The week: 24-30 November

Published on Saturday 1 December 2007 01:19

SCOTLAND found out on Sunday who we'll face in the qualifying group for the 2010 World Cup, so dig out your passport and book your plane tickets to the Netherlands, Norway, Macedonia and Iceland.

Colin Montgomerie and Marc Warren brought home golf's World Cup for Scotland after winning a play-off against the United States in China. More than 100 workers were evacuated after a "very serious" fire on the Thistle Alpha oil platform, 120 miles north-west of Shetland. Gillian Gibbons, a British teacher, was arrested in Sudan after complaints she had insulted the Prophet's name by letting her pupils name a teddy bear Mohammad. The Labour Party launched an investigation after it emerged David Abrahams, a businessman from the north-east of England, made large donations to the party in other people's names.

Gordon Brown's donations headache got worse on Monday when Peter Watt, Labour's general secretary, resigned after admitting he knew of a deal to keep Mr Abrahams' identity secret. Protesters broke into the Oxford Union to try to stop a debate involving Nick Griffin, the British National Party leader, and David Irving, the historian who was imprisoned in Austria for denying the Holocaust. Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group was named as the preferred bidder to take over Northern Rock: Virgin Money's bid has the approval of the Treasury and would involve an immediate repayment of 11 billion of the loans it received from the Bank of England.

On Tuesday, the new slogan to greet visitors at Scottish airports was unveiled: "Welcome to Scotland". In football, Alex McLeish resigned as Scotland's manager to join English Premiership side Birmingham City. HMS Diamond, the Royal Navy's latest Type-45 destroyer, was launched on the Clyde. Rangers lost 3-2 away to Stuttgart in their Champions League group clash.

The "NatWest Three" - including Gary Mulgrew, the son of MSP Trish Godman - pled guilty on Wednesday to lesser charges in an 11 million fraud case related to the collapse of US energy giant Enron. Five men - including Harry Redknapp, the Portsmouth manager - were arrested as City of London police investigated alleged corruption in football. In the Champions League, Celtic beat Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1.

An attempted coup in the Philippines came to an end on Thursday when troops stormed a luxury hotel in Manila. Aberdeenshire Council's infrastructure committee rejected plans by billionaire Donald Trump to build "the world's greatest golf course" near Balmedie; opponents said it would destroy part of a site of special scientific interest. Harriet Harman, Labour's deputy leader, defended herself in the House of Commons, after it emerged she had received money from Mr Abrahams, via Janet Kidd. Aberdeen lost 2-0 to Athletico Madrid in the UEFA Cup.

Alex Salmond, the First Minister, had a busy St Andrew's Day yesterday: he gave speeches in Glasgow and at St Andrews University, his alma mater, before handing out the horse-racing prizes at in Musselburgh. A plane on an internal flight crashed in Turkey, killing all 56 people on board.

THE WEEK IN BRIEF

Sturgeon spices it up

IN WHAT must be one of the most publicised Indian lunches ever, Nicola Sturgeon, the health secretary, sat down to a meal of naan bread stuffed with smoked haddock and tandoori Caledonian kebabs this week to mark the contribution made by Scots of Indian origin. The fusion-food was served up by the Suruchi restaurant in Edinburgh. Ms Sturgeon is the MSP for Glasgow Govan, home to the largest Asian community in Scotland. According to The Scotsman's correspondent on the scene, Ms Sturgeon's favourite dish was an Indian version of mince and tatties, with cumin seeds, garlic and ginger (the spice, not Irn Bru).

Don't forget to tip

IN OTHER food news, a 10 million legacy case came before London's High Court this week. Five relatives of Golda Bechal, known as "Goldie", said she suffered from dementia when she left the large sum to Kim Sing Man and Bee Lian Man, his wife, who ran a Chinese restaurant in a building they rented from Goldie. She died in 2004, at the age of 89, having written her final will in 1994. Her husband died in 1971 and her only son in 1974. Goldie used to go on holiday with the Chinese family and was like a "gran" to them, according to the family's lawyers. The Mans, from Essex, went bankrupt in 1992. Mr Man said Goldie was a "posh lady" who "always enjoyed her Chinese pickled leeks and beansprouts".

Mmmm... pies

BUTCHER Amos Smith, from Buckhaven, in Fife, has been crowned World Scotch Pie Champion. Simple Simon, a spokesman for the pie eaters' society, cleared the crumbs from his mouth and said: "Yum!".

For Your Pies Only

BOND'S back - and this time he'll have a neck.

Much to the delight of my wife and his legions of other fans, Daniel Craig is back in training for James Bond. But it's a long road back to restoring the physique he sported in Casino Royale, above.

"After it finished, I stopped training and ate what I wanted," the actor said. "It's hell because as soon as you get back in the gym, you have to work it all off. Last time I did a lot of weights to bulk up. This time, I'll do more running. I won't be as 'no-neck'.

"But when this guy takes his shirt off, he should look like he can kill someone."

'Oh My God, I Can't Believe It...'

ALL right for some: singer Lily Allen - whose father is scaring children up and down the country as the Sheriff of Nottingham in the BBC's Robin Hood - said she may retire at 25. Lily said working took up too much of her time. She added: "I'd like to live in the country and have chickens and pigs. I'm only going to do one more album. I just want to make some money."

'King of the forest'

YOU'VE heard of the Wooden Horse of Troy, but now tremble at the sound of the great wooden... moose of Vasterbotten and Norrbotten. The Swedes are planning to build a 148ft tall and 155ft long wooden moose in an attempt to attract more tourists to two of its counties, 540 miles north of Stockholm. Instead of carrying Greek soldiers, the wooden moose will contain a concert hall, shop, restaurant and conference rooms. Thorbjorn Holmlund, the project co-ordinator and local tourism promoter, said: "The reason we decided to build a moose is because there is something magnificent about the animal. It's the king of the forest."

Mr Holmlund insisted the area had a lot worth seeing, but conceded: "It's in the middle of nowhere, so no-one knows about it."

Grape expectations

NOT satisfied with just giving a book token or a new handbag, Johnny Depp has congratulated partner Vanessa Paradis, above, on recording her new album - by buying her a French vineyard. The actor bought the vines near a villa in Plan de la Tour, which he shares with the singer and their two children, Lily-Rose, eight, and Jack, five. It looks like the village is probably in the Cte de Provence appellation, so the couple can look forward to a nice red from their vines, perhaps including syrah, cinsault, grenache or a wee bit of cabernet sauvignon.

All for a good cause

A CHILEAN prostitute has auctioned 27 hours of sex to raise money for the country's largest charity, as part of an annual fund-raising campaign. Maria Carolina said she had already found a buyer for her services, which would raise money for poor, disabled children. Mario Kreutzberger, who organised the two-day Teletn fundraiser in Chile, where adult prostitution is legal, said he would not encourage "immoral" activities, but said he would accept her pledge.

Less than super Hero

IT DOESN'T bode well for those of us who are still watching the first series of Heroes on BBC2: Tim Kring, who created the programme, has apologised for the second series, which is currently on TV in the US.

"We assumed the audience wanted season one - a build up of intrigue about these characters and the discovery of their powers," explained Kring. "They wanted adrenaline. We made a mistake - we took too long to get to the big-picture story."

Bigger on the inside

IT'S going to get rather crowded in the TARDIS in the next series when the Doctor gets not one, not two, but three companions. Catherine Tate, who plays runaway bride Donna, will be joined by Freema Agyeman's Martha and Billie Piper, returning to her role as Rose. Piper starred opposite Christopher Eccleston in his only series as the Time Lord, then reprised her role as the Doctor's companion with David Tennant. Rose left at the end of Tennant's first year, sloping off, as only Doctor Who characters can, to a parallel universe. Guest stars signed up for the series, which begins in March, include Tim McInnerny, of Blackadder, and Felicity Kendal.

Let's dance

CONGRATULATIONS to the penguins from Happy Feet, who waltzed off with the BAFTA Children's Award for best feature film. The animated musical, which tells the story of one chick's search for his "heart song", which will help him to dance, starred the vocal talents of Nicole Kidman and that wee Hobbit bloke. It beat off Bridge to Terabithia, Flushed Away and Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the latest film based on J K Rowling's books. But singing birds weren't to everyone's taste - older children voted for The Simpsons Movie in a viewers' poll. Cue a karaoke rendition of Spider Pig, Spider Pig; Does whatever a Spider Pig can; Can he swing from a web? Course he can't, 'cause he's a pig.