The Scotsman back issues from April 2009:
Watts steps up as Cairn swings into profit
Apr 01, 2009; ... Mike Watts has moved up to deputy chief executive but Cairndenied it was part of a succession plan to replace Sir Bill Gammell CAIRN Energy yesterday promoted its highly regarded explorationdirector to the new role of deputy chief executive but denied it wasdrawing up succession ...
Edinburgh movers and shakers back bid to boost city's profile
Apr 01, 2009; ... A DRIVE to overhaul the way Edinburgh is promoted to the worldwill be launched today by the city's controversial new marketingbody as it emerged a string of major organisations have alreadythrown their weight behind it. Business leaders, hoteliers, university chiefs, retail groups ...
Loom and gloom for The Queen of Cashmere
Apr 01, 2009; ... MADONNA and Kate Moss have been among the celebrity clientstempted by her GBP 165 cashmere knickers. She has had commissions from top fashion houses Yves St Laurent,Chanel and Marc Jacobs. And, escaping from her fashion shops tospend winter weekends in her ski chalet in Verbier, ...
Between the Lines: Consultation is fine until it is put into practice
Apr 01, 2009; ... FOR years business has been demanding a reform of the planninglaws in Scotland in order to speed development and reduce investmentcosts. Having myself acquired a sore bottom sitting on a localauthority planning committee, and chaired a property developmentcompany, I understand the ...
Thousands sign up to save former cinema
Apr 01, 2009; ... MORE than 2,400 people have thrown their weight behind a campaignin an online petition demanding an 11th-hour reprieve for one of thecountry's most historic cinemas. Historic Scotland (HS) has been told a "national treasure" willbe lost if a developer demolishes the former Odeon ...
Critic's Choice
Apr 01, 2009 ... Scottish Chamber Orchestra - Adventurer: The Fire and the Rose City Halls, Glasgow, 3 April; Queen's Hall Edinburgh, 4 April We've had Joseph Swensen as conductor; he's also appeared ...
Coping with the Crunch: Keeping your bottle as cash flow slows
Apr 01, 2009; ... OUTSIDE Great Grog's wine bar on Edinburgh's Rose Street, a signtempts morning customers in with the promise of free coffee. Yet Richard Meadows - who has just celebrated ten years as anindependent wine merchant - is bemused by the fact that morepassersby don't take advantage of ...
Kilt and kin: New York Scots party in all their tartan glory
Apr 01, 2009; ... NEW York's Chelsea district was swathed in tartan as Scots andAmerican celebrities descended on the M2 nightclub to celebrate thecharity fashion event, Dressed to Kilt. Hosts Sir Sean Connery and his wife, Micheline, were greeted withloud cheers and applause when they made an ...
Cuts in classroom assistants 'putting education at risk'
Apr 01, 2009; ... THE NUMBER of classroom assistants is being cut across Scotlandto save cash-strapped councils money, a move that teachers say couldput the quality of children's education at risk. Inverclyde has become the latest council to announce job cuts inschools, with four support managers ...
Classes that help pupils get their act together
Apr 01, 2009; ... IT BEGINS with a football, booted out of the frame by a young ladfrom Barrhead High School. In a few minutes of film, the ball tracesa journey round the town, headed by a man in a phonebox and apoliceman cycling by, tossed back by a girl working at a computerand an assistant behind the ...
Ain't no way to hide your lyin' eyes, scientists confirm
Apr 01, 2009; ... ROMANTICS have long believed that the eyes are the windows to thesoul. And now science would seem to agree, as research unveiled bypsychologists today shows how "eye-tracking" techniques may detectwhether people are telling the truth. A study presented to the annual ...
Prices are rising, but food is still cheaper than 20 years ago
Apr 01, 2009; ... THE current modest overall inflation figures mask the rising costof food - up more than 11 per cent over the past year. It is the rise in the costs of virtually all meats that ishitting the weekly shopping budget hardest. Prices were relativelystable during 2007, but in the first ...
Farmers lose compensation fight over foot-and-mouth
Apr 01, 2009; ... THERE was bad news yesterday for the seven farmers who, with thesupport of the NFU of England, have been pursuing the UK government-funded Institute of Animal Health and the commercial vaccine companyMerial for compensation over the outbreak of foot-and-mouth diseasein Surrey in the ...
Pryde Of Scotland
Apr 01, 2009; ... Scottish art spanning three centuries goes on display in Londontomorrow and leading voices north of the Border have chosen theirfavourite pieces. Tim Cornwell reveals the most popular of all HE FITS into no Scottish art movement or school and he died inpoverty during the Second ...
FSA plans to protect large 'one-off' deposits
Apr 01, 2009; ... SAVERS with large sums parked in an account temporarily could getextra protection in the event of their bank or building societygoing bust, under new proposals unveiled yesterday. The plans were set out by the Financial Services Authority (FSA)to address concerns that UK savers ...
For Brown, it may be case of win some, lose some at London talks
Apr 01, 2009 ... WORLD leaders will strike a global deal on bankers' pay andbonuses at the G20 summit, Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, vowedyesterday. He said a deal on the remuneration of bankers would be agreedwhen the leaders of the most powerful economies gather in Londontomorrow ....
London in biggest security operation since WW2
Apr 01, 2009; ... ANTI-CAPITALISTS will focus their anger on financial giants suchas the Royal Bank of Scotland today, as London prepares for itsbiggest security operation since the Second World War. Protesters are setting their sights on banks as part of a massdemonstration against the greed of ...
Gazetteer
Apr 01, 2009 ... OLDEST SWINGER IN TOWN?: Crooner Frank back on the menu FRANK McKay will be putting the brakes on his day job to take tothe stage tomorrow night at the Hospitality Industry Trust (Hit)Scotland dinner, at the Hilton Hotel in Glasgow. The crooner - who by day is chief executive ...
Folk, Jazz, Etc: Harp fest spans ages, genres and cultures
Apr 01, 2009; ... THE new album, Hinterlands, from the seasoned duo of harpistWendy Stewart and piper Gary West, opens in contemporary vein with acharacteristically idiosyncratic pipe tune by the late GordonDuncan, and ends with some magisterial echoes from 18th-centurypibroch territory, Highland pipes ...
Theatre Review: The Lasses O
Apr 01, 2009; ... THE LASSES O **** WYND THEATRE, MELROSE HOMECOMING year; yet while the organisers seem happy to usecheesy tourist imagery of Robert Burns on their advertisingmaterial, not much cash has been forthcoming, for artists andpromoters who actually want to engage with the radical ...
Rose's results help inspire M&S rally
Apr 01, 2009; ... MARKS & Spencer chief executive Sir Stuart Rose yesterday assuredinvestors that the high street stalwart was moving "in the rightdirection" as he unwrapped a smaller-than-expected fall in fourth-quarter sales. Shares in the 125-year-old retailer leapt 12 per cent in responseto ...
New CSA is threatening blameless fathers with prison, warn lawyers
Apr 01, 2009; ... SCOTS parents are being threatened with prison by a body set upto replace the Child Support Agency, despite not owing a penny inarrears, lawyers have claimed. Family solicitors say the new body CMEC - the Child Maintenanceand Enforcement Commission - is using "bullying tactics" to ...
Prisoner's suicide could have been prevented, says inquiry sheriff
Apr 01, 2009; ... PRISON authorities were yesterday condemned for failing toprevent a prisoner, already identified as a suicide risk, fromtaking his own life in his cell. Dylan Stickle, a 25-year-old inmate from Shetland, was foundhanging from a noose made from a duvet cover at ...
Scots TA most under-strength
Apr 01, 2009; ... FEARS have been raised about the future of Scotland's twoTerritorial Army battalions as it is revealed that they aresuffering from the UK's largest shortfalls. Figures obtained by the Conservatives in Westminster showed thatthe 6th Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland, based in ...
Inquiry into infected blood scandal will name names, says chairman
Apr 01, 2009; ... THE most wide-ranging inquiry into how people in Scotland wereinfected with hepatitis C and HIV from contaminated blood isexpected to name those who played a part in the tragedy, it emergedyesterday. Campaigners welcomed what they saw as a pledge by Lord Penrose,chairman of the ...
New body out to make a splash as it looks after our seas
Apr 01, 2009; ... A NEW body to manage Scotland's seas gets up and running today. The creation of Marine Scotland was welcomed by environment,fishing and renewables groups. It will have responsibility formarine planning, policy development, management and compliancemonitoring. The current ...
Caltongate architect blasts campaigners
Apr 01, 2009; ... A LEADING Scots architect whose firm was involved in the strickenCaltongate development has launched an attack on critics of thescheme. Malcolm Fraser has criticized campaigners for celebrating thedemise of developer Mountgrange Capital last week and pledged toconfront them at a ...
GBP 400,000 boost for Fair Isle observatory
Apr 01, 2009; ... AMBITIOUS plans for a new bird observatory in one of the mostremote parts of Scotland were given GBP 400,000 of backingyesterday. The existing facility on Fair Isle is internationally renownedand attracts thousands of bird watchers every year, but a GBP 4million building is ...
Hope to solve case of missing Highlander
Apr 01, 2009; ... POLICE in the Highlands hope new light may today be thrown on a34-year-old missing persons case. The BBC programme Missing Live is to feature the disappearance ofRobert MacRae, 19, who vanished in the early hours Saturday, 8February, 1975 after leaving a dance in Fort William ....
Myners urged to quit over RBS statement
Apr 01, 2009; ... A GOVERNMENT minister faced demands for his resignation yesterdayafter the latest twist in the row over the GBP 703,000-a-yearpension of disgraced banker Sir Fred Goodwin. Lord Myners, the City minister who oversaw Sir Fred's departurefrom Royal Bank of Scotland on behalf of the ...
Lanes may be made no-go zones at night to cut crime
Apr 01, 2009; ... TWO lanes in the heart of Aberdeen city centre could be closed tothe public at night because they have become "hot spots" for crime. The routes, used as short cuts to the Adelphi - a cul-de-sac atthe east of Union Street - have become havens for drug-taking andprostitution since ...
Debut judge posted missing
Apr 01, 2009 ... A COURT was delayed yesterday after a judge failed to turn up forher maiden appearance on the appeal bench. Lady Clark was listed as the third member of the bench at theCourt of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh, but proceedings did not startas ...
Sturgeon reveals her family's struggles with cancer
Apr 01, 2009; ... NICOLA Sturgeon yesterday revealed her own family's battle withbowel cancer as she launched the latest step in a nationwideprogramme to tackle the disease. The health secretary told how she lost her grandmother to bowelcancer shortly after diagnosis nearly 20 years ago, but ...
Putting our historic cinemas in the picture
Apr 01, 2009; ... THE architectural legacy of Scotland's historic cinemas has beencelebrated in a new booklet. Spotlight on Scotland's Cinemas was launched yesterday with thehelp of Mike Russell, the culture minister, who worked as a filmprojectionist in the Uists and Barra in the late 1970s ....
Big names turn out to back RSNO on return to Usher Hall
Apr 01, 2009; ... TOP soloists and conductors are set to lead the Royal ScottishNational Orchestra back into the Usher Hall after the buildingfinally reopens in August. Scotland's national orchestra unveiled an exceptionally strongline-up yesterday for its 09:10 season, which launches in ...
Union calls for hospital smoking ban to be dropped
Apr 01, 2009; ... A HEALTH service union is opposing plans by a Scottish healthboard to implement a complete ban on smoking at all its hospitalsites. NHS Grampian announced two months ago that the ban could stopstaff smoking at any time while in uniform - or even wearing an NHSbadge - under the ...
Foreign gangs preying on Scottish jobseekers
Apr 01, 2009; ... GANGS of foreign criminals are swindling unemployed Scots out ofthousands of pounds by posting fake job adverts online. Dozens of victims have called in the police after being dupedinto sending as much as GBP 3,000 a time in a money-wiring scam. It is thought overseas ...
Labour hits out over GBP 4m quango that has met only twice
Apr 01, 2009; ... CONCERNS will be raised today over the GBP 4 million spent on theSNP's Scottish Futures Trust, which has apparently resulted in justtwo meetings. The SFT was set up to drive forward Scotland's infrastructureprogramme, but opponents claim it has proven to be an ...
SNP Ministers Freeze Salary
Apr 01, 2009 ... MINISTERS in the Scottish Government have decided to freeze theirpay this year as an act of solidarity with those who are sufferingfrom the recession. As of today, all MSPs are entitled to the 2.33 per cent increaseagreed by MPs for their own salary rise because their pay is ...
Optical Express has sights set on growth as turnover rises
Apr 01, 2009; ... OPTICAL Express yesterday announced it is to create 200 jobs withthe opening of a customer call centre in Glasgow, as the firmreported robust financial results for the past two years. The Cumbernauld-based eyecare group announced a strong set ofunaudited results for 2008 and filed ...
Queen's friend facing legal action over Royal Deeside right to roam
Apr 01, 2009; ... THE Queen's neighbour at Balmoral has become embroiled in a rowover public access to his sprawling country estate, The Scotsman canreveal. John Gordon, the laird of Abergeldie, whose family have enjoyed aclose relationship with the Royal Family for more than 150 years,could face ...
Scots 'well on way' to winning racism battle - but still 14 hate crimes a day
Apr 01, 2009; ... CAMPAIGNERS yesterday claimed Scotland was "well advanced" in thefight against racism as new figures showed the number of racistincidents recorded by police had fallen for the first time in fouryears. But with 5,243 racist incidents recorded in 2008 - that is 14 aday and only ...
Rapist given life term after telling judge he had right to be released
Apr 01, 2009; ... A DANGEROUS sex attacker demanded to be freed yesterday becauseit had taken too long to sentence him, but a judge imposed a lifeprison term. John Munro, 35, has a history of sacking legal teams and he triedagain to buy more time by asking Lord Kinclaven for the chance torecruit ...
Welcome
Apr 01, 2009; ... I WROTE a couple of weeks ago about my daughter's home-basedcredit crunch birthday. In case you didn't read it, that means shehad a (relatively) cheap birthday at home, not a party in a DIYstore. Anyway, I return to the theme of birthdays today, firstlysaluting the Edinburgh ...
Scots Stocks: Cairn fires up the markets with hint of early oil from India
Apr 01, 2009 ... CAIRN Energy shares jumped yesterday as the company said it maybegin producing oil from its vast Rajasthan fields in India earlierthan expected. A spokesman insisted the target remained the third quarter of2009, but chief executive Sir Bill Gammell said that, if agreementscould ...
Scrutineer: 'Less weak than expected'
Apr 01, 2009; ... M&S 296p +31.5p Hornby 68.25p +1.25p IT'S a funny old thing, the stock market. Thanks to the profit-takers, bumper results don't always translate into a rising shareprice. On the flip side, seemingly negative news can trigger abuying rush. Cutting a ...
It's your M&S Footsie surge
Apr 01, 2009; ... LONDON FTSE 100 CLOSE 3,926.1 +163.2 THE FTSE 100 soared more than 4 per cent yesterday as better-than-expected sales figures from retail giant Marks & Spencer helpedlift spirits. Bargain hunters were also tempted into the fray after Monday'sheavy selling, helping all but a ...
Minister blames City watchdog for crisis at Dunfermline
Apr 01, 2009; ... THE collapse of Scotland's biggest building society was partlydown to the failure of the City watchdog to prevent it from takingexcessive risks, a Treasury minister admitted yesterday. Lord Myners said the Financial Services Authority (FSA) hadmissed opportunities to prevent the ...
Bellway sees sales rise in first quarter but warns of 'false dawn'
Apr 01, 2009; ... HOUSEBUILDER Bellway plans to reopen its second Scottish divisiononce the recession is over, the firm revealed yesterday, as itannounced a boost in sales for the first quarter of 2009. Alistair Leitch, the Scots-born finance director of Bellway,which is based in Newcastle and ...
What's On Today
Apr 01, 2009 ... 1 FILM: THE BOAT THAT ROCKED Out two days early to mark April Fool's Day - or to preemptsniffy reviews from newspaper critics, depending on how cynical youare - Richard Curtis's latest Britcom is a rose-tinted celebrationof the 1960s pirate radio stations who exploited a loophole ...
Scots police 'failing to tackle sex slave trade'
Apr 01, 2009; ... POLICE in Scotland are failing to bring human traffickers tojustice and protect the victims being forced to work as sex slaves,a damning new report says. The Scotsman can reveal the top-level study, published today,accuses police of failing to understand the true extent of ...
Trump hits out at councillor over 'bitter and negative' golf resort campaign
Apr 01, 2009; ... DONALD Trump has launched a tirade against one of the most vocalcritics of his controversial golf resort development in Scotland. The billionaire businessman has accused Councillor Debra Storr oftrying to "harass and discredit" his plans for the Menie Estate bylodging a formal ...
Television Review: Don't count on learning much
Apr 01, 2009; ... Horizon - Alan and Marcus Go Forth and Multiply, BBC2 Did Darwin Kill God? BBC2 AS SOMEONE who often wonders whether they suffer from a kind ofnumerical dyslexia, I was clearly the ideal viewer for Horizon -Alan and Marcus Go Forth and Multiply, an ostensibly ...
Venture deal edges closer as non-exec quits
Apr 01, 2009; ... THE prospect of a full-scale bid by Centrica for VentureProduction increased last night after the director representing thesecond-largest shareholder of Aberdeen oil company suddenly quit theboard. Graeme Sword, a partner at debt laden private equity group 3i,gave Venture notice ...
Solemn vow
Apr 01, 2009; ... 'THERE'S no going back. There will be an Usher Hall season." Thatis the cast-iron promise that will be given today with some relishby Simon Woods, chief executive of the Royal Scottish NationalOrchestra (RSNO), as he unveils his orchestra's plans for theforthcoming 2009-10 season ....
Changing room chat
Apr 01, 2009 ... French want fans to lay off boos FRANCE don't seem very confident of putting in a decentperformance in tonight's World Cup qualifier against Lithuania. Perhaps fearing that another dire result is just around thecorner, the French - who are third in Group 7 - have already ...
Digest
Apr 01, 2009 ... ATHLETICS A PROPOSED sprint showdown series between the United States andJamaica has been delayed until 2010 because of scheduling conflicts. "We feel the stars will be aligned, literally and figuratively,next May and June for this series to really take off," USA Track ...
Leader: Signs are good for G20 - if Gordon Brown gets real
Apr 01, 2009; ... IN JUNE 1933, delegates from 66 countries held a summitconference in London in an attempt to stop the world economycollapsing. This G66 meeting was hosted by the British primeminister, a Scotsman named Ramsay MacDonald. Also present were eightprime ministers and one monarch - King Faisal ...
Dunfermline proves that forensic scrutiny is vital
Apr 01, 2009; ... IN HIS hilarious and painfully honest new book, A View From TheFoothills, Chris Mullin, the former Labour minister, recalls anencounter with Alistair Darling as they travelled to Westminster. Itwas March 2003, Tony Blair was speeding the country towards war inIraq, and Mr Darling was ...
The Word
Apr 01, 2009 ... gowk n, Scots word for a ...
Trams to expand with F-Rail Loop
Apr 01, 2009; ... EDINBURGH'S tram project has put its recent troubles behind itand is now set to expand with a new line to the east of the city. The new line, originally called the Forth Rail Loop but shortenedto the F-Rail Loop for a more modern image, will go to the new QueenMargaret University ...
Secrets of the Amazon may help Scotland reduce global warming
Apr 01, 2009; ... SCOTS scientists are replicating a technique used by Amazoniantribes to create charcoal that boosts crop growth and locks upcarbon dioxide. They believe "biochar", made from waste plant products, couldhelp tackle climate change by locking away carbon and preventing itescaping ...
UK welcome for Obama - plus 600 staff and The Beast
Apr 01, 2009; ... IT IS the stuff of Hollywood action movies. The presidentialplane (Air Force One), helicopter (Marine One, complete with decoy)and an armour-plated limousine called The Beast will all be seenduring Barack Obama's first visit to the UK as the United Statespresident. Mr Obama and ...
Obesity drug use soars by 25 times
Apr 01, 2009; ... A PUBLIC health expert has warned that some Scottish doctors arehanding out prescriptions for weight-loss drugs "willy-nilly"without proper advice. The concerns raised by Professor Michael Lean of GlasgowUniversity came as it emerged that their use has multiplied by 25times in a ...
Find answers over pupils' poor maths, minister told
Apr 01, 2009; ... SCOTLAND faces challenges in improving pupils' performance inmaths and numeracy, Fiona Hyslop, the education secretary, saidyesterday. Ms Hyslop spoke after figures showed only an estimated 30 percent of second-year senior school pupils were classed as being "wellestablished or ...