Scotland on Sunday back issues from March 2009:
Briefs: United States
Mar 01, 2009 ... A MAN has been arrested for allegedly sending President Obamaenvelopes containing HIV-infected blood. In the weeks leading up to the president's inauguration inJanuary, Saad Hussein, an Ethiopian refugee living in Chicago, sentan envelope addressed to Obama to the offices of the ...
Ashley Davies
Mar 01, 2009; ... My heart breaks a bit every time I go home these days - and notjust because the cushions I made now look like sand bags from anunsuccessful military campaign. It's because, pinned on every dooron our street is a poster alerting us about a missing cat. Nevermind that the world economy is ...
Marine experts warn over wave of invaders
Mar 01, 2009; ... THEY have exotic names and live far away, but a new wave of alieninvaders are coming to a shoreline near you. Slipper limpets, Chinese mitten crabs, colonial tunicate andPacific oysters may not have arrived in Scotland yet. But experts atScottish Natural Heritage expect them all ...
Stoane gets go-ahead to build first kit home
Mar 01, 2009; ... A SCOTTISH architect has been granted planning permission tobuild the first prototype of his affordable Anabo kit home at a siteon Edinburgh University's King's Buildings campus. Scotland on Sunday revealed last year that Andrew Stoane plannedto design houses that could be bought ...
Scotland faces hard choices as we head for the big squeeze
Mar 01, 2009; ... Holyrood can expect vicious infighting as departments resistscaled-back budgets amid public spending cuts OFFER thanks and lay a wreath for Scotland's public spendingpeak, 2009-10. For it marks a summit to which we are unlikely toreturn for the foreseeable future. Indeed, Scotland ...
Briefs: Support for SFT
Mar 01, 2009 ... CBI Scotland is offering "conditional" support for the ScottishGovernment's Scottish Futures Trust. The SFT is a successor to the private finance initiative but ...
Briefs: Bag site launch
Mar 01, 2009 ... A GLASGOW entrepreneur has launched a website to allow fashionconscious women to upgrade their ageing handbags. Bagnificent.co.uk, set up by Gerry Campbell, offers women ...
SNP booze blitz steams ahead
Mar 01, 2009; ... Alcohol crackdown could start in six months MINISTERS are to press ahead with a crackdown on sales of cheapalcohol in a move that could be fast-tracked through Parliament inas little as six months, Scotland on Sunday can reveal. In the biggest shake-up of alcohol laws for ...
Briefs: Bright outlook
Mar 01, 2009 ... EUROPEAN entrepreneurs are "relatively optimistic" about businessopportunities, despite the recession. A survey of almost 200 entrepreneurs by Ernst and Young revealed80 ...
Salmond shows US tartanised Scotland
Mar 01, 2009; ... TENS of millions of Americans last night tuned in to AlexSalmond's latest attempt to sell Scotland's Homecoming campaign andwitnessed a tartan extravaganza that would embarrass even the mostshameless shortbread tin. The first US broadcast of Salmond's Homecoming advert, ...
Show us the 'secret dossier' on HBOS takeover, demands Cable
Mar 01, 2009; ... THE Liberal Democrat deputy leader Vince Cable is demanding therelease of a "secret dossier" which the Government used to help pushthrough the controversial Lloyds TSB takeover of HBOS. The confidential Treasury document was submitted in evidenceduring the legal challenge against ...
Stimulus spending is helping economy, says China's premier
Mar 01, 2009; ... CHINA'S stimulus spending has started to nudge the economy in theright direction but the global financial crisis could still take aturn for the worse, Premier Wen Jiabao said yesterday. Wen's message followed comments over the past week by Chineseofficials that suggested the ...
Interview: Colin Matthews: Turbulent times for UK airports
Mar 01, 2009; ... BAA's losses have trebled but its undaunted chief is ploughingahead with investment, finds Terry Murden IT WAS not the best of times for the automated lift at TerminalFive to begin having a mind of its own. The next stop wasdepartures, said the silky-voiced recording. Except we had ...
Cut remortgaging costs
Mar 01, 2009; ... Do your sums to ensure that conveyancing fees are kept to aminimum, says Teresa Hunter HOMEBUYERS have welcomed the news that Northern Rock is to beginlending again, in the hope that renewed competition will breathe atleast a little life back into the property market. There ...
Quarter of water coolers contaminated
Mar 01, 2009; ... IT IS the conversation you do not want to have around the watercooler. One in four of the drink-dispensing machines that havebecome a workplace staple are contaminated by potentially harmfullevels of bacteria. Consumer Focus Scotland (CFS) says poorly maintained watercoolers may ...
Drumlanrig
Mar 01, 2009 ... A FRIEND INDEED FOR FRED There aren't many people prepared to defend Sir Fred Goodwin. Butbizarrely, he finds some sympathy in the blog of arch-leftie and ex-Scottish Labour campaigner Alan Smart. A well-known figure withinScotland's political village, Smart reveals this week that ...
DNA proves writer also has Roots in Scotland
Mar 01, 2009; ... AN AMERICAN author who wrote a landmark work about his slaveancestry has had his family traced back to 17th-century Scotland,thanks to DNA testing. Writer Alex Haley, below, claimed he could trace his family backto the white owner of an Alabama slave plantation, but he had ...
Act fast to avoid being an April fool
Mar 01, 2009; ... Make the most of allowances while you can, says Teresa Hunter MARCH may be the month of mad hares, but the looming tax deadlineis enough to drive the rest of us crazy. Fail to use allowances andreliefs before April 5 and they are lost for ever. We show you how to keep calm ...
Aim suffering from oil and gas drought
Mar 01, 2009; ... Entire market affected by massive slowdown in capital raising FOR the first time in five years no new oil and gas companieshave listed on the Alternative Investment Market (Aim) in aquarterly period, highlighting distress in the sector that reflectsa worldwide slowdown in ...
Jackson set for mission to Falklands
Mar 01, 2009; ... BRYAN Jackson, who handled the collapse of Motherwell FootballClub, has seen a lot of distressed companies in his years as aninsolvency practitioner. Now he's about to take on an assignment onthe other side of the world. He will be flying to the south Atlantic this week to handle ...
Sir Fred Goodwin's millions
Mar 01, 2009; ... For all the howls of indignation, what are the chances of theGovernment clawing back a single penny of the former RBS chief's GBP693,000-a-year pension? Not good, say Terry Murden and Teresa Hunter SIR Philip Hampton leaned forward into the microphone andinterrupted the flow of ...
Final Statement: No amount of hand-wringing can squeeze Goodwin
Mar 01, 2009; ... WHAT do former Royal Bank of Scotland boss Sir Fred Goodwin andMillwall Football Club have in common? That's right, they share acommon theme tune, "No one likes us and we don't care." My inbox took a battering last week as readers protestedprofusely at Goodwin's pension for life ...
Slump in profits will force Grade to sell assets and cut further jobs at ITV
Mar 01, 2009; ... FURTHER jobs look set to go at ITV when chairman Michael Gradethis week unveils a hefty cost-cutting strategy amid a 26 per centdive in annual profits. The City is bracing itself for a "savage" and wide-rangingturnaround plan, also potentially including a dividend ...
Sainsbury's brings in the headhunters to shop for new chairman
Mar 01, 2009; ... SAINSBURY'S has hired headhunters to find a replacement chairmanfor Sir Philip Hampton, which may hasten his planned departure. He says he wants to focus on his new role at Royal Bank ofScotland. "It would not be right for me to do both jobs," he saidafter presenting the bank's ...
Bairns and Hibs bore fans to tears
Mar 01, 2009; ... Hibernian 0 Falkirk 0 IN MIDWEEK, Kimberley Swann, a 16-year-old Essex girl, hit theheadlines when she was sacked for saying on the Facebook websitethat her job was 'boring'. So care must be taken with the statement that there are timeswhen a sportswriter's job is so full of ...
Don't adjust your set as TV talks fail to make the grade
Mar 01, 2009; ... Are merger proposals with rivals a smokescreen for ITV's dismalperformance, asks Nathalie Thomas AS CHANNEL 4 chairman Luke Johnson settled at his desk andflicked through the afternoon's headlines on the internet lastWednesday lunchtime, he could barely believe his eyes ....
Nippy Sweetie: 'Forget the intricacies of the offside trap, what setting should your iron be on?'
Mar 01, 2009; ... PICTURE the scene ... your beloved heads off to the pub of aSunday afternoon to watch the footie. I'm sure you have a lovelymental image of him sat with his hand wrapped around a coolrefreshing pint, seat perfectly angled so that he has a clear anduninterrupted view of the screen as he ...
Murder suspect's DNA 'on bra'
Mar 01, 2009; ... A BLOODIED bra clasp belonging to murdered British studentMeredith Kercher had the DNA of suspect Raffaele Sollecito on it, acourt in Italy heard yesterday. However, mistakes in handling the crime scene mean the clasp wasnot removed until six weeks after her violent death, leading ...
Leader: Drink and disorderly
Mar 01, 2009 ... THE model for the SNP's anti-drink crusade was the anti-smokinglegislation introduced by Alex Salmond's predecessor as FirstMinister, Jack McConnell. Enormously controversial when firstmooted, the ban on smoking in public places came to be seen as ahistoric step forward for Scotland, and ...
Lloyds is GBP 10bn down but not out
Mar 01, 2009; ... The bank's huge losses are due to its HBOS deal, but RosemaryGallagher finds no regrets in the boardroom over its acquisition ERIC Daniels, otherwise known as the "quiet American", maintainedhis usual calm demeanour as he and the other board members of LloydsBanking Group assembled ...
Market Watch: Balfour Beatty builds some cheer into battered market
Mar 01, 2009; ... RECORD-BREAKING losses in the banking sector undermined marketconfidence and saw the FTSE hurtle deeper below the 4,000 mark. The FTSE closed down 59 points at 3830.1 after Royal Bank ofScotland reported a breathtaking GBP 24.1bn loss for 2008 - thelargest in UK corporate history ....
Lifeline for Vauxhall in GM spin-off plan
Mar 01, 2009; ... VAUXHALL, the car manufacturer, appears to have been saved byplans announced by General Motors to spin it off with its Germanaffiliate Opel. The move has been announced alongside GM's plea for E3.3bn (GBP2.9bn) in state aid to avert job cuts and site closures. Following ...
Pope formally invited to come to Scotland
Mar 01, 2009 ... THE prospect of Scotland's first papal visit in almost 30 yearsedged closer last night when it was revealed that the ScottishSecretary Jim Murphy has extended a formal invitation to thePontiff. Murphy has also invited Barack Obama north of the border when hevisits the UK for the ...
Australia bank group eyes GBP 2bn RBS Asian deal
Mar 01, 2009; ... ROYAL Bank of Scotland's Asian business is attracting attentionfrom the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group. It is understood the fourth-largest Australian bank is preparingto bid GBP 2bn to buy the assets, which would include RBS's HongKong and mainland businesses ....
Barfly
Mar 01, 2009 ... Nationalists noted by their absence ALEX Salmond, the first minister, was beaming with delight lastweek after pulling off what was seen as a diplomatic coup by meetingHillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, during a two-day visitto the American capital. His aides ...
Campaign aims to give new Sick Kids hospital GBP 15m cash injection
Mar 01, 2009; ... A MAJOR fundraising campaign was launched last night to raise GBP15m towards a new Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh. The pyjamas campaign aims to raise funds for equipment andservices for the new hospital, planned for 2012. The Sick Kids willbe a purpose-built modern ...
'Going to the toilet involves a trip to the nearest piece of waste land'
Mar 01, 2009; ... A young boy locked in a latrine by his mischievous brother toprevent him getting the autograph of a Bollywood star he has alwaysidolised takes the only exit route - down into a pit of human wastebelow. In Slumdog Millionaire, Jamal, the eventual star of the film,emerges covered ...
Slumdog opens world's eyes to Mumbai's battle with blindness
Mar 01, 2009; ... Sightsavers' dollars 1m project to bring gift of vision to urbanpoor of India THEY have charmed the world with their exploits on the big screenwhile throwing light on the squalid conditions which they have toendure. The Danny Boyle film, Slumdog Millionaire, starring British ...
Vanity Fare: Eye right
Mar 01, 2009; ... Sensitive peepers? Allergy-tested make-up will see you sorted 1 Luscious lashes Sensitive Eyes mascara ***** GBP 10.28, No7, atBoots 2 Bargain beauty Fabulous eye-shadow **** GBP 1.79, MissSporty (www.miss-sporty.co.uk) 3 Smudge 'n' go Lid & Line *** GBP18, Pixi (www.pixibeauty.com ...
Don't gloss over the cracks
Mar 01, 2009; ... TALK about putting the cart before the horse. In front of me area selection of paint tester pots. Will it be 'Muddy Boots','Treehouse' or 'Wool Blanket' that ends up adorning the walls of mylounge? This selection comes from the earthBorn Eco Chic range, acollection that sends out a siren ...
Park feeds wolves 'recycled' squirrels
Mar 01, 2009; ... IT'S A brush with death that has provoked both howls of approvaland protest. Grey squirrels are being literally thrown to the wolvesat a Scottish wildlife centre. Camperdown Park in Dundee has stepped up its cull of theaggressive rodents in a bid to secure the future of their ...
The Prompt
Mar 01, 2009; ... The most imagination Dundee's welcome sign to those arriving froma northerly direction used to stretch to was to proclaim that youwere now entering a nuclear-free city. It was a kind of 'at leastwe're nae nuclear' defensiveness that spoke volumes of the drearyapproach the city's fathers ...
Our Writers' Week
Mar 01, 2009 ... Fiona Leith Arts Editor It was a week of Hollywood schmaltz, stretching from the Oscarsto Benjamin Button. Was I the only person who enjoyed Hugh Jackman'shosting of the Academy Awards? It would appear so. The awarding ofthe Best Actor and Actress by the nominees' peers was a ...
The name game
Mar 01, 2009; ... As RBS reins in its sporting sponsorship, Aegon is spendingmillions on tennis to raise its profile. Terry Murden looks at thelatest battle IT IS an indication of the mixed fortunes of the financial sectorthat as one company pulls the plug on big sponsorship deals, anotheris about ...
Nurses attack muddled plan for superbugs
Mar 01, 2009; ... Staff leader warns of uncoordinated approach HOSPITAL workers are struggling to win the war against superbugsbecause of sporadic and uncoordinated Government initiatives and a"political agenda", the leader of Scotland's nurses warned lastnight. Theresa Fyffe, director of the ...
Business Comment: Right said Fred, Eric and Stephen, but does anyone believe them?
Mar 01, 2009; ... SO what happens next? Sir Fred stands in for Noel Edmonds on DealOr No Deal and Eric Daniels is cast as a contestant in Call MyBluff. You think I'm joking? Well, you could hardly make up thestoryline about our banks and it just gets more intriguing. Lloyds boss Daniels failed to ...
Top Trader 2009: Are you ready to beat the market?
Mar 01, 2009; ... ARE you our top trader? Then prove it. We will give you GBP 2,000of "virtual" money to invest online with spread betting firm CMCMarkets. This gives you the chance to win a cash prize of GBP 1,000 -in real money - and be crowned Scotland on Sunday's Top Trader 2009.But time is running ...
Council confident tram works will be back on track this week
Mar 01, 2009; ... TRAM works could finally get under way on Edinburgh's PrincesStreet this week, despite continuing arguments between contractorsand the city council. After a week of closures on the iconic shopping street, workerscould pick up tools and begin laying track in the city centre ...
The week unzipped: Banks suffer blow over charges
Mar 01, 2009 ... BANK customers with outstanding claims over unfair charges came astep closer to getting their money back when four High Court judgesdecided the Office of Fair Trading could rule whether penaltycharges were unlawful. The banks had claimed that their overdraft charges were ...
Mallya says Diageo will face rivals over United
Mar 01, 2009; ... INDIAN drinks magnate Vijay Mallya, who owns Whyte & Mackay inScotland, has insisted Diageo faces competition from other suitorsfor a stake in his United Spirits Group. Rumours have circulated that a deal with Diageo for as much as14.9 per cent could be signed by this weekend ...
Nick Drainey's world view: Incendiary bill puts flambe on menu
Mar 01, 2009; ... CYPRUS Disgruntled diners at a taverna in Cyprus opened fire with ashotgun and doused the room in petrol, threatening to torch it aftera dispute with the owner over the bill. Three men had quarrelled over a E93 (GBP 82) charge for drinksand food at the restaurant in Mesana ...
BoE prepares for 'step into the unknown'
Mar 01, 2009; ... Monetary Policy Committee expected to start printing cashimmediately in bid to ease crunch THE Bank of England is expected to print money for the first timein its history this week in its latest bid to ease recessionarypressures. Economists say the Monetary Policy Committee ...
HSBC poised for a GBP 12bn rights issue
Mar 01, 2009; ... Dividend also set to be slashed as tough economic climate beginsto bite at UK bank HSBC will seek to boost its cash reserves tomorrow through arecord-breaking rights issue of more than GBP 12bn and a sizeablecut to its dividend, according to banking analysts. Although HSBC's ...
Health records of Brown and Salmond 'hacked'
Mar 01, 2009; ... THE health records of Gordon Brown and Alex Salmond wereallegedly hacked into, a newspaper claimed last night. The Prime Minister and First Minister are among several high-profile Scots whose confidential files were allegedly accessedwithout their permission, according to the ...
Grand National hopeful Cloudy Lane suffers hiccup with Kelso crash
Mar 01, 2009 ... CLOUDY Lane's Grand National preparations were hampered as hecrashed out at the first fence in the totesport.com Premier Chase atKelso to gift Money Trix an easy success. Noel Fehily was aboard the 2-1 shot and he did not have to worktoo hard to make his first ride for trainer ...
Minimal show, maximum effect
Mar 01, 2009; ... HAYLEY TOMPKINS, AUTOBUILDING Inverleith House, Edinburgh BACK IN 2004, when Hayley Tompkins was nominated for the Beck'sFutures Prize, London's ICA gallery did her what might have been adisservice. They put her - like the proverbial mad woman - in theattic. I remember clearly ...
The Browser
Mar 01, 2009 ... Klein's 50K and a thriving controversy One of Britain's newest, sassiest and richest literary prizes -The Warwick Prize, with a cross-disciplinary, multi-media edge and aGBP 50,000 top award - has been awarded to Naomi Klein, right, forher book The Shock Doctrine: The Rise Of ...
Film Reviews
Mar 01, 2009; ... FLAME AND CITRON (15) *** Danish Second World War drama about two fighters in the HolgerDanske resistance group. While the local people hope for a swift endto the war, two men codenamed Flame and Citron secretly risk theirlives fighting in the underground movement. They are ...
The Cruellest Cut
Mar 01, 2009; ... IT HAS been 15 years since Jennifer Lynch made a film. BoxingHelena was her first, written at the age of 19 and directed at 23.Many, Lynch included, thought it would be her last. "It washideous," she tells me of the vitriol that followed which led to herdisappearing for 15 years ....
Book Review: Making An Elephant: Great white elephant
Mar 01, 2009; ... MAKING AN ELEPHANT: WRITING FROM WITHIN Graham Swift Picador, GBP 18.99 AT THE opening of this new book, Booker Prize-winning novelistGraham Swift reiterates his impersonal manifesto: "In my fiction Iavoid the autobiographical and don't base my work on my own ...
On The Box
Mar 01, 2009; ... MARGARET BBC2 Thursday, 9pm LAW & ORDER: UK ITV1 Monday, 9pm LOVE, LIFE, DEATH IN A DAY Channel 4 Thursday, 9pm TORIES, Tories, everywhere. And in Margaret almost all of themwere running. Not just running the country but very ...
Film Review: The Young Victoria: Teen queen's search for a prince
Mar 01, 2009; ... THE YOUNG VICTORIA (PG) *** Director: Jean-Marc Vallee Running time: 104 minutes YOUNG Victoria is a pleasant film with two attractive leads - andif you think this sounds like a rather restful evening at thecinema, that's because Young Victoria is like watching a ...
Sweet quiff of success
Mar 01, 2009; ... VV BROWN slinks into the lobby of a Glasgow hotel, a 6ft high-rise in a Monster Munch T-shirt, enormous genie trousers, brownloafers and a hairstyle that is somewhere between a Fifties roll,flat top, quiff and a pork sausage. And this is just her tour busoutfit. "I can do it in ...
Film Of The Week: Watchmen
Mar 01, 2009; ... WATCHMEN (18) *** Director: Zack Snyder Running time: 163 minutes THE Roman poet Juvenal centuries ago asked: "Who watches thewatchmen?" It was his way of asking who controls those in authority,but some may find it hard to tear their eyes away from Dr Manhattan,the ...
Book Review: Two Miles to Tynecastle
Mar 01, 2009; ... Two Miles to Tynecastle by Andrew-Henry Bowie *** Apex Publishing GBP 9.99 THE premise of this book is simple enough; the autobiography ofan ordinary Hearts fan who grew up, as the title suggests, close tothe ground. Its simplicity is its strength, and Bowie tells his ...