The Scotsman back issues from January 2008:
Need to Know: EMI's new owner to tighten belts
Jan 01, 2008 ... EMI'S new private equity owners are believed to be planning toimpose strict rules on artist signings and make sweeping budgetcutbacks at the music group, a report yesterday claimed. Terra Firma, which took EMI private in a GBP 2.4 billion deal inSeptember, is said to be launching ...
Need to Know: Standard Life raises India stake
Jan 01, 2008 ... STANDARD Life yesterday said it had boosted its stake in HDFCStandard Life Insurance Company, its Indian life insurance jointventure, to 26 per cent. It still plans to launch an initial public offering of thebusiness before the end of 2009. The Edinburgh life assurer ...
Need to Know: Connell departs
Jan 01, 2008 ... Thus, the Glasgow-based telecoms group, said yesterday non-executive director Jo Connell had retired after serving seven yearson its board. Chairman Philip Rogerson said: "Jo has been a ...
Need to Know: Sharing it out
Jan 01, 2008 ... Nearly 14,000 staff at banking giant HBOS stand to make gains ofup to GBP 3,900 each when two of the group's ...
Drill disappointment sinks Cairn shares
Jan 01, 2008; ... SHARES in Cairn Energy lost ground yesterday after the oil andgas explorer said it had failed to strike it lucky at one of itssites in Bangladesh. The Edinburgh-based group has been in Bangladesh for more thanten years and, along with its joint-venture partner, US ...
No escaping the short arm of the law
Jan 01, 2008; ... MOST seven-year-old boys would be riding around on their bicycle,or playing at home with their computer games. But Cameron Lawson prefers to spend his time on more civic-minded pursuits. The primary three pupil from Strathmiglo in Fife is thought to bethe youngest person in ...
How Mickey Mouse could save gold frog
Jan 01, 2008; ... WITH its bold orange or red skin and big black eyes, the tinygolden mantella frog, below, is a natural for a starring role in aDisney cartoon. But instead of recruiting the critically endangered amphibian,the movie giant is spending GBP 9,000 to protect its rainforesthome ....
Galloping gourmets
Jan 01, 2008; ... MORE TV cooks who went on the hoof KEITH FLOYD AFTER first appearing on our TV screens in 1985 with the seriesFloyd on Fish, the bon viveur's bon viveur went on to cook someamazing dishes for our entertainment out and about in France,Ireland, Spain, Italy, Africa, ...
Wii a winner as Game lifts profits forecast
Jan 01, 2008; ... GAME Group, the specialist PC and video game retailer, is set tosmash profit expectations after a surge in demand for Nintendo DSand Wii games. The group said yesterday that sales had continued to soar sinceit last updated the market on 11 December, when it reported a 44 percent ...
Scotland's 50 most expensive homes: 40 - 31
Jan 01, 2008 ... AS THE Scotsman revealed yesterday, when we began our series onScotland's most expensive homes, there has been a huge growth indemand for properties at the top end of the market over the past fewyears. The first GBP 2 million home in Scotland was sold in 2003 - butthere are now ...
London Scottish to take GBP 22m hit
Jan 01, 2008 ... LONDON Scottish Bank's shares plunged 18 per cent to a 12-yearlow yesterday as the consumer finance group said it would take a GBP22 million hit to cover losses at its unsecured consumer creditbusiness. It also said it might forgo a final dividend for the financialyear to the ...
Investors set sights on 7,000 this year
Jan 01, 2008; ... BRITAIN'S blue-chip stocks ended in negative territory yesterday,leaving the FTSE 100 with a gain of just 3.8 per cent for 2007 - itsworst performance in five years. However, most analysts were saying that after a shaky start to2008, amid the continuing credit crunch, the ...
Cut out the middle man and bin those unwanted presents
Jan 01, 2008; ... NO SOONER had the grease started to congeal around the leftoverbacon-wrapped chipolatas than the assault on graciousness began.While a nation, sated by Bernard Matthews for another year, watchedLiz do her thing on the Beeb and YouTube, my inbox pinged. It was agroup message from a local ...
From Sydney to Scotland, they mark birth of 2008
Jan 01, 2008; ... THE world's great cities yesterday counted down the minutes to2008 - from Sydney's beaches and Baghdad's markets to the rain-dampened streets and squares of Glasgow and Edinburgh. At least one million revellers staked a place under their beachumbrella, or jostled for a view from ...
Leon pulls out of party
Jan 01, 2008 ... THE X-Factor winner Leon Jackson pulled out of Edinburgh'sHogmanay celebrations at the last minute yesterday. The 19-year-old singer, whose first single When You Believe wastop of the Christmas charts, blamed a severe attack of tonsillitis. He said: "I'm just disappointed to ...
Amid the scarves: widow visits shrine
Jan 01, 2008; ... IT was a journey that she had made dozens of times to watch herhusband, the Motherwell captain Phil O'Donnell, lead his team out onto the pitch. But Eileen O'Donnell's visit to Fir Park yesterday was one ofheartbreak as she came to view the sea of tributes left in memory ofthe ...
Woman of the Week: Paris Hilton, heiress
Jan 01, 2008; ... "WELL, it's just not fair. There I was doing my very best to makea 'new beginning' following my recent stint in my local penitentiary(after which I still can't bring myself to wear orange - at leastother than in fake tan form) when grandpops goes a drops a bombshelllike this: he's giving ...
What will be great in 2008
Jan 01, 2008; ... LAST YEAR brought us Facebook, metallic accessories, the SkinnyBitch diet and designer-made reusable shopping bags. But what about2008? As the new year dawns, so too does an army of new trends,notions and gadgets that will keep us up to speed, on the ball andin the know over the next 12 ...
Television Review: Misery loves company for Hogmanay again
Jan 01, 2008; ... EastEnders, BBC1 Still Game, BBC1 HAVING found himself lumbered with a dodgy cut-and-shut motor toget rid of on New Year's Eve, Kevin unhappily wailed: "I just wantto get back to my normal boring life!" Since coming to Albert Squarealmost two years ago, he's been hooked up with ...
Waitrose heads east with first overseas stores
Jan 01, 2008; ... FRESH from its push north of the Border, grocery chain Waitroseis to open its first stores overseas. The UK's sixth biggest supermarket operator has struck a dealwith a Dubai-based firm to open more than 20 branches in the UnitedArab Emirates over the next two and a half years ....
The Scotsman's Preview of 2008: Arts
Jan 01, 2008; ... JANUARY means Oscar season, so get set for a month of big, starrygrown-up film dramas. Look out for Ang Lee's erotic love story Lust,Caution this weekend, followed by Tom Hanks in the political satireCharlie Wilson's War, the Coen Brothers' much-anticipated No CountryFor Old Men, and ...
The Scotsman's Preview of 2008: Business
Jan 01, 2008; ... THE year 2008 has already been written off by economists as oneof the most miserable since the 1991 recession. Or the 1981recession. Or the 1970s stagflation ... Among common predictions are big cuts in mortgage lending,falling house prices, curtailed bank lending, weak retail ...
The Scotsman's Preview of 2008: Education
Jan 01, 2008; ... THE question of when the SNP Scottish Government will deliver onits smaller class size promise still has not been answered, andopposition politicians and teachers are unlikely to stop asking tillit is. Arguments about the cost, and the ability of some councils todeliver, are ...
The Scotsman's Preview of 2008: Health
Jan 01, 2008; ... THIS year we can expect to hear more details about how ministersintend to encourage us to be more active and make healthier foodchoices. They face a difficult balancing act between beingcriticised for not doing enough and being accused of creating a"nanny state". But with ...
The Scotsman's Preview of 2008: Justice
Jan 01, 2008; ... YOU probably don't have to be Nostradamus to predict the mainissues on next year's justice agenda. The justice secretary, Kenny MacAskill, has made breaking thecycle of offending his top priority, announcing changes to communitysentences that he hopes will put repeat offenders on ...
The Scotsman's Preview of 2008: Westminster
Jan 01, 2008; ... IF he thought the tail end of last year was difficult, GordonBrown will have to steel himself for even more challenging times in2008. The gloomy economic picture should become clearer later thismonth as statistics on consumer spending are released. If the massesare out in force shopping, ...
The Scotsman's Preview of 2008: Ones to watch
Jan 01, 2008 ... ALEX NEIL Probably the most formidable debater in the Scottish Parliament,Alex Neil has been languishing on the back benches since the SNPcame to power in May. He has filled the role of the ScottishGovernment's chief defender, but has had run-ins with Alex Salmondin the past and ...
The Scotsman's Preview of 2008: Holyrood
Jan 01, 2008; ... TOLLS will be lifted on the Forth Bridge in early February,fulfilling an SNP pledge and allowing the First Minister tocelebrate one of the first tangible results of his actions ingovernment. As Alex Salmond is waving the first delighted motorist over, JohnSwinney, his finance ...
The Scotsman's Preview of 2008: Sport
Jan 01, 2008; ... WITH the home nations failing to qualify for the Euro 2008football championships, the sporting highlight of the year from aBritish point of view will be the Beijing Olympic Games. The challenge for Team GB will be to come close to theachievements of 2004, when nine gold medals, ...
'Unjustified' train fare rises begin tomorrow
Jan 01, 2008; ... RAIL passengers face above- inflation fare rises from tomorrow,which the official watchdog has condemned as "unfair andunjustified". Regulated fares - including most season tickets - have gone up byan average of 4.8 per cent, while some other fares have risen bymore than 9 per ...
Air travellers face bags of confusion as luggage rules are relaxed
Jan 01, 2008; ... AIR passengers face confusion next week when hand-baggagerestrictions are relaxed, because only some airlines and airportswill allow more than one bag to be carried on board. The government has confirmed the one-bag rule introduced after aterrorist scare in 2006 will be lifted ...
Between the Lines: Jobs horoscope: you're in demand but stay put
Jan 01, 2008; ... NEVER mind predictions of meltdown, ranging from the financialand property markets to the retail sector, how's the job market? Therecruitment industry is often seen as the weather vane for bothpresent and future economic activity. Despite recent turmoil in the capital markets, ...
Number of centenarians at record levels - and they're nearly all women
Jan 01, 2008; ... THEY were children when the First World War broke out and intheir sixties when man first walked on the Moon. Now aged 100 ormore, the number of centenarians is increasing, and the overwhelmingmajority of them are women. Figures released yesterday by the Registrar General show ...
Brown's GBP 30,000 gift 'unregistered'
Jan 01, 2008; ... THE Labour Party has failed to publicly register a GBP 30,000donation from Gordon Brown, it emerged last night. The cash is understood to have been given by the Prime Minister'sleadership campaign but has yet to be included in the ElectoralCommission's register of gifts ....
SNP membership rises by 11 per cent to almost 14,000
Jan 01, 2008; ... MEMBERSHIP of the Scottish National Party has increased by 11 percent over the last year, it was announced yesterday. Angus Robertson, the SNP business convener, said the party had13,944 members yesterday - compared to 12,571 on 31 December, 2006. Mr Robertson said : ...
Where the thieves are not court in the act
Jan 01, 2008; ... LAPTOPS, cat food and an airline ticket are among dozens of itemsstolen from Scotland's courts in the last two years, it has beenrevealed. Even being under the very nose of the law does not deter somelight-fingered criminals from striking, according to detailsobtained under the ...
Strikes called off as BAA and Unite agree
Jan 01, 2008 ... THE FIRST of a series of January strikes by workers at sevenairports, including Edinburgh, Glasgow, Heathrow and Gatwick, wascalled off last night following a breakthrough in talks. Thousands of firefighters, security, maintenance, administrativeand clerical workers were due to ...
You can beat your New Year hangover blues
Jan 01, 2008; ... THE dull headache, the sour taste in your mouth, the cold sweatsand that familiar bitter pang of regret. It's the morning after theyear before, and you've got that annual first-day-of-Januaryhangover from hell. Your first new year's resolution, you decide asyou stagger repeatedly between ...
The Scotsman's Preview of 2008: Transport
Jan 01, 2008; ... DETAILS should emerge about how the GBP 4.2 billion cable-stayedbridge over the Forth will be funded, while the present Forth RoadBridge will be toll-free from early February - along with the TayRoad Bridge. But work to halt corrosion of the Forth crossing's maincables will cause more ...
Changing room chat
Jan 01, 2008 ... Aussie rules after race mix-up MR AUSSIE may have stopped racing a circuit too soon, but hestill managed to win the Newtown Handicap Chase at Tramore inIreland yesterday, as every other horse in the race followed suit. Amid farcical scenes, all 14 jockeys in the ...
Can SNP 'outsiders' pass this crucial constitutional test?
Jan 01, 2008; ... THE turning of the year is a time of ritual. Families cleavetogether, communities genuinely commune, strangers are greeted likeold friends, resolutions are made. An important part of that NewYear ritual is the desire to look forward, to leave the past behind,to contemplate what might be, ...
Investors set sights on 7,000 this year
Jan 01, 2008; ... BRITAIN'S blue-chip stocks ended in negative territory yesterday,leaving the FTSE 100 with a gain of just 3.8 per cent for 2007 - itsworst performance in five years. However, most analysts were saying that after a shaky start to2008, amid the continuing credit crunch, the ...
Back with a bang
Jan 01, 2008; ... EDINBURGH blasted itself back to the heart of worldwide New Yearcelebrations last night as up to 100,000 revellers toasted thearrival of 2008. The year was only one second old but a GBP 1.3 millionpyrotechnic glare left no doubt that the capital had rekindled itsworld-famous ...
Leon pulls out of party
Jan 01, 2008 ... THE TV X-Factor winner Leon Jackson pulled out of Edinburgh'sHogmanay celebrations at the last minute yesterday. The 19-year-old singer, whose first single When You Believe wastop of the Christmas charts, blamed a severe attack of tonsillitis. He said: "I'm just disappointed ...
Amid a sea of scarves and shirts, player's widow visits club 'shrine'
Jan 01, 2008; ... IT WAS a journey that she had made dozens of times to watch herhusband, the Motherwell captain Phil O'Donnell, lead his team out onto the pitch. But Eileen O'Donnell's visit to Fir Park yesterday was one ofheartbreak as she came to view the sea of tributes left in memory ofthe ...
O'Donnell's passing marks poignant end to a year of mourning in sport
Jan 01, 2008; ... THE tragically early death of Phil O'Donnell marked the end of ayear which witnessed the passing of many celebrated sportsmen andwomen. Besides the few, mainly Scots, remembered below, 2007 alsosaw the passing of such celebrated names as the golfer Gay Brewer,the football player and ...
Ailing Hearts' bid to avoid battle at the bottom stirs Frail's memories
Jan 01, 2008; ... THE prospect of battling against relegation may be a novel onefor the Hearts squad, but Stephen Frail knows all about it. Theassistant coach was immediately thrown into such a battle when hejoined the club as a player in 1994. With three teams going down in season 1993-94, Hearts ...
Sombre Smith in no mood for football
Jan 01, 2008; ... WALTER Smith was as surprised as he was indifferent yesterday tohaving to hold a media conference to preview the Old Firm matchwhich was scheduled for tomorrow. Privately, the Rangers manager was understood to be bemused thatthe SPL had not already taken the decision to postpone ...
Old Firm match postponed as Celtic ask for time to grieve for O'Donnell
Jan 01, 2008; ... SENSITIVITY and respect seemed to gain a gratifying victory overbureaucratic resistance yesterday when the Scottish Premier Leaguebelatedly agreed to postpone tomorrow's Old Firm match following thedeath of Phil O'Donnell. The decision came 24 hours after the SPL had rebuffed ...
Motherwell players offered counselling to deal with tragedy
Jan 01, 2008; ... MOTHERWELL's grieving players will be offered counselling bytheir club when they return to work at Fir Park tomorrow. Mark McGhee, the Motherwell manager, gave his squad two days offin the wake of the shocking death at the age of 35 of their captainand team-mate Phil O'Donnell, ...
Saltman sets off for Far East on a route to Europe
Jan 01, 2008; ... AFTER securing a card in Malaysia last month to play on thisyear's Asian Tour, Lloyd Saltman expects the opportunity to competein the Far East during 2008 will help him evolve into a golfercapable of performing anywhere on the international stage. "I hope the experience will turn ...
Bookies go to wire over new TV deal
Jan 01, 2008; ... GREAT news for all those who still hanker after the good old dayswhen betting shops had no fancy television pictures, just a cracklyold Extel commentary on the blower. Choose the right betting shop this afternoon and it could be likestepping back in time, albeit modern technology ...
The bottom line (Being fat is all YOUR fault)
Jan 01, 2008; ... STEVE Miller's distinctive Midlands brogue comes cackling downthe phone line. He's just had surgery on his wisdom teeth,apparently, but it's done nothing to quell the sharpness of histongue. "Look," says Britain's latest self-styled weight-loss guru, "I'mnot going to beg people ...
Tantrums & Trainers: Emma Cowing's Fitness Diary: Strengthening my New Year resolve
Jan 01, 2008; ... THE other day I sneaked a peak at the fitness resolutions I madelast new year in this column, and was surprised to see how many ofthem I had managed to keep. I no longer work out in front of the TV,my handweights are still used regularly, I have made up severalplaylists to listen to on ...
Junk food ads banned for TV shows aimed at under-16s
Jan 02, 2008; ... ADVERTS for burgers, chocolate bars and fizzy drinks have beenbanned during television programmes aimed at youngsters under 16 aspart of a drive to cut the amount of junk food consumed by children. The total ban on foods high in fats, salt and sugar which cameinto operation ...
A&L tight-lipped on approach by Santander
Jan 02, 2008; ... MORTGAGE lender Alliance & Leicester yesterday remained tight-lipped on reports that it had been the object of an abortiveapproach from the aggressively acquisitive Spanish group BancoSantander. Reports had indicated that the Leicester-based lender had heldexploratory takeover ...
BAE in talks to make Hawk in India for world market
Jan 02, 2008 ... BAE Systems was yesterday said to be in talks with an Indianmanufacturer over a joint venture to make aircraft for the globalmarket. The UK defence group is thought to be in talks with HindustanAeronautics, which already makes Hawk advanced jet trainers underlicence from BAE ...
Between The Lines: Beware: the leading sector of our economy is dangerously exposed
Jan 02, 2008; ... WHITHER the Scottish economy in 2008? Let's begin with inflationbecause this will govern how fast interest rates come down. Thetruth is that central banks are no longer in control of inflation,because they have kept interest rates artificially low for too long. Predictably, as they ...
Violated, robbed, bullied - shameful litany of cases
Jan 02, 2008; ... A CATALOGUE of cases involving abuse and neglect of the elderlyin Scotland has been highlighted in recent months. A nurse at Greenhills Care Home in Biggar, Lanarkshire, wasreported to watchdogs after she ordered 18 dementia patients to getout of bed at 5:30am and left them to sit ...
The Diary By Alba
Jan 02, 2008 ... A brush with global warming WILDLIFE artist Darren Rees has staked a claim to a polar record.His trip to the island of Rossoya, the northernmost island of theSvalbard archipelago, is the furthest north anyone has wielded apaintbrush, he believes. In 2005 the Arts Council of ...
Last of the music hall legends is still tickled to take centre stage
Jan 02, 2008; ... WITH his unkempt shock of hair, buck teeth and trademark ticklingstick, Ken Dodd is one of Britain's most distinctive entertainers.But he is also the last of a dying breed. The iconic performer has devoted his life to the pursuit andprovision of humour, giving the world Diddymen, ...
An ice one, girls - the bunny bathehearts go Forth as bride says 'I dook'
Jan 02, 2008 ... BUNNY Girls and a bride and groom were among the hardy revellersplunging into the icy waters of the Firth of Forth for the NewYear's Day Loony Dook at South Queensferry. Around 500 people in fancy dress braved rain and freezing fog totake part in the 22nd annual charity event held ...
Turn the other cheek and let life run its natural course
Jan 02, 2008; ... I DON'T spend much time thinking about my cheeks. The ones undermy eyes I mean, not those ones. They're just there, really, ready tohave make-up adorned on them from time to time, to blush if I saysomething embarrassing (this happens quite often) and to pink upduring the cold, icy ...
Fears over food price inflation
Jan 02, 2008; ... HANGOVERS eventually disappear into a sense of oblivion and adetermination not to repeat the events that caused them. However,consumers across the world will have to come to terms with a newheadache: food prices are on the rise and will increase stillfurther over the next 12 months ....
Leader: 2008 reasons to be optimistic for a change
Jan 01, 2008; ... GOODBYE 2007, hello 2008! The old year ended on a sour note. Thesubprime mortgage crisis which erupted in the United States inAugust has led to losses in the banking sector of at least GBP 100billion. The failed suicide attack on Glasgow Airport in Junereminded us that nowhere is safe ...