The Scotsman back issues from July 2009:
Dogs being left to die in their owners' cars as temperatures soar
Jul 01, 2009; ... DOGS are being left to die in hot cars as temperatures soaracross Scotland, according to an animal welfare charity. The Scottish SPCA says two animals were found dead in the samecar in Inverness within the past two weeks. A separate incident inthe city is also being investigated, ...
Banks must face future with lower returns
Jul 01, 2009; ... BRITAIN'S banks must expect to make lower returns in future asthey take on greater responsibility for risk-taking, the Bank ofEngland warned yesterday. Paul Tucker, the Bank's deputy governor, told the BritishBankers' Association (BBA) that the premiums paid by banks for thenew ...
Arriva revenue growth losing steam
Jul 01, 2009; ... ARRIVA yesterday became the latest major transport group to warnthat the recession was eating into its previously optimistic growthexpectations. The company's share price fell by 4 per cent yesterday after itwarned that slackening growth on its CrossCountry rail franchisewould ...
Music: AC/DC: Black Ice slips along nicely on hot night
Jul 01, 2009; ... AC/DC **** HAMPDEN PARK WHILE those other rock behemoths Spinal Tap have taken the non-labour intensive route with their One Night Only World Tour (thatnight being in London), there will be no sleep until the end of nextyear for AC/DC on their mammoth Black Ice tour, such is ...
Between the Lines: Coyote-like economy takes its plunge off a cliff at last
Jul 01, 2009; ... IN THE old Road Runner cartoons, Coyote was always being trickedinto running over the edge of a precipice. For a few moments, Coyotewould be suspended in mid air with his feet still running. Then, asunderstanding dawned, he would plummet down. Of course, being acartoon character, poor ...
Multi-coloured bridge goes back to black as council stages swift retreat
Jul 01, 2009; ... GOING black to the future, council chiefs in Perth have beenforced to perform an embarrassing U-turn over their attempts tobrighten one of the main bridges over the River Tay. Last month, contractors were brought in by Perth and KinrossCouncil to start a make-over of the Queen's ...
Sandy is now a Sir, and Standard Life search for successor goes on
Jul 01, 2009; ... ARISE Sir Sandy. The chief executive of Standard Life wasyesterday formally made a knight by the Queen at Holyrood Palace. Knighted in the New Year Honours for services to the insuranceindustry in Scotland, Crombie yesterday received the officialinsignia of the knights batchelor ....
Pressure on parties to drop opposition as most Scots back independence vote
Jul 01, 2009; ... PRESSURE was mounting last night for the unionist parties inHolyrood to drop their threat to block a referendum on independenceafter an ICM survey of more than 1,000 Scots revealed that 58 percent want a poll to go ahead in the next year. But while most people want the chance to ...
Drink kills eight Scots a day
Jul 01, 2009; ... Doctor urges MSPs to back moves to outlaw cheap alcohol and raiseminimum price ALCOHOL is killing one Scot every three hours, figures showedyesterday as the leader of Scotland's doctors challenged MSPs tosupport plans to increase the price of cheap drinks. The new study ...
Lloyds and RBS face fire sale of their assets
Jul 01, 2009; ... BRITAIN'S semi-nationalised banks Lloyds and RBS may be forced toengage in a fire sale of parts of their businesses as the price fortheir multi-billion-pound government bail-outs, it was claimed lastnight. The fears emerged on the day that the Lloyds Banking Group - 43per cent ...
UK economy shrinks at fastest rate in 61 years
Jul 01, 2009; ... THE UK economy has contracted at its fastest rate for half acentury, casting fresh doubts on Gordon Brown's election strategy. Output fell by 2.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2009, muchworse than the 1.9 per cent predicted just a month ago, figures fromthe Office of National ...
Rules on holding a by-election
Jul 01, 2009; ... THE date for a by-election is normally announced within threemonths of the seat being vacated. But because the rules are governedby parliamentary convention rather than law, they can be bent toparty advantage. A writ is moved in the Commons by the chief whip of the ...
Tide may turn for dairy sector as UK leads Europe in restructuring
Jul 01, 2009; ... DAIRY farmers have endured a dismal six months with a successionof price cuts and the collapse of the farmer-owned Dairy Farmers ofBritain (DFB) into administration, with the membership sufferingserious losses. However, the tide may turn over the next few months, according toa ...
Gazetteer
Jul 01, 2009 ... DRESS DOWN SUMMER: Time to let staff strip off, says union IT COULD be a sight for sore eyes. Union bosses are encouragingoffice workers everywhere to ditch their suits and ties in favour ofshorts and vest tops to combat the heatwave currently experienced bymost of Scotland ....
HMV plays down impact of 80-fold sales surge in Jackson CDs
Jul 01, 2009; ... MICHAEL Jackson's untimely demise is providing a sales boost forBritain's biggest music retailer, although the surge in demand isunlikely to affect HMV's full-year profit performance, the groupyesterday admitted. Chief executive Simon Fox revealed there had been an 80-fold ...
House prices creep up 'but many obstacles in way of recovery'
Jul 01, 2009; ... HOUSE prices in Scotland rose by just 0.1 per cent in the secondquarter of 2009, flagging behind the UK-wide figure of 1.1 per cent,new data from the Nationwide has revealed. But the increase compares with a fall of 5.2 per cent north ofthe Border in the first three months of the ...
Labour in retreat as ID card plan is axed
Jul 01, 2009; ... THE government was accused of being "in chaos" last night afterit all but abandoned its flagship identity card scheme. In thelatest in a series of U-turns and climbdowns from the cash-strappedgovernment, Home Secretary Alan Johnson revealed the controversialscheme would never be ...
Spottiswood minimises impact of downturn
Jul 01, 2009; ... FIT-OUT and construction specialist Morris & Spottiswood hasreported a slight drop in both revenues and pre-tax profits in 2008,but said a decision to reduce exposure to recession-hit industrieshad minimised the impact of the downturn. The privately owned firm reported revenues of ...
Hospitals with the most superbug cases named and shamed
Jul 01, 2009; ... SCOTLAND's worst-performing hospitals in the battle against oneof the most dangerous superbugs have been revealed by ministers -with patients in the North-east potentially at the highest risk. Aberdeen Royal Infirmary has topped the list with 438 cases ofClostrium difficile (C ...
Only one in three ScotRail passengers happy with handling of delays
Jul 01, 2009; ... JUST one third of ScotRail passengers are happy with howScotland's main train operator handles delays, an independent surveyhas shown. The rating was worse than in the most recent polls, indicatingthat promised improvements to keep travellers better informed duringdisruption ...
Police officer who led Nat Fraser murder hunt retires
Jul 01, 2009; ... THE senior police officer who brought notorious killer Nat Fraserto justice retired from the service yesterday. Jim Stephen, 57, the Assistant Chief Constable of GrampianPolice, was a Detective Superintendent with the north-east forcewhen he headed the five-year investigation into ...
11 arrested in police raids as Class A drug seizures soar
Jul 01, 2009; ... SEIZURES of Class A drugs, including heroin and crack cocaine,have soared by a staggering 50 per cent in the north-east ofScotland in the past year. Grampian Police's annual report shows the force recovered 26.4kgof Class A drugs, compared with 17.7 kg in the previous year, ...
Police offer reassurance after second migrant dies
Jul 01, 2009; ... SENIOR police officers yesterday issued an urgent message, aimedat reassuring the residents of Brechin, following the second murderof a migrant worker in the Angus town in 15 months. In April last year the people of the Royal Burgh were leftreeling following the "severed head" ...
New lease of Life for Brian as Glasgow ends film ban after 29 years
Jul 01, 2009; ... FOR a city famed worldwide for the sense of humour of itscitizens, it was always a glaring contradiction. For almost 30 years, one of the classic comedy films has beenunofficially "banned" in Glasgow, after it was branded blasphemousby councillors on its release. Monty ...
Job cut fears as Diageo plans review of Scottish operations
Jul 01, 2009; ... DRINKS giant Diageo was this morning set to announce a majorrestructuring of its Scottish operations, sparking fears of joblosses and plant closures north of the Border. Workers at Diageo's 50 Scottish sites were yesterday told to meetat their place of work at 8:45am where they ...
Miracle boy only survivor of air crash
Jul 01, 2009; ... IT WILL rank as one of the most miraculous escapes in the historyof aviation - a child as young as five is the sole survivor of anIndian Ocean airliner crash in which 152 people have almostcertainly died. As rescuers rushed to the site where the Yemenia passenger jethit the ...
How escapes demonstrate crashes can be survived
Jul 01, 2009; ... IN JANUARY 2009 all 155 passengers and crew aboard a US AirwaysA320 Airbus survived after it crash-landed in the Hudson River afterhitting a flock of geese. * The most famous escape from a plane crash was probably in 1972,when a Uruguayan student rugby team boarded a small plane ...
MSPs back nuclear-free goal but seek more years from existing plants
Jul 01, 2009; ... A HOLYROOD committee has backed SNP ministers' plans to turnScotland into a nuclear-free state. But MSPs said the lifespan of existing nuclear power stationsshould be extended to buy time to develop alternative, low-carbonsources of energy in the renewable sector ....
ProStrakan on route to profit as drug cleared
Jul 01, 2009 ... PROSTRAKAN is increasingly confident of hitting monthly break-even this year after being given early clearance to launch a cancerpain drug in France. The Borders-based pharmaceutical firm has been loss-making sinceit floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2005, but rising ...
Broker snaps
Jul 01, 2009 ... Asos 340p -21p Broker says BUY BROKERS at Arbuthnot Securities reckon Asos, the online fashionretailer, remains a "strong buy" following Monday's bumper full-year results. "We think that Asos's international business, still in itsinfancy even at circa 20 ...
Scots Stocks: France clearance does little for health of Prostrakan shares
Jul 01, 2009 ... DRUG firm Prostrakan dropped 1.7 per cent or 1.5p to 86.5pyesterday, despite being given early clearance to launch a cancerpain drug in France. The Borders-based pharmaceutical firm announced that it hadagreed price terms with French regulators to sell Abstral, allowingit to ...
Scrutineer: Coming up on the rails
Jul 01, 2009; ... Arriva 406p -16p Dana 1,402p +32p IN 2007, a rail franchise looked like a licence to print money,even if the governments rules meant it took a PhD in economics tomake it. But look at what is happening now. Recession has had the effect of slashing ...
Small but Beautiful: Lower loss for Assura as revenue surges
Jul 01, 2009 ... HEALTHCARE firm Assura Group has posted a narrower trading lossthat beat its estimates and said yesterday that trading in the newfinancial year was ahead of last year and budget. Adjusted trading loss for the year to 31 March came in at GBP 2.7million, on revenue of GBP 48.3m ....
US confidence dip hits FTSE
Jul 01, 2009; ... LONDON FTSE 100 CLOSE 4,249.21 -44.82 DOWNBEAT economic readings in the US sent London's FTSE 100 Indexinto negative territory yesterday after a poor final session of thesecond quarter. Early falls on Wall Street saw a late session turn for the worseon the Footsie, which ...
Terrorist material 'available on web'
Jul 01, 2009; ... MUCH of the material in the possession of Scotland's firstconvicted Islamist terrorist which helped secure his conviction iswidely available on the internet, an appeal court was toldyesterday. Mohammed Atif Siddique's lawyer said he had been found inpossession of a large ...
A victorious Murray could be Beckham of tennis with GBP 100m deal
Jul 01, 2009; ... SCOTS tennis ace Andy Murray could secure a lucrative sponsorshipdeal worth at least GBP 100 million if he wins Wimbledon, expertshave predicted. Marketing analysts have forecast that the 21-year-old Scot willbe the subject of a bidding war between brands as they attempt ...
Television review: Two-fingered salute in face of mortality
Jul 01, 2009; ... IMAGINE ... DAVID HOCKNEY: A BIGGER PICTURE, BBC1 7/7: THE CONSPIRACY FILES, BBC2 WITH The South Bank Show exiting stage left for the final timenext year, it looks like it might be left to Alan Yentob'sImagine ... strand to fly the flag for chin-stroking arts coverage ...
Classical & Opera: A life among the stars
Jul 01, 2009; ... Robert Ponsonby has spent over half a century as one of Britain'stop arts supremos. Now in his eighties, he has published hismemoirs, giving an insight into many of the leading musical figuresof our time ROBERT Ponsonby's newly published memoirs, Musical Heroes, arenot so much a ...
Firms to pay less for water as price cap set below inflation
Jul 01, 2009; ... A BELOW-INFLATION rise in water bills for businesses next yearwas promised yesterday by the industry regulator. The Water Industry Commission for Scotland (WICS) ruled that thefive retail water suppliers north of the Border would only be ableto increase their annual charges by 2.2 ...
Drink, be merry, but you won't stay slim
Jul 01, 2009; ... YOU may recall that when I first pitched up at SureSlim's officesin early December, the lovely Francesca warned that an integralaspect of the diet's success - utterly non-negotiable in its earlyweeks - was an avoidance of alcohol. Perhaps I'd rather wait untilafter Christmas to begin? ...
Leader: U-turn identifies a leader trying to salvage chances for election
Jul 01, 2009 ... THE Home Secretary's decision to abandon compulsory ID cards is avictory for personal liberty and for economic common sense. However,his plan to continue with ID cards on a voluntary basis is a fudge -and an expensive one, at that - designed only to let the PrimeMinister save face. Above ...
Brown has little to celebrate on his anniversary
Jul 01, 2009; ... After two years in the top job, the Prime Minister appears unableto offer much hope to his party GORDON Brown became Prime Minister two years ago this week. It isan anniversary the country appears to have decided not to celebrate,a collective acknowledgement perhaps of reverse ...
Officer who led Arlene Fraser murder hunt retires
Jul 01, 2009; ... THE senior police officer who headed the Arlene Fraser murderinquiry retired from the service yesterday. Jim Stephen, 57, the Assistant Chief Constable of GrampianPolice, was a Detective Superintendent with the north-east forcewhen he headed the five-year investigation into the ...
Miracle girl only survivor of air crash
Jul 01, 2009; ... IT WILL rank as one of the most amazing escapes in the history ofaviation - a girl of 14 is the sole survivor of an Indian Oceanairliner crash in which 152 people have almost certainly died. As rescuers rushed to the site where the Yemenia Airbus 310-300hit the water, all they ...
Gritty Gannon unfazed by prospect of rebuilding depleted Motherwell
Jul 01, 2009; ... MOTHERWELL unveiled new manager Jim Gannon yesterday and clubofficials were perhaps heartened to observe that the new recruitchose to meet reporters while sitting at the table provided, ratherthan under it. Today is the eve of the start of Motherwell'scompetitive season and there is no ...
Scot among British activists 'kidnapped' by Israeli navy
Jul 01, 2009; ... SIX Britons, including a postal worker from Edinburgh, are among21 human rights activists "kidnapped" by the Israeli authorities,according to campaigners. Theresa McDermott, 42, was part a group on a boat carryinghumanitarian supplies in international waters near the Gaza ...
Fears for Scots jobs as shipyard crisis looms
Jul 01, 2009; ... Leaked memo reveals MoD willing to pay for thousands ofredundancies TWO Royal Navy shipyards on the Clyde are facing the axe undersecret plans to make huge savings from the bill for two new aircraftcarriers, it was claimed last night. The yards at Scotstoun and Govan are ...
Escapes that demonstrate crashes can be survived
Jul 01, 2009; ... IN JANUARY 2009 all 155 passengers and crew aboard a US AirwaysA320 Airbus survived after it crash-landed in the Hudson River afterhitting a flock of geese. * The most famous escape from a plane crash was probably in 1972,when a Uruguayan student rugby team boarded a small plane ...
'Amazing' Serena ousts Azarenka
Jul 01, 2009; ... THE last of the women's quarter-finals to be played yesterday,Serena Williams's match against Victoria Azarenka, had been billedas the best chance of an upset. In the event, that was not quite thecase, but it was at least the best contest of the four by some way. Serena, the No 2 ...
Labour is accused of running scared over delay in by-election
Jul 01, 2009; ... LABOUR was yesterday accused of running scared of voters after itrefused to rule out delaying the Glasgow North East by-electionuntil November. The constituency has no MP after Michael Martin was forced tostand down as House of Commons Speaker amid criticism of his role inthe ...
Government under fire over clean-up plan
Jul 01, 2009; ... MPs yesterday accused the government of acting with "indecenthaste" in looking to pass a new law in three days to clean upWestminster in the wake of the expenses scandal. The move to establish an Independent Parliamentary StandardsAuthority would remove from Commons officials the ...
Labour in retreat as flagship ID plans given the snip
Jul 01, 2009; ... THE government was accused of being "in chaos" last night afterit all but abandoned its flagship identity card scheme. In thelatest in a series of U-turns and climbdowns from the cash-strappedgovernment, Home Secretary Alan Johnson said the controversial cardswould never be compulsory ...
'State should fund school boarders'
Jul 01, 2009; ... THE headmaster of a prestigious independent school has said hewould like to take on state pupils as boarders if funding could beprovided for their education. Peter Sutton, headmaster of Ardvreck School in Crieff, believesboarding should be an option to all and he would like to ...
Stalemate in British Airways job-loss talks
Jul 01, 2009; ... TALKS aimed at agreeing job losses and other cost savings atBritish Airways ended without agreement last night. This is in spite of the fact the airline said it wanted agreementwith its main trade unions before the end of the day for a range ofcost-cutting measures. Reports ...
Woman dies after being hit by car at supermarket
Jul 01, 2009; ... A WOMAN looking after a small child has died after being struckby a car in a supermarket car park. The 42-year-old was hit by a blue Citron Picasso whose driver wasmanoeuvring in a parking space outside Sainsbury's at StraitonRetail Park, Midlothian, in what is being described as ...
When the boats come in
Jul 01, 2009; ... Crinan Classic Boat Festival starts tomorrow, with 60 yachts setto take part. But what is the appeal of messing about in old woodenboats? Landlubber Jim Gilchrist takes to the water to find out ... THE TRUANT skims across the gunmetal waters of the Sound of Jura,a century-old but a ...
Hibs net GBP 3m as Fletcher joins Burnley in record deal
Jul 01, 2009; ... STEVEN Fletcher last night left Hibs to sign a four-year contractwith Barclays Premier League newcomers Burnley in a deal that hasnetted the Easter Road club GBP 3 million. The Scotland striker, voted the football writers' young player ofthe year for the past two seasons, had ...
Ferrero back on form to make most of wildcard
Jul 01, 2009; ... A FORMER world No 1 who has fallen to 70th may not look like thetoughest opponent for Andy Murray, but the No 3 seed will be takingnothing for granted when he meets Juan Carlos Ferrero in the quarter-final today. The 29-year-old Spaniard is the first wildcard since2001 winner Goran ...
Murray poised for show of strength
Jul 01, 2009; ... THIS is the acid test for Andy Murray. The public trial of hiscontention that he is now mentally and physically capable of winningmassive games back to back. Last year, he enjoyed an inspiring five-set victory over RichardGasquet in the fourth round, only to be blown away two days ...
Two Scottish bingo clubs to close as Gala Coral wields axe, with 300 jobs on the line
Jul 01, 2009; ... BRITAIN'S biggest bingo operator has unveiled plans to close fiveclubs, including two north of the Border, and shed backroom staff,in a move that will place 300 jobs at risk. Privately-owned Gala Coral is looking to make savings in supportfunctions, and will begin consultation with ...
Critics' choice: 5 July 2009
Jul 01, 2009; ... East Neuk Festival: Closing Concert Crail Church, 5 July International pianist Christian Zacharias joins the LeipzigString ...
Between the Lines: Cold hard numbers say it is too soon for green shoots
Jul 02, 2009; ... IT WILL not come as much consolation to you if you work at a soon-to-close Diageo plant or for a threatened shipbuilding company, butthere were further signs yesterday that things are looking up. Two pieces of research have added to the expectation that theworst of the recession ...
AAM tops pile after Credit Suisse takeover
Jul 02, 2009 ... ABERDEEN Asset Management (AAM) has become the largestindependent fund manager in Britain, after completing theacquisition of Credit Suisse's business, writes Hamish Rutherford. Yesterday marked the second and final closing of the deal, givingAAM a further GBP 29.1 billion in ...
Battle of the balti hots up as city tries to lay claim to dish's name
Jul 02, 2009; ... THE balti - beloved dish of the Scots curry fan - could soon bebanned from menus. Birmingham, the birthplace of the balti, is seeking legalprotection that will entitle only restaurants within the city to usethe name. Councillors there are examining the European legislation ...
Folk, Jazz, etc.: Two fitting tributes to much-missed musician
Jul 01, 2009; ... HE NEVER pursued commercial fame - unless you count a fleetingrole in an early episode of Hamish Macbeth and a stint within theranks of the Tannahill Weavers - but Willie Beaton, below,entertained vast numbers of people with his fiddling and singing,and his death from cancer at the ...