are a long way removed from thesteamy tropical air of south east Asia. Yesterday, however, thedeadly flu virus which first emerged thousands of miles away to theeast found its way to British shores. In the sprawling village of Holton, situated in the ...
Mass cull as bird flu hits Britain
Feb 04, 2007; ... THE first case of the deadly flu virus H5N1 in a flock of Britishbirds was confirmed yesterday, prompting renewed fears that it isonly a matter of time before the strain mutates to pass from human tohuman. The task of culling more than 150,000 turkeys at the affected farmin ...
Letters to the Business: Independence would make life less taxing for Scottish business
Feb 04, 2007; ... I AM writing in response to Bill Jamieson's article on RogerBootle's reported comments on the economics of Scottish independence('Fate of independence tops question time', January 28). To Roger's credit he proclaims himself to be a Unionist, and henceI read much of his comment as ...
Why the Glencoe massacre holds a timely lesson for Blair
Feb 04, 2007; ... SMALL massacre, not many dead. That might have been the headlinein February 1692 as news filtered south about a minor military actionin the Highlands of Scotland. A party of government troops had takenon a band of rebel clansmen in a place called Glencoe, and left 38dead. In terms of ...
Buy-out deals to break through GBP 30bn barrier
Feb 04, 2007; ... MANAGEMENT buy-outs are expected to burst through GBP 30bn thisyear as the appetite among funding institutions shows little sign ofreceding. The number of deals rose from 162 in 2005 to 185 last year worthGBP 29.3bn, against GBP 24.91bn in the previous year. The market was ...
Bentley's strong silent type
Feb 04, 2007; ... ETTORE Bugatti once dismissed arch rivals Bentleys as lorries,which could mean that the lorry driver who gestured to me on the M6near Knutsford last week is a keen Bentley fan. Either that or hisfinger pointing skywards was indicating it might be an idea to raisethe top, lest it start to ...
Three Blair allies set to face charges over cash for honours
Feb 04, 2007; ... DETECTIVES investigating the cash for honours affair now believethey may have enough evidence to press charges against three seniorfigures close to Tony Blair. The Metropolitan Police team expects to submit its full report toprosecutors within a month and it is likely to recommend ...
Three Blair allies set to face charges over cash for honours
Feb 04, 2007; ... DETECTIVES investigating the cash for honours affair now believethey may have enough evidence to press charges against three seniorfigures close to Tony Blair. The Metropolitan Police team expects to submit its full report toprosecutors within a month and it is likely to recommend ...
Praying for deliverance 'He should have gone some time ago. I think the longer this goes on the worse it is for everyone, including Tony Blair'
Feb 04, 2007; ... TO HIS biggest fans, the coterie of loyal aides who surround him,it was another stunning display of grace under pressure; to hiscritics, their ranks now swollen to apparent bursting point, itshowed yet again how sneaky and downright two-faced Tony Blair couldbe. When the Prime ...
Don't get blood on your hands
Feb 04, 2007; ... VALENTINE'S Day is approaching, but Hollywood blockbuster BloodDiamond may rub the shine off dreams of receiving a sparkling rock.There is nothing romantic about the suffering of thousands ofinnocents caught up in bloody civil wars to control this lucrativetrade, as portrayed in the ...
Health chiefs accused of blocking new therapy for heroin addicts
Feb 04, 2007; ... HEALTH chiefs are blocking a revolutionary treatment for heroinaddicts because of their "obsession" with the replacement drugmethadone, experts claimed last night. Scotland on Sunday can reveal that officials are refusing to offerthe treatment, known as neuro-electric therapy ...
Holders fall to last-gasp goal
Feb 04, 2007; ... DUNFERMLINE 1: Wilson 90 HEARTS 0 NOTHING seems built to last at Hearts. A title-challenging,Scottish Cup winning side has been dismantled inside a season andyesterday the Tynecastle club's defence of the trophy was brought toa fourth-round end in a fashion that demonstrated ...
Wilkinson is hammer of the Scots
Feb 04, 2007; ... ENGLAND 42 SCOTLAND 20 THE Scots travelled to West London with high hopes of a rare winbut once again the tartan hordes beat a hasty retreat fromTwickenham. England survived some early jitters and a determinedopposition to run out easy enough winners with more or less ...
Final Statement: Mystery of why Scots are most likely to go bust in UK
Feb 04, 2007; ... SOMETIMES I worry that reading this column is like watching aweekly motorway pile-up. This week's car crash is the news thatbankruptcies in Scotland are at their highest levels ever, but wehave discovered it is worse than you think. A third more people are already going bust north ...
Valderrama and Pebble Beach just a short drive for Scotland's virtual golfers
Feb 04, 2007; ... AT LEAST it's not a good walk spoiled. Scotland's first indoorgolf centre will open later this year after a GBP 1m investment. The Clubhouse will allow groups of golfers to play the bestcourses in the world - without stepping outside - on six full-screensimulators. Players ...
Go green for GBP 100 council tax discount
Feb 04, 2007; ... HOMEOWNERS who recycle their rubbish and insulate their housesproperly will get council tax discounts of GBP 100 a year, JackMcConnell has vowed. The First Minister's pledge, to be contained in Labour'sforthcoming election manifesto, will form part of a Climate ChangeBill which ...
Health chiefs accused of blocking new therapy for heroin addicts: 'I believe it works because I have seen it work'
Feb 04, 2007; ... HE WAS sitting on the front steps, concentrating hard on his roll-up and not on the electrodes positioned behind his ears. Ronald McLelland had had his last fix of heroin earlier that dayand was feeling understandably nervous about his new role as medicalguinea-pig in the trial of ...
Supersub Benji on song for Hibs
Feb 04, 2007; ... HIBERNIAN 3: Jones 27, Fleming 53og, Benjelloun 59 GRETNA 1:Berkeley 80 WITH Ivan Sproule a regular starter these days, Hibs needed a newsuper-sub. They have found him in the shape of Abdessalam Benjelloun.The Moroccan has now scored six in seven games and, with 11 goals, heis ...
Cash for honours: what happens next?
Feb 04, 2007; ... BLAIR IS CHARGED Being the first serving British Prime Minister to be questioned bypolice over an active inquiry has been difficult enough for TonyBlair; being charged would be intolerable. If the police decided topress charges against him, for alleged breaches of the 1925 ...
Labour told: don't mention the war
Feb 04, 2007; ... SCOTS Labour Party members have been banned from discussing theIraq war, the future of Britain's nuclear arsenal or any other "non-Scottish" issues in the run-up to the Holyrood elections. A letter from Lesley Quinn, the general secretary of the ScottishLabour Party, was issued to ...
Leader: Green challenge starts at home
Feb 04, 2007; ... LAST week's UN-sponsored report from the Intergovernmental Panelon Climate Change (IPCC) made sobering reading. Its prediction of a3C rise in global temperature by 2100 sent alarm bells ringing aroundthe world. They clearly rang in the office of First Minister JackMcConnell, who has got ...
Lloyds TSB queries role of Scottish board
Feb 04, 2007; ... LLOYDS TSB Scotland chief executive Susan Rice is at the centre ofa whispering campaign over the future of the Edinburgh-basedoperation, according to sources. Scotland on Sunday has been told that the bank's London headoffice has been asking why it maintains a GBP 276,000-a-year ...
Salmond gambles on Bute House or bust
Feb 04, 2007; ... APUZZLE lies at the centre of Alex Salmond's bid to return to theScottish Parliament. What on earth is he doing in Gordon? The quietLiberal Democrat seat in the north-east is where Salmond has decidedto stand as the SNP candidate for Holyrood. The question is - why?Nearby, the eminently ...
McLeish needs balance to avoid being a fall guy
Feb 04, 2007; ... IN THE foreword to Alex McLeish's 1988 autobiography, thenScotland manager Andy Roxburgh stated that "God will judge us not byour material gains but by our battle scars" and that the "patriot" ofan Aberdeen defender "has fought many battles; most of themsuccessful, all of them ...
Premiership could be the way forward for Killie's answer to Jermaine Defoe
Feb 04, 2007; ... SIMON FORD grew up playing football with England internationalJermaine Defoe and he insists that Kilmarnock team-mate StevenNaismith is just as talented. Praising the player whose midweek hat-trick took the Rugby Parkside into the CIS Cup final, he is delighted the transfer ...
Scotland's future is on Firm ground
Feb 04, 2007; ... THERE was nothing remarkable about Scotland's actual 2-1 victoryover Northern Ireland at Hampden Park on November 16, 1966.Historians of the national team, however, have long since believedthe encounter would remain a stand-out because of the clubrepresentation in the home team. With six ...
Hartley sees silver lining in red card
Feb 04, 2007; ... WHEN Steven Pressley and Paul Hartley celebrated winning theScottish Cup with Hearts last season, few would have guessed thatcome this afternoon the pair would be so intent on repeating the featwith Celtic. But in welcoming the arrival of Hartley at Celtic Park this week,the ...
Big guns target green power pylons
Feb 04, 2007; ... IT IS destined to be one of the biggest power struggles inScottish history. An alliance of leading environmental and heritage groups has beenformed to fight plans for a GBP 320m network of electricity pylonsrunning down the spine of Scotland. The campaign is being launched ...
Title there for Burns to take
Feb 04, 2007; ... IF RICKY Burns should triumph in his British super-featherweighttitle fight against Carl 'Ingemar' Johanneson in Leeds next Friday,he will owe a great deal to the man who took away his unbeatenrecord. It was in February last year that Burns proved a surprisinglytough opponent ...
To be Frank and honest, the Scots have to make changes
Feb 04, 2007; ... IN THE aftermath, Frank Hadden spoke about the honesty gene thatruns through his team, he said that in the cold light of today ortomorrow they would sit down as a group and analyse what happenedhere at Twickenham, they would find all the fault-lines in theirperformance. They'd better ...
Market braced for Sainsbury bidding war
Feb 04, 2007; ... RIVAL private equity firms are believed to be keeping a closewatch on supermarket giant Sainsbury following last week'sspeculation of a GBP 10bn bid. CVC Capital Partners, Blackstone and Kohlberg Kravis Robertsconfirmed on Friday that they are considering an offer and ...
Hope in a soap for children with autism
Feb 04, 2007; ... IT'S a soap addict's dream come true - being prescribed a courseof EastEnders and Coronation Street by a doctor. But in research that has at last proved that soap operas have ause beyond the ability to boost national TV ratings, they have beensuccessfully deployed by doctors to ...
Back from the brink
Feb 04, 2007; ... THERE was a time in this country when Bulgarian cabernet sauvignonwas as popular as Australian shiraz is now. Back in the 1908s, whenwe looked east for our bargain-basement wines, Bulgaria and Romaniaruled the roost, dominating the GBP 2-to-GBP 3 sector with ripe,juicy wines produced ...
Best of the rest on the box
Feb 04, 2007; ... Drama Rough Diamond Today, BBC1, 10.20pm Adapted from a Dick Francis story, Rough Diamond is set in the cut-throat world of Irish horse-racing. A chance meeting forces a trainerto reconsider his decision to quit the trade. Schmaltzy, butheartwarming nonetheless ....
The high price of freedom
Feb 04, 2007; ... Jasvinder Sanghera ran away from a forced marriage at 15. Shesurvived to tell the tale, but many don't. She says it's happeninghere in Scotland right now - and wants to know what we are going todo about it FOUR months after she ran away from home at the age of 15,Jasvinder ...
Eye for the main chance
Feb 04, 2007; ... He was there when The Beatles went to number one, when RobertKennedy was shot, when the civil-rights protesters rioted. No wonder,when the Scottish Parliament wanted portraits for posterity,Glasgow's Harry Benson was the only man for the job For once, the master lensman is on the ...
Film Choices
Feb 04, 2007; ... The Long Kiss Goodnight Today, Channel 4, 10pm Geena Davis stars as a smalltown teacher who's a good mother andloving wife. She has an apparently perfect life - the only problemis, she can remember only the last eight years of it. Then one dayshe gets a bump on the head, ...
Looking to inspire
Feb 04, 2007; ... FOR a country that is often dismissed as a mere branch of theBritish economy, Scotland has produced more than its fair share ofhigh-flying entrepreneurs. From Andrew Carnegie to Sir Tom Hunter,the Scots have built a global reputation for their adaptability andingenuity. TC ...
Chitra Ramaswamy
Feb 04, 2007; ... IF MY picture below were all of a sudden to become animated youwould notice that I'm slightly bow-legged this week. That, myfriends, is because I've been horseriding. I've only had a horsebetween my legs on two other occasions, one of which involved fallingoff before I'd even got on, ...
The Price Is Right
Feb 04, 2007; ... Under GBP 4,000 Relax in style with a 28-day cruise around Australia, availablefrom Scotia Travel (0141 305 5000, www.scotiatravel.com) for GBP3,799 per person. Included in the deal are all meals, accommodationand entertainment aboard the Sun Princess, connecting flights, ...
Theroux the keyhole
Feb 04, 2007; ... WITH the announcement earlier this week that Manchester had beatenthe rest of the country to host the UK's first supercasino - agambling palace the size of a football pitch with 1,250 slot machinesand unlimited jackpots - Louis Theroux's latest film is nothing ifnot timely. After turning ...
In good company
Feb 04, 2007; ... THE capital these days boasts several distinct little pockets ofepicurean excellence. More accurately, as one owner on the receivingend of a less than satisfactory report from this writer reminded merecently, there are several pockets of restaurants that I think areexcellent ....
Supper heroes
Feb 04, 2007; ... IF THE prospect of planning midweek suppers leaves you in a stateof either panic or apathy, opt for tasty meals that are simple tomake. Here are three recipes for delicious dishes that are easy torustle up - and even easier to eat. Halloumi is the national cheese of Cyprus ....
Soap round-up
Feb 04, 2007; ... WHAT must be the worst-kept secret in Dingle Dell finally comes tolight when Andy confesses all to Katie about his relationship withJo. As always, the wife is the last to know. In this case, the lastin the country. (Emmerdale, ITV1) There are always secrets in Soapland, but some ...
Standard Life hits record high
Feb 04, 2007; ... STANDARD Life shares closed at a record 309p on Friday, a 34 percent rise on their flotation price last July. The rise is well ahead of the 210p price that some feared theshares might touch if the markets had continued falling after lastsummer's turbulence. At that price ...
Celtic scalp would be just another tale for Livingston's cosmopolitan defender
Feb 04, 2007; ... THE fact he calls it soccer rather than football hints at a careerthat reaches well beyond the confines of the British Isles. As doesthe fact that a match against Celtic this afternoon is adjudged asjust another game by Steven Tweed. The former Hibs and Dundee playermay not have been so ...
Business Comment: Bravado fuels private equity's hunger for Sainsbury
Feb 04, 2007; ... THE talk of a record-breaking private equity deal sent shares in JSainsbury soaring on Friday and had investment bankers rubbing theirhands in anticipation of lucrative fees. Nonetheless, sentimentfavoured no imminent action. Both the price and the stakes are highand some observers are ...
Italy must purge its hooliganism scourge '
Feb 04, 2007; ... 'YOU will hear about this tragedy for a long time. It is notpossible to let a man die like this, alone, without the police noranyone else to protect him." These sad words from a week ago belongto Ermanno Licursi's widow, Licursi being another victim of anescalating hooligan crisis in ...
Turf talk: Musselburgh serves up tasty fare
Feb 04, 2007; ... THERE'S a cracking day in store at Musselburgh today with thefeature race being the Scottish County Hurdle. With John Smith'ssponsorship taking the prize money to GBP 30,000, it's the richestrace of its kind to be run at the East Lothian course and is thecentrepiece of a pretty tasty ...
Popham's hungry for battle
Feb 04, 2007; ... YOU didn't need to have the brains of Carwyn James to figure outwhat Gareth Jenkins was going to do when deciding on his team to playIreland at the Millennium Stadium this afternoon. "The Irish," saidJenkins, "have a particular type of front-row." That's a euphemism.What Jenkins meant ...
You bet
Feb 04, 2007; ... St Helens simply predictable ONE of the safer betting markets is Rugby League, and I know a manwho claims to have made a comfortable living from punting onEngland's Super League where, he says, the results are often highlypredictable. Last season he bet St Helens almost to the ...
High-risk Carstairs patients win release
Feb 04, 2007; ... SEVEN high-risk patients at Carstairs mental hospital will bereleased to less secure accommodation within weeks. The patients were all judged by Scottish courts to pose a risk topublic safety but have had their security status downgraded partly asa result of European human rights ...
Dundee's designs on digital glory
Feb 04, 2007; ... HOT on the heels of being named one of the most intelligent citiesin the world, Dundee is set to be the centre of attention followingthe launch of a computer game that could help make it the digitaldesign capital of Europe. Next month Dundee-based David Jones, the man behind the ...