The Scotsman back issues from March 2001:
Depressed aristocrat killed herself
Mar 01, 2001; ... AN ARISTOCRAT who split her time between her London flat and aHighland estate, killed herself with a paracetamol overdose whilesuffering acute depression, an inquest heard yesterday. Lady Serena Bridgeman, 51, the sister of the Seventh Earl ofBradford, was found dead at her flat ...
Abbey-BoS merger bombshell
Mar 01, 2001; ... ABBEY National dramatically cut off its six-month-old mergertalks with Bank of Scotland on Wednesday, citing the "continuinguncertainty created by Lloyds TSB, which or may not be able to putan offer to Abbey shareholders later this year". The bombshell by Britain's second-biggest ...
15-year low stuns Tokyo
Mar 01, 2001 ... ASIAN stock markets were down with Tokyo shares ending slightlyoff a 15-year low. A stunning fall in Japan's industrial outputhelped knock 1.4 per cent off the Nikkei. TOKYO: Japanese investors dumped telecom and technology stocks ina nervous reaction to the 4.4 per cent drop by ...
Family support from Barnardos
Mar 01, 2001 ... FAMILIES living with HIV can receive support from the RiversideProject, run by charity Barnardos. Set up in 1994, the project provides a package of services -including advice, counselling, practical support and the arrangementof respite care. An estimated 2,497 people in ...
BAT sees pre-tax profits rise 11 per cent
Mar 01, 2001; ... SHARES in British American Tobacco jumped almost 3.5 per centyesterday as it posted an 11 per cent increase in pre-tax profits. The world's second-largest cigarette group said the increase wasdue to improved growth of top brands like Lucky Strike and Dunhilland quicker than ...
Business Comment Other doors now open for BoS
Mar 01, 2001 ... WELL, as we said here on this page yesterday: "Has the Bank ofScotland a fall-back if a merger with Abbey National is not, afterall, on offer? It would be well advised to get one". Yesterday's news that Abbey National has cut off its six-monthmerger talks with BoS cannot have come ...
So what does the future hold for BoS?
Mar 01, 2001; ... WHEN Bank of Scotland came runner-up in the two-horse race withRoyal Bank of Scotland for the prize of NatWest last year, questionswere asked whether its much-prized independence was now vulnerable. No suitors appeared. And now Abbey National has pulled out oflengthy merger talks ...
Profit rise won't stop B&B closing branches
Mar 01, 2001; ... BRADFORD & Bingley announced it would axe jobs and close branchesUK-wide as it posted a 25 per cent rise in annual profits yesterdayat its first results as a Plc. The mortgage bank, which converted from a mutual building societyand floated on the stock exchange in December, said ...
Wine, women and song stir marquess, 80
Mar 01, 2001; ... AN OCTOGENARIAN aristocrat is set to rock the Scottishestablishment with his memoirs of steamy romps with prostitutes inbrothels across the globe. The 80-year-old Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair, who lists hisrecreations in Who's Who as "wine, women and song", details ...
Time Britain stepped out on a great new venture
Mar 01, 2001 ... WHAT is wrong with Britain's venture capital industry? Why has itfailed to take off like its counterpart in the United States? How could it be dynamised to grow to three times its currentlevel, with all the sparkiness and verve that would bring across theeconomy? After all, ...
Road rage attack on woman at traffic lights
Mar 01, 2001; ... A WOMAN driver was badly beaten yesterday after being draggedfrom her car in a busy street by a pedestrian in an apparent road-rage incident. The attacker struck in broad daylight after stepping in front ofthe woman's vehicle as she was about to move away from trafficlights ....
Heartbroken Clint in a spot
Mar 01, 2001 ... AN international animal dating agency has been enlisted to help aheartbroken cheetah overcome his grief at the death of his mate. Clint met 15-year-old Jacaranda at the Glasgow Zoo a year ago andthe pair became inseparable. The 10-year-old ...
Breakthrough in search for CJD test
Mar 01, 2001; ... SCIENTISTS trying to develop an effective test for new variantCJD have made a breakthrough which could lead to the condition beingdetected in its early stages. Experts are unsure how many people arecarrying nvCJD and the only diagnostic procedure currently availablerequires tissue ...
Clipper
Mar 01, 2001 ... Computer retailers lose out to dead dot.com fire sales EVERY real dot-com had a powerful server to keep its websitehumming. Every dead dot-com has one to sell. And that is an equationthat doesn't add up to hefty growth for the companies struggling tosell new computers in a thin ...
Say hi to the new face of Dundee
Mar 01, 2001; ... DESPITE the entry of high-profile software companies such asEidos onto the stock market, computer games firms still struggle tobe taken seriously. The industry is associated with images of pale-faced, geekytwenty-somethings who make games because they are too nerdy to goout into ...
Small is beautiful - and profitable - for Murray
Mar 01, 2001 ... SECOND Skin Media is one of the next generation of Tayside gamesproducers. Founded in 1999, it employs seven staff and is devoting itsentire energies to a single project called Disasteroid. The action-adventure is already being touted as one of thegreatest games of recent ...
Simply pop-tastic
Mar 01, 2001 ... GED Grimes, 37, was one of the founding members of pop groupDanny Wilson. In the 1980s, they had a number of smash hits andsigned record deals both sides of the Atlantic. His involvement with the computer games industry started when hewas asked to compose the music for Earth Worm ...
Greenspan buoys dollar
Mar 01, 2001 ... FEDERAL Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has signalled that theFed intends to cut interest rates further, in his testimony toCongress. His remarks kept the dollar buoyed up but trading withinnarrow ranges. The dollar and the euro had already soared to two-week highsagainst the ...
Shine fades as De Beers predicts fall
Mar 01, 2001; ... DIAMOND mining giant De Beers, embroiled in a shareholdertakeover offer, forecast a 15 per cent fall in rough diamond salesthis year. De Beers said it was targeting sales of US$4.8 billion in 2001after a record $5.67 billion last year, citing a weaker US marketwhich accounts for ...
Waiting for a reward in Heaven ... or just a reward?
Mar 01, 2001; ... THE FTSE appears to be getting green fingers. Or perhaps they'rejust itchy. Whatever the cause, it created a bit of a stushie in theCity this week after revealing that around two out of five FTSEcompanies will be excluded from a new family of stockmarket indiceslaunched in July, because ...
Greenspan predicts worse to come
Mar 01, 2001; ... FEDERAL Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan yesterday warned that theUS economic slowdown will get worse before it gets better. In evidence to the House of Representatives financial servicescommittee Greenspan admitted the slowdown in the US economy had"occurred much faster than most ...
Scottish ministers join new Europe taskforce
Mar 01, 2001; ... ROBIN Cook has summoned ministers from the Scottish executive andother devolved administrations to join a Cabinet committee todayforging closer relations with Europe across the government of theUK. Jack McConnell, the education and external affairs minister, andhis Liberal ...
TMT sector takes a trouncing
Mar 01, 2001 ... EUROPEAN stock markets faltered after Federal Reserve ChairmanAlan Greenspan dashed investor hopes of an early interest rates cut. The pan-European Eurotop index of 300 shares was down 4.44 or0.31 per cent, while the narrower Euro Stoxx index of 50 blue-chipeurozone shares slipped ...
What matters is how fast treatment is delivered
Mar 01, 2001; ... WAITING-list figures have now become the regular currency of theNHS in Scotland, and the public are used to judging the efforts ofNHS staff according to the publication of the latest waiting-listfigures. In fact, the numbers of people with whom you share a list is ofrelatively ...
Fear of Scottish foot-and-mouth
Mar 01, 2001; ... FEARS were growing last night that foot and mouth had reachedScotland for the first time in 40 years as tests continued at a farmnear Canonbie and another near Lockerbie, both Dumfriesshire. At the other side of Scotland, an illness in stock at a farm nearBo'ness was being treated ...
Phillips in second Chinese project
Mar 01, 2001; ... US OIL company Phillips Petroleum Co is interested in a secondproject in China's Bohai Basin and has exclusive negotiating rightson it for the next six months, PetroChina announced yesterday. The prospect, a shallow water offshore area named Kuihuadao innorth-east China, is one of ...
Waiting on a promise
Mar 01, 2001; ... A YEAR ago Covisint held out the promise of saving billions ofdollars by revolutionising the way cars are built. Today, the onlineexchange is still a dream rather than a virtual reality. When the motors' industry "Big Three" - General Motors, Ford andDaimlerChrysler - unveiled ...
Peer who bridged great divide
Mar 01, 2001; ... IT WAS a day for differences to be laid aside and for Scotland'sleading politicians to unite in tribute to a man who commandedrespect from them all. Around 300 mourners attended the funeral of Lord Mackay ofArdbrecknish at Glasgow Cathedral yesterday. The Conservative ...
Talking computer is born and learning fast
Mar 01, 2001; ... MOST people have shouted in frustration at their computers - butsoon we could be talking to them. It emerged yesterday thatscientists are developing a real-life version of Hal, theintelligent talking computer in 2001, A Space Odyssey. They are teaching their creation, also called ...
Chewin' the Fat star has last laugh after beating author to rector post
Mar 01, 2001; ... LAUGHTER triumphed over literature and music last night as thecomedian Greg Hemphill became the 118th rector of GlasgowUniversity. The star of BBC Scotland's Chewin' The Fat narrowly defeated theauthor Alasdair Gray to become the voice of the university's 20,000students in one ...
Infected by love
Mar 01, 2001; ... Sometimes, Sandra and her daughter Jane curl up together on thesofa and watch the videos over and over again. They never tire ofthe images of the family playing out their lives on the screen, afather with his daughter in his arms, the mother reassuringlynearby. When the tapes finish, the ...
Japan's central bank cuts rates
Mar 01, 2001; ... JAPAN'S central bank cut key interest rates yesterday, its secondcut of the year, in an attempt to boost its flagging economy. Thebank's decision came too late to affect the Japanese stock marketwhich saw Tokyo shares end the day's trading off 1.35 per cent at a15-year low. The ...
Monster success
Mar 01, 2001; ... Go down to Callander Woods in Falkirk today, and you're only infor a big surprise if you're not expecting a monster with knobblyknees and turned-out toes and a poisonous wart at the end of hisnose. His eyes are orange, his tongue is black and he has purpleprickles all over his back. He ...
Lattice slumps on price fears
Mar 01, 2001; ... SHARES in Lattice, the gas pipeline and storage company fell totheir lowest since the company was spun off from BG last year, aftera statement from energy watchdog Ofgem indicating tougher pricecontrols are on the way. North sea producers such as BP and Royal Dutch /Shell put most ...
Pressure must be taken off basic NHS system
Mar 01, 2001; ... CONSIDER a tale of two nations. In the one, the public healthsystem has been transformed for the better. There is more money andmore staff. Last year, 100,000 more operations were provided than in1997. The waiting time for operations is shorter than you wouldfind, say, in England. Yet ...
A literary renaissance
Mar 01, 2001; ... AMID such a plethora of gloomy headlines, it is a relief to beable to highlight an area of Scottish life where the latest news isnothing but good. On World Book Day, it is a particular cause ofsatisfaction to be able to report that both reading and writing inScotland are in a resolutely ...
That lovelorn feline
Mar 01, 2001; ... IT WAS love at first sight. His name was Clint. He was animmigrant from a far-off, hot country and the cold Glasgow windsmade him angry. He soon got a reputation for violence that wasundeserved. He was just frustrated. His family name was Hindi for"spotted one". He could run as no-one ...
Academics call for lobby groups to be regulated
Mar 01, 2001; ... LEADING academics have said groups who lobby the Scottishparliament should be strictly regulated to ward off accusations ofsleaze. Members of Stirling University's media research institute saidregistering lobbyists would ensure the parliamentary process wasmore "transparent and ...
FTSE down despite banking recovery
Mar 01, 2001; ... ANOTHER volatile day for UK stocks ended with the FTSE 100 downyet again despite a bounce from banking stocks in the wake of Bankof Scotland's move to end talks with Abbey National. At one stage, the index of Britain's blue chip stocks was down asfar as 5,901.7, then shot up to ...
Matalan dressed for success as sales grow 12.7 per cent
Mar 01, 2001; ... MATALAN, one of the soaring stars of the retailing sector overthe past 18 months, yesterday revealed like-for-like sales growth of12.7 per cent in the past six months and a fresh expansion drive. The group, which specialises in the discount sector, also said itexpected a surge in ...
Review Too sweet by half Chocolat (12)
Mar 01, 2001; ... Director: Lasse Hallstrm Starring: Juliette Binoche; Lena Olin; Johnny Depp; Judi Dench;Carrie-Anne Moss; Alfred Molina This is a classic safe-date movie, a charming, inoffensive taleof the transformation of a repressed French town, liberated by theseductive powers of ...
NIL POINTS AT THE BAFTAS 'CHOCOLAT' WAITS FOR THE OSCARS
Mar 01, 2001; ... AWARD hype is a fickle thing. When the BAFTA nominations wereannounced at the end of January, they had a distinctly Chocolatflavour. The film was up for eight awards over seven categories -best actress (Juliette Binoche), best supporting actress (twice, forJudi Dench and Lena Olin), best ...
Life through a lens
Mar 01, 2001; ... 'This is the most miraculous place I have ever lived," says KayMander. "From where I am talking to you now I can look straightacross to Skeogh, the hill where the Covenanters had their communiontable - only I can't see it at the moment because it's all gone intothe mist." The ...
Polanski takes on his demons
Mar 01, 2001; ... When he was ten, Roman Polanski lost his mother to the Nazis.They hauled her off to be exterminated at Auschwitz. That tragedyand its calamitous effect on his early years have marked the rest ofhis life; as a film-maker, a perpetual exile and an exotic renegadeon the dark side. He spent ...
Review Love triangle misses the point Proof of Life (15)
Mar 01, 2001; ... Director: Taylor Hackford Starring: Meg Ryan, Russell Crowe, David Morse OFFICE romances: some work out, and you get The Big Sleep. Somedon't, and, really, you don't. For all the scuttlebutt about Meg andRussell's on-set romance, there is very little proof of life inProof ...
Review The Gift (15)
Mar 01, 2001; ... Director: Sam Raimi Starring: Cate Blanchett, Keanu Reeves, Giovanni Ribisi, GregKinnear, Hilary Swank, Katie Holmes INDISPUTABLY, The Gift, a supernatural murder mystery marinatedin gumbo and bayou water, is as ridiculously hokey as hokum comes.It is predictably plotted, ...
NFUS calls off annual general meeting
Mar 01, 2001; ... THE National Farmers' Union of Scotland has called off scheduledmeetings, for Thursday 8 and Friday 9 March in Dunblane, due to thecontinuing foot-and-mouth crisis. The AGM will be adjourned. Jim Walker, President, said: "As the foot-and-mouth crisisdeepens, we have decided to ...
Video and DVD
Mar 01, 2001; ... Shaft Trilogy (Warner, 18, retail and DVD) NO SIGN of Samuel LJackson here. The original outings for the cat who won't cop out -Shaft, Shaft's Big Score and Shaft in Africa - remastered and yoursto buy individually or together in one shiny blaxploitation box. Achance to chart the ...
Traders looking for clues
Mar 01, 2001 ... OIL prices marked time at six-week lows as three key producersplanned talks that could lay the groundwork for an output cut. However, non-OPEC producer Mexico said it saw no need for areduction in supply. Other factors pulled the market in different directions, with ...
Celebrate World Book Day
Mar 01, 2001 ... Among the other events planned to celebrate World Book Day todayare: Edinburgh Ian Rankin will sign books at the police information centre onthe Royal Mile, accompanied by a new police puppy ... an Alsatiancalled Rebus. Glasgow ...
Manclark bid could buy Panmure estate
Mar 01, 2001; ... A pounds 20 MILLION plus bid led by Edinburgh property developer,James Manclark, now looks as if it will buy the prestigious 14,500acre Panmure estate which lies between Dundee and Arbroath. Selling agents, Cluttons, yesterday confirmed that the AngusEstates company which is owned ...
The nearly man misses the green once more
Mar 01, 2001 ... PETER Burt, Bank of Scotland's chief executive, is known to getslightly testy when newspapers portray him as "the nearly man" inthe consolidation of the financial services industry. In the past couple of years or so there has been the abortiveattempt at a tele-banking tie-up with ...
Ray of hope as German tests prove negative
Mar 01, 2001; ... SPIRITS rose slightly in Germany last night as a second round oftests on tissue from sheep slaughtered for suspected foot-and-mouthdisease proved negative. It was a ray of hope for a country that, in the words of oneminister, "stands on the brink of a catastrophe" after ...
Economic backlash will be felt in many sectors
Mar 01, 2001; ... FROM country hotels to city bookmakers; food retailers to sportsgoods shops; hauliers to estate agents; by this weekend the economicshock waves of the foot-and-mouth crisis will have spread far widerthan anyone could have imagined days ago. Restrictions on movement and the ...
Skills that built a legend
Mar 01, 2001; ... SCOTLAND has a reputation going back almost two centuries for thequality of its livestock and the ability of its stockmen. Pedigree breeding, high prices and show-ring championships stillmean more in Scotland than almost anywhere else. Scottish livestock breeding in the ...
THE MINISTER: UPHILL BATTLE FOR FINNIE
Mar 01, 2001 ... ROSS Finnie, the chartered accountant from Greenock, became whatwas seen as a token Liberal Democrat agriculture minister in thefirst Scottish parliament for more than 300 years. With no background in agriculture, he was faced with farmers, asalways, asking: "What does he know ...
HOT SEAT: MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE HAS NO EASY TASK
Mar 01, 2001 ... BEING Minister of Agriculture is no-one's idea of fun. Most MPssee it as a ministerial rest home for the eccentric or a punishment.(Douglas Hogg and John Gummer come to mind). However, many of themost difficult government decisions of recent years, such as BSE andthe cost of European ...
Farmyard plague marches on
Mar 01, 2001; ... JIM Walker, president of the Scottish National Farmers Union andhimself a cattle and sheep breeder, warned: "Don't be fooled. Wewill be very, very lucky if we do not see a case of foot and mouthin Scotland." He was speaking yesterday morning knowing tests at a suspectedcase on a ...
New neighbours for Airth castle
Mar 01, 2001 ... LEADING UK housebuilder David Wilson Homes have marked theirventure across the Scottish border with a new homes development atAirth, next to the castle. The homes at Gamekeeper's Wynd, Airth, will appeal to homebuyerslooking for a stylish property in a desirable rural location ...
Morrison's bonuses lure Paisley's first-time buyers
Mar 01, 2001 ... MORRISON Homes is introducing special incentives on the last fewremaining properties at their new development in Paisley. Out of the 29 properties at Cotton Mill Court, located inMaxwelton Road, Paisley, only four homes are now left, all one-bedroom flats in the Golspie style ....
Homes for the planet
Mar 01, 2001 ... MORE homebuyers than ever are becoming concerned about theenvironmental impact their new homes will have, a detailed housingsurvey has revealed. The findings emerged in a survey of 10,000 new homeowners acrossBritain as part of an annual competition to find Britain's ...
UK housing boost
Mar 01, 2001 ... ESTATE agents are reporting a re-awakening of interest amongsthouse buyers and sellers, according to the National Association ofEstate Agents (NAEA). NAEA, the largest body representing independent estate agents inthe UK, have released a survey showing an increase in business ...
University campus open for business
Mar 01, 2001; ... The Crichton regen-eration project has finally realised the dreamof a woman who died nearly 200 years ago. When Elizabeth Crichton's husband left her a huge estate, she wasdetermined to carry out his wish to "endow a college for the poorscholars of Dumfries". Prevented from ...
Ideal property of the week Kirkton House Pitlessie Cupar
Mar 01, 2001 ... How much? Offers in excess of pounds 375,000 Where is it? Three miles to the south-west of Cupar in Fife, within walkingdistance of the village of Pitlessie. What do you get? The accommodation in this listed building is arranged on threefloors and ...
Plenty to like beside the sea
Mar 01, 2001 ... BEAZER Homes's Muirfield Links development in Dunbar has beenattracting a significant amount of interest lately, showing howpopular the demand for luxurious living combined with the facilitiesof a seaside town has become. Liana Zambonini, sales and marketing director for Beazer ...