The Scotsman back issues from March 2004:
Live Reviews: Paragon Ensemble
Mar 01, 2004; ... Paragon Ensemble ***** GLASGOW UNIVERSITY IT MAY have seemed an inside job, but the music by three ofGlasgow University's music department's lecturers in this superconcert by the Paragon Ensemble, directed by Venezuelan Natalia Luis-Bassa, was anything but parochial ....
Live Reviews: Shiver
Mar 01, 2004; ... Shiver *** THE ARCHES, GLASGOW THE only problem with this first production from the Rough Rubycompany - set up by Kate Brailsford and Gillian Kerr of children'stheatre group Visible Fictions, and seen briefly at the Arches thisweek - is that the show itself doesn't seem to ...
Title finally belongs to Glasgow
Mar 01, 2004; ... Heriot's 13 Glasgow Hawks 27 THE ski slopes of Europe may have been missing some Glasgowvisitors this year, and the west-end bars a few midweek regulars, butScotland's largest city finally has its first Division 1 rugbychampions. Glasgow Hawks grasped the most ...
Index-linked gilts have a lot to offer investors keen to diversify
Mar 01, 2004; ... FOR tomorrow's financial heartaches, look no further than today'sinvestment craze. While this may seem the counsel of despair, it has proved true sodisturbingly often that we need to keep our investment decisionsunder continual review. The property boom of the late 1980s ...
Scot hopes Hollywood role will be launchpad to stardom
Mar 01, 2004; ... TWELVE months ago he was just one more wannabe, facing anuncertain future as he prepared to graduate from the Royal ScottishAcademy of Music and Drama. But today Sam Heughan is set for international stardom after beingchosen to be the lead role in a forthcoming Hollywood movie ....
Boswell's Diary: Stars leap at chance to raise cash for meningitis
Mar 01, 2004; ... JK ROWLING made a rare public foray to join pop star Darius Daneshin supporting a fundraising ball for the Leap For Meningitis campaignon Saturday night. The event, at Edinburgh's International Conference Centre, wasaiming to make more than GBP 100,000 to aid the battle ...
Cultural review could stretch to a year
Mar 01, 2004; ... THE Scottish Executive's long-awaited cultural review could takeas much as a year to complete. Frank McAveety, the culture minister, said officials had abandonedplans to finish the consultation process inside three months. Instead, the discussion with arts organisations could ...
DBS bullish as lending soars 50 per cent
Mar 01, 2004; ... DUNFERMLINE Building Society saw a 50 per cent surge in lendinglast year to GBP 334 million, and its chief executive predictedyesterday he expected the demand to continue at a similar pace in2004. Graeme Dalziel said that the combination of a lack of housing inthe Central Belt ...
Engineering industry sees business booming
Mar 01, 2004; ... SCOTLAND'S engineering industry has enjoyed its best start to theyear on recent record. Order books in 2004 are surging at a rate not seen since thedotcom boom collapsed in 2000, the lobby group Scottish Engineeringwill say today. The number of firms winning a rise in new business ...
Charity sets the pitch to fulfil dreams
Mar 01, 2004; ... IT IS the ultimate dream of any fervent football supporter -walking on to the pitch of your favourite club, name on the back ofyour shirt, and a team talk from a footballing hero ringing in yourears. All of this has been made possible by the Edinburgh-based charityFootball Aid ....
It did mean a thing
Mar 01, 2004; ... It's hard to imagine him as 100 years old, but Glenn Miller wasborn a century ago today. Cue fanfare of clarinet-led saxes overmuted, wah-wahing brass. And let it swing. But cue also the drone ofa plane vanishing into a foggy December sky a little over 60 yearsago, never to return, for ...
Short defies Blair in fresh attack
Mar 01, 2004; ... CLARE Short yesterday challenged Tony Blair to strip her of herprivy councillor status as she produced, on live television, a letterordering her not to betray government secrets. In another ferocious attack on the Prime Minister, Ms Short saidshe received a "threatening letter" ...
Reaping the political whirlwind
Mar 01, 2004; ... WHILE Iraq itself may be cleared of mines set to trap occupyingforces, Tony Blair has found the political landscape laden withdevices which keep exploding in his face. It is more than simplemisfortune. The row over the legality of the war, failure to findweapons of mass destruction and ...
Tortuous legal argument making case for conflict becomes a political monster turning on its master
Mar 01, 2004; ... THE legal quagmire into which Tony Blair is now sinking can betraced back to the Prime Minister's biggest mistake in the run-up tothe war: trying to translate Washington's case for it into thelanguage of the United Nations. This time last year, the United States had been brutally ...
The fog of war envelops Blair as PM fights on every front
Mar 01, 2004; ... IT WAS the shocking manner in which Ahmad Jabbar Kareem died thatbrought the Iraqi teenager to the world's attention last year.Allegedly forced into a filthy Basra canal by British troops clampingdown on looting in the area, he was then ordered to swim to the otherside or face a bullet ....
Defusing the brain timebomb
Mar 01, 2004; ... Sacha Bonsor and Vaughn Ritchie are affected by an extremely raredisorder, which leaves its sufferers with an appalling dilemma -should they have surgery, with all the risks involved, or live with a"timebomb" in their brain? Ms Bonsor and Dr Ritchie were diagnosed with ...
Think tank will give Highlands a stronger voice
Mar 01, 2004; ... A THINK tank is being set up in the Highlands and Islands to givethe area a stronger voice in influencing government policy in bothHolyrood and Westminster. The UHI Policyweb is intended to bring together experts in socialand public policy in the region for on-line discussions on ...
Estonian soldier dies in shooting near Baghdad
Mar 01, 2004; ... AN ESTONIAN soldier became the latest allied victim to die in Iraqat the weekend after he was shot by insurgents as he attempted todefuse a roadside bomb on the outskirts of Baghdad. Junior Sgt Andres Nuiamae, a bomb disposal expert, became thefirst Estonian soldier to die from ...
Major revamp for Aggreko
Mar 02, 2004; ... GLASGOW-based Aggreko, the world leader in temporary powersystems, yesterday announced about 250 worldwide redundancies as partof a radical restructuring of its depot network following a strategicreview. Group chief executive Rupert Soames said its local businesssupplying ...
Aortech: Takeover approach still likely
Mar 02, 2004; ... STRUGGLING Scottish biotech group Aortech indicated that it wasstill a likely takeover candidate yesterday, as it announced aboardroom shake-up which saw the final departure of former chiefexecutive Bill Strachan. The company, which rejected a takeover approach earlier this ...
Chinese moves will secure Scots jobs, claims BPI
Mar 02, 2004; ... BRITISH Polythene Industries is set to expand its Chinesemanufacturing operations in a move it claims will help preserveScottish jobs. Cheap labour and lower raw material costs have spurred theGreenock-based group into producing more of its core product linesfrom the Chinese ...
Whatever happened to the Brit pack?
Mar 02, 2004; ... It's been over two decades now since the cry "The British arecoming" echoed around the Oscars ceremony. Looking back, Chariots ofFire screenwriter Colin Welland's comments might have been just alittle over-optimistic. While New Zealand basks in the glow of Sundaynight's Oscar success, ...
Caring for terminally ill at home could save NHS GBP 100m
Mar 02, 2004; ... THE NHS could save GBP 100 million a year if terminally ill cancerpatients were able to spend their last days at home, according to acharity. Marie Curie Cancer Care said the NHS would save GBP 200 million ayear in hospital care if an extra GBP 100 million a year was ...
Natural born painters
Mar 02, 2004; ... Pre-Raphaelite Vision: Truth to Nature, Tate Britain, London **** Edouard Vuillard, Royal Academy, London **** We know what the Pre-Raphaelites stand for: morose women withflowing auburn hair in low-cut dresses and knights in shining armoureternally suspended in a limbo of ...
Family of duped pensioner gain order to recover cash from conman
Mar 02, 2004; ... ONE of Scotland's worst conmen has been ordered to repay almosthalf a million pounds, but the family of his elderly victim mightnever see more than a fraction of the money. Thomas Restorick duped Ralph Pride, 77, a retired civil servant,of his life's savings. A judge ...
Parents to fight plans for schools closures
Mar 02, 2004; ... PARENTS have vowed to fight controversial plans to close nineprimary schools across Midlothian as part of a major shake-upaffecting thousands of families. The proposal is part of a massive project including plans for 16new schools. Amid angry shouts from the public gallery, ...
Scots form backbone of fund league
Mar 02, 2004; ... A STUNNING 23 of the top 100 fund managers in Britain either workfor Scottish investment houses or were born or educated north of theBorder, The Scotsman can reveal. The exceptionally strong showing is detailed in the 2004 Top 100Survey by respected financial analysts Citywire ....
Deals may break strike
Mar 01, 2004; ... PLANS for an all-out national strike by nursery nurses have beendealt a blow after two more councils agreed local settlements withstaff. Up to 5,000 nursery nurses are expected to begin indefinite strikeaction from today, demanding a national pay deal from their localauthority ...
Plenty of bottle New look for Highland Spring
Mar 01, 2004 ... HIGHLAND Spring is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a newrange of bottle sizes and a new brand identity, within a GBP 10million sales and marketing programme. The new look bottles sport anupdated ...
Lib Dem tells of pressure to vote against Airborne
Mar 01, 2004; ... A SENIOR Liberal Democrat MSP faced renewed criticism last nightafter admitting he gave in to pressure from ministers in a vote onthe future of a boot camp for young offenders. Donald Gorrie said he decided not to vote for an SNP amendmentdemanding the Executive reconsider its ...
Outrage over Fagin jibe by Labour MP
Mar 01, 2004; ... THE chairman of the Labour Party was last night standing bycontroversial comments he made linking a Jewish member of the shadowcabinet with the Charles Dickens character Fagin. Ian McCartney provoked an angry reaction from Jewish leaders bycomparing Oliver Letwin, the shadow ...
Scottish Labour Party Conference in Inverness: Jamieson commits executive to bringing in laws on corporate killing
Mar 01, 2004; ... THE Scottish Executive is committed to bringing forward laws todeal with so-called corporate killing, Cathy Jamieson, the justiceminister, said yesterday. Speaking at the Scottish Labour Party Conference in Inverness, shealso reaffirmed the Executive's promise to legislate on ...
Birds of prey fight back in Scotland
Mar 01, 2004; ... BIRDS of prey, including species such as the osprey and peregrinefalcon, are on the increase in Scotland, according to figuresobtained by The Scotsman. A report into the number of raptors, compiled by the Royal Societyfor the Protection of Birds (RSPB), found numbers rising - ...
MoD 'blocking' progress of wind energy
Mar 01, 2004; ... TARGETS to increase the amount of renewable electricity producedfor England and Scotland by 2020 are being seriously put at risk byMinistry of Defence objections, it was being claimed today. The Royal Society's vice president, Professor David Wallace, haswritten to Ivor Caplin, ...
Revealed: Scots police forces' failure to meet Soham targets
Mar 01, 2004; ... SCOTLAND'S police forces are failing to meet stringent governmenttargets to prevent criminals gaining employment in childcare,according to disclosures to be made to the inquiry into the Sohammurderer Ian Huntley. The Scotsman can today reveal that all eight Scottish policeforces ...
Standard Life to ballot members on directors' pay
Mar 01, 2004; ... STANDARD Life's 2.3 million members are being given the chance tovote against the remuneration of the mutual's boardroom for the firsttime. Ballot papers for its annual meeting - on 6 April in Edinburgh -are to be posted on the assurer's website in the next 48 hours, aspokesman ...
Tods Murray in UK's top 100
Mar 01, 2004; ... TODS MURRAY has been listed for the first time among the UK's 100largest legal firms after delivering a record 14 per cent jump inturnover last year to GBP 15 million. The firm is sixth largest in Scotland, but has edged into TheLawyer magazine's top rankings after profits grew 10 ...
Tracker: Hometrack says house prices still rising
Mar 01, 2004 ... HOT on the heels of Nationwide reporting that the house price boomis back in full swing, property website Hometrack has confirmed thebullish picture. It said prices rose by 0.9 per cent during February,the biggest increase it has recorded since October 2002. Nationwidesaid last week it ...
Classical Music: Marketing the melody
Mar 01, 2004; ... The provision of chamber music throughout Scotland is probablysignificantly greater than the marketing of it would suggest. It's aplain fact that the last thing most small societies or venues aspromoters, or even established chamber ensembles as performers,consider is the need to let as ...
Vow to look your best
Mar 01, 2004; ... There's nothing Hollywood loves better than a wedding. Whetherit's My Best Friend's Wedding, My Big Fat Greek Wedding or Father ofthe Bride, the chance to capture the emotions, the mishaps and thefrocks is something writers and directors find too tempting to passup. For the film industry ...
Nanny state cannot fill this spiritual void
Mar 01, 2004; ... I MAY be in a minority, but I'm looking forward to seeing MelGibson's The Passion of the Christ. Better something more challengingthan the puerile Sex Lives of the Potato Men nonsense that wesubsidise in this country. I'll even ignore the historicalinaccuracies, such as the Romans ...
Leader: Blair fuels suspicion over legal case for war
Mar 01, 2004 ... IT MUST surely come as little surprise that the extraordinarydecision not to proceed with the prosecution of the GCHQ whistle-blower Katharine Gun has fast developed into yet another trial of thegovernment's credibility over the case for going to war with Iraq. Itcould yet develop into ...
Market Report: Market hoping for boost from HSBC
Mar 01, 2004; ... ALL eyes will be on HSBC's annual results, out today, to seewhether Britain's biggest bank can give the stock market freshimpetus. There will also be interest as to whether HSBC can outstrip theGBP 7 billion profits performance recently unveiled by rival RoyalBank of Scotland, ...
Charity's field of dreams a reality
Mar 01, 2004; ... IT IS the ultimate dream of any fervent football supporter -walking on to the pitch of your favourite club, name on the back ofyour shirt, and a team talk from a footballing hero ringing in yourears. All of this has been made possible by the Edinburgh-based charityFootball Aid ....
Aristide leaves Haiti for a life of exile
Mar 01, 2004; ... ONLY days ago, he told his supporters and the outside world hewould remain president until 2006. But as with so many of hisprevious pledges, Jean-Bertrand Aristide did not keep his word. Early yesterday morning an unmarked white jet carrying the formerHaitian president and his ...
Divided they fail as Rangers lapse
Mar 01, 2004; ... Dundee Utd 2 Kerr (31), McLaren (34) Rangers 0 Referee: J Underhill. Attendance: 10,496 FAMOUSLY, it is acceptable on the 29th day in February for thewoman to ask a man for his hand in marriage, and Dundee Unitedyesterday paid tribute to this custom by staging an act ...
Celtic reach sweet sixteen
Mar 01, 2004; ... Celtic 5 Pearson (12), Sutton (36), Thompson (48 pen, 79), Larsson(55) Livingston 1 Lilley (41) Referee: S Dougal. Attendance: 57,973 A CALCULATOR is as essential as a notebook when covering Celticthese days. Having beaten Morton's record of 23 successive ...
Hibs fluff lines in dress rehearsal
Mar 01, 2004; ... Hibernian 0 Aberdeen 1 Morrison (5) Referee: I Brines. Attendance: 10,416 IF BOBBY Williamson intended this match as a dress rehearsal forthe CIS Cup final, he will have a fair amount of thinking to dobefore he takes his team to Hampden on Sunday week. The Hibs ...
Disconsolate McLeish loses patience with players after latest defeat
Mar 01, 2004; ... RANGERS manager Alex McLeish described yesterday's defeat toDundee United as the last chance for some members of his under-achieving team who contributed towards what he called "another softaway day" from his side. The Ibrox team's third away defeat of the season has ...
Poor show, but Levein draws consolation from status quo
Mar 01, 2004; ... Dunfermline 0 Hearts 0 Referee: K Clark. Attendance: 8,421 THE after-match media centre at East End Park is actually an areaof the social club, where entire families of supporters have the"privilege" of witnessing the verbal intercourse between the pressand the ...
Tension of toe-to-toe tussles even turns a Tiger timid
Mar 01, 2004; ... THERE'S nothing like a spot of head-to-head golf to get the oldcorpuscles in an uproar. The Ryder Cup can be guaranteed to reducestrong men to rubble and as the Accenture Match Play Championshipmoved into its closing stages at La Costa at the weekend, there weredistinct signs of wear and ...
Nine points in a week keeps Motherwell in fine fettle
Mar 01, 2004; ... Motherwell 3 Hammell (11), Clarkson (52), Adams (80) Partick Thistle 0 Referee: C Thomson. Attendance: 5,814 WHEN was the last time Motherwell won three league games in aweek, then? No, seriously, when was it, because no-one at Fir Parkseems to have the foggiest ...
Wylie sees other side of the Coin
Mar 01, 2004; ... GRAHAM Wylie hasn't been involved in racing for too long, buthe'll already have seen enough to know it's a sport which neverallows anyone to think they have it sussed. Fresh from the thrilling triumph of Royal Rosa at Haydock 24 hoursearlier, the St Boswells-based Wylie must have ...
Cross return drives battle for places in Rome squad
Mar 01, 2004; ... SIMON Cross last night reported fit for Scotland squad training,having made a speedy recovery from an eye injury which on Fridaynight seemed to have threatened his future in the game. Cross, the 23-year-old openside flanker, was injured inEdinburgh's win over Leinster in the ...
Housing group shelves GBP 735m scheme
Mar 02, 2004; ... BRITAIN'S biggest social landlord has confirmed that it hasshelved plans to borrow up to GBP 735 million to invest in Glasgow'ssub-standard housing stock for at least two years. The Glasgow Housing Association (GHA) admitted it would not begindraw down on its private lending ...
Howard quits Butler Inquiry
Mar 02, 2004; ... THE CONSERVATIVES have withdrawn support for Tony Blair's inquiryinto intelligence used in the run-up to the Iraq war - saying theynow realise that the government is preparing another whitewash. Michael Howard, the Tory leader, said he was dismayed to learnthat Lord Butler intends ...
Holyrood Inquiry:Holyrood contest was rigged, claims QC
Mar 02, 2004; ... SENIOR managers from the construction giant Bovis were confrontedwith claims yesterday that they were involved in a rigged competitionfor the main contract on the Holyrood project. The suggestion of rigging was made by John Campbell, QC, counselto the Holyrood Inquiry, who ...
US buy drives HSBC profits to GBP 7.7bn
Mar 02, 2004; ... HSBC yesterday delivered a record GBP 7.7 billion annual pre-taxprofit - the biggest ever reported by a British bank - and a paybonanza for senior staff. HSBC paid out GBP 12.7 million in 2003 to an unidentified singleemployee, according to the bank's annual report. He is ...
ISIS voices concerns over 'restrictive' new rules
Mar 02, 2004; ... ISIS Asset Management hit out at the "restrictive" regulationsbeing imposed on the financial services industry yesterday, as itposted a 15 per cent rise in full-year profits. The Edinburgh fund management group said in its statement to theStock Exchange that some new rules have ...
Twin given fighting chance as keyhole operation saves life
Mar 02, 2004; ... WHEN Alistair Norman was born last August he weighed just 4lb 11ozand was much smaller than his identical twin brother, Robbie. He was soon diagnosed with a condition which meant that hisoesophagus was not connected to his stomach, meaning that he couldnot ingest his food ....
Smart consumers learn to outwit the debt crisis
Mar 02, 2004; ... THERE has been so much written and talked about the impendingconsumer debt crisis in the UK that people could be forgiven forwondering when this oft-mentioned, ever inflating bubble willactually burst. Unsecured borrowing is up - massively so, according to lendingfigures ...
GBP 30m archive cash will go to trust
Mar 02, 2004; ... THE man offering to sell the archives of his family's publishingfirm to the National Library of Scotland for GBP 33 million saidyesterday that almost the entire sum would be put into a charitabletrust. The John Murray Archive is called a treasure trove of manuscripts,records and ...
Planning rules may stop rail line
Mar 02, 2004; ... TRAIN enthusiasts behind an ambitious scheme to re-open a stretchof one of Scotland's most historic railway lines fear their planscould hit the buffers because of a double planning threat. The Royal Deeside Railway Preservation Society was formed sixyears ago with the aim of ...
Seeing red over illegal squirrel release
Mar 02, 2004; ... EVEN to those dedicated to saving animals, the issue of managingthe squirrel population can be a grey area. Especially if your firstpriority is to the red variety, which is under threat from itslarger, grey cousin. Now a group looking after red squirrels has accused a small ...
Nurseries closed as nurses start indefinite strike action
Mar 02, 2004; ... FAMILIES relying on day-care for children were thrown into chaosyesterday when nursery nurses embarked on the first day of an all-out strike. Parents of pre-fives, including children with special needs, tooktime of work or sought help from friends, family and neighbours asdoors ...