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THE official campaign for a “yes” vote for Scottish independence was today launched in Edinburgh ahead of the referendum in 2014.
A SCHOOLBOY has died after collapsing following an alleged fight at a secondary school in Glasgow. Euan Craig, 14, who was a pupil at Rosshall Academy, died in the Southern General Hospital shortly after midday yesterday.
A GOOD Samaritan was beaten and robbed after she tried to break up a drunken fight in the Meadows.
FAR-right extremists have won the right to march in the Capital tomorrow after a judge overturned a banning order.
THE challenges faced by congregations caring for their manses and church properties dominated the start of the final session of Kirk’s General Assembly in Edinburgh.
THE official campaign for a “yes” vote for Scottish independence was today launched in Edinburgh ahead of the referendum in 2014.
A SCHOOLBOY has died after collapsing following an alleged fight at a secondary school in Glasgow. Euan Craig, 14, who was a pupil at Rosshall Academy, died in the Southern General Hospital shortly after midday yesterday.
A GOOD Samaritan was beaten and robbed after she tried to break up a drunken fight in the Meadows.
FAR-right extremists have won the right to march in the Capital tomorrow after a judge overturned a banning order.
THE challenges faced by congregations caring for their manses and church properties dominated the start of the final session of Kirk’s General Assembly in Edinburgh.
CULTURE secretary Jeremy Hunt and former prime minister Tony Blair will be among those appearing before the Leveson Inquiry into press standards next week, it was announced today.
THE formal campaign for independence will kick off today with a central message that people living in Scotland are the best at running the country, not those elsewhere in the UK.
MP CHRIS Huhne’s partner Carina Trimingham has vowed to fight on in her High Court privacy and harassment action, after losing her claim against Associated Newspapers.
GREECE’S membership of the euro was pushed further towards the precipice last night as other eurozone members were told to prepare for an “amiable divorce”, in a move that could tip Britain deeper into recession.
CULTURE Secretary Jeremy Hunt has come under renewed pressure following the publication by the Leveson Inquiry of a memo in which he made private representations to the Prime Minister supporting News Corporation’s bid to take over BSkyB.
Tens of millions of television viewers will tune into the Eurovision Song Contest in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan this weekend, but a war of words over human rights may drown out the singing,.
GREECE’S membership of the euro was pushed further towards the precipice last night as other eurozone members were told to prepare for an “amiable divorce”, in a move that could tip Britain deeper into recession.
A three-year-old Chinese boy cheated death after riding a toy scooter through a city intersection during rush hour.
A GREEK exit from the eurozone would do “irrevocable damage” to European Union countries, Lib Dem deputy prime minister Nick Clegg warned yesterday on a visit to Berlin.
A US drone strike on a militant haunt in Pakistan’s north-western tribal region killed at least eight suspected insurgents yesterday, said local officials, as the CIA appeared to scale up its covert programme in the skies along the Afghan border.
THE official campaign for a “yes” vote for Scottish independence was today launched in Edinburgh ahead of the referendum in 2014.
CULTURE secretary Jeremy Hunt and former prime minister Tony Blair will be among those appearing before the Leveson Inquiry into press standards next week, it was announced today.
POLITICIANS regularly have to register interests in everything from chairmanships to shareholdings.
THE city’s new Labour-SNP coalition was today accused of a fresh “power grab” after opposition councillors were excluded from a series of key appointments.
THE formal campaign for independence will kick off today with a central message that people living in Scotland are the best at running the country, not those elsewhere in the UK.
A RESTORED flying boat has taken off from Scotland on an international voyage to mark an airline anniversary.
PASSENGERS will be able to use smartphones instead of bus and train tickets for the first time if a trial is successful, transport giant Stagecoach announces today.
TRANSPORT chiefs are to waive every fine handed out to motorists caught in bus lanes on one of the city’s main roads.
A MEMORIAL service will take place this weekend for a Scottish pilot who died in a Canadian crash earlier this month.
THE cost of some of the best-selling cars in Britain has soared way above the rate of inflation, according to a new report.
PROTESTERS are facing a long wait to discover whether their bid to derail plans for a new Portobello High School has been successful.
ROSSHALL Academy, a state secondary school, was formed in 1999 following the merger of Penilee and Crookston Castle secondary schools.
TEACHERS have criticised a national audit of readiness for Scotland’s new exams, accusing it of ignoring their concerns about the new qualifications.
TENS of thousands of racist incidents were recorded in schools over a five-year period, new figures reveal.
A CLASSROOM assistant who hoarded a stash of child pornography while working at the school where his mother taught blamed his offending on an attention disorder.
THE world’s largest single island colony of gannets on the Bass Rock off the east coast of Scotland has grown dramatically, according to latest estimates.
A NEW Scottish research centre, devoted to the development of carbon capture technology, could hold the key to unlocking the recovery of three billion barrels of North Sea oil worth £190 billion, experts have claimed.
Protected golden eagles are under threat by plans to almost double the size of a windfarm in the Highlands, experts have warned.
Chimpanzees and orang-utans have their own personalities, researchers have found.
Cuts to solar power subsidies will be delayed until August, the government said yesterday.
POLITICIANS regularly have to register interests in everything from chairmanships to shareholdings.
HE lounges about in bed all day or sits glued to the Xbox, emerging from another Call of Duty kill session only to grunt the word “pizza” before retreating back to zombie mode.
THREE infants were being treated in hospital last night following a suspected E coli 0157 outbreak linked to the baby unit at a nursery school.
SCOTLAND is set to become the first country in Europe to introduce a minimum alcohol price, after the plans were backed by MSPs at Holyrood.
HEALTH chiefs have spent £22,500 on 35 iPads for board members and senior managers.
A top ten list of Scotland’s favourite tomes reveals most of us haven’t picked up a decent one since school, while current thinking in education is failing to produce new readers, argues Tiffany Jenkins
I love Sunset Song. I still have the dog-eared copy I read at school and, from time to time, I like to take it down from the shelf, dust it off and thumb through its pages.
Leith Late, the giant one-night arts festival opening in Leith in late June, expands to 16 venues this year. The offerings range from maverick artist Kevin Harman’s new work, to site-specific shows in bars, a fitness studio, and a portrait photography exhibition in a barber’s shop.
GALLUS is, thankfully, a rather less obscure word than many that feature in this series.
MANY visitors to Scotland may overhear the locals referring to what sounds like ‘peace.’ What they’re actually talking about is their lunch, or a snack.
JUST days after its public flotation, Facebook is being sued by shareholders over allegations that it and banks, including its lead underwriter Morgan Stanley, withheld key information.
Apple design genius Jonathan Ive has spoken of the “thrilling” moment when he was knighted by the Princess Royal at Buckingham Palace.
STEM cells are components with the potential to develop into many different types of cells in the body during early life and growth.
THE sun and moon aligned over the Earth in a rare astronomical event on Sunday - an annular eclipse that dimmed the skies over parts of Asia and North America, briefly turning the sun into a blazing ring of fire.
SCOTLAND is at the forefront of a pioneering new stem-cell trial that could restore the sight of millions of people around the world.
BHA Màiri Beith, a dh’eug ’na dachaigh ann am Mealanais (Cataibh) Di-Dòmhnaich, aois 73, ’na bean-naidheachd thàlantach á Sasainn a thàinig a dh’fhuireach dhan Ghaidhealtachd ’s a rinn ainm mór dhi fhéin mar sgrìobhadair air leighisean tradiseanta na Gàidhlig – gu sònraichte tron cholbh aice “Deanamh a’ Leighis” ann am Pàipear Beag an Eilein Sgitheanaich, agus tron leabhar aice, Healing Threads.
BHUAIL dealanach am pleun a bha a’ giùlan ceann-suidhe ùr na Frainge, François Hollande, gu Berlin a choinneachadh ris an t-Seannsalair Angela Merkel.
BHO ghabh croitearan Asainte sealbh air Oighreachd Loch an Inbhir a Tuath ann an 1993, tha iomairt air a bhith dol air a’ Ghaidhealtachd agus sna h-Eileanan a tha air spionnadh as ùr a thoirt do chuid de na coimhearsnachdan as iomallaiche agus as bochda ann an Alba.
IF I could choose a super power, I know what I’d go for. No, not immense strength or invisibility – those are for beginners. My super power would be the ability to communicate with any life form.
Tha cuimhne agam o chionn iomadach bliadhna gun deach prògram pìlot a chlàradh air sreath ùr Gàidhlig far an cuirear eòlaichean cànain an aghaidh a chèile gus dearbhadh cò as eòlaiche air caran agus cleasan na Gàidhlig.
AN inquisitive dog almost got more than it bargained for after coming across a tropical scorpion outside the family home in Hamilton.
A three-year-old Chinese boy cheated death after riding a toy scooter through a city intersection during rush hour.
A STUNTMAN has become the first person to jump out of a helicopter and land without using a parachute.
More than half of the UK population claim to be contemplating revenge – and social networks are the preferred platform for getting even, research has found.
A DOG walker has stumbled upon the corpse of an animal experts believe may have been a puma near a Scottish beauty spot.
The referendum will be won and lost by people balancing gain and risk, optimism and negativity, writes George Kerevan
Scotland has become the first country in Europe to legislate for the introduction of a minimum price for a unit of alcohol, in this case 50p.
A top ten list of Scotland’s favourite tomes reveals most of us haven’t picked up a decent one since school, while current thinking in education is failing to produce new readers, argues Tiffany Jenkins
I love Sunset Song. I still have the dog-eared copy I read at school and, from time to time, I like to take it down from the shelf, dust it off and thumb through its pages.
Waiting to board a Scottish passenger ferry recently, I watched a group of women disembarking. They were a cheery bunch, all sporting those “hilarious” hats beloved of hen parties. They were set on having a good time. Every single woman was grossly overweight. As they struggled up the small incline, even the youngest already displayed the heavy-footed solidity of the middle-aged. Nobody blinked. Why would they? Obesity in Scotland is as common as the ferry. In the world obesity stakes, only the Americans beat the Scots.
Scotland has become the first country in Europe to legislate for the introduction of a minimum price for a unit of alcohol, in this case 50p.
A TIPPING point has now been reached in the crisis that has engulfed Greece and put her continued membership of the European single currency in peril. Yesterday, markets round the world fell sharply on reports that contingency preparations are now being made for a Greek exit from the euro.
THE verdict delivered by the International Monetary Fund yesterday on the state of the British economy under the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition allows beleaguered Chancellor George Osborne to breathe a sigh of relief.
CAR sales and servicing company Arnold Clark has concluded it is “sad and disheartening” to discover that, in its view, more than 80 per cent of young Scots applying to it for work are “unsuitable for any employment”. It says it found that youngsters it hoped to recruit as apprentices had wholly unrealistic expectations of the modern workplace, a poor attitude to others and were taken aback at the working hours expected of them.
FOR the relatives of the 270 who were killed when Pan Am Flight 103 descended in a ball of fire over Lockerbie in December 1988, the death of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi brings the end of a chapter, but not full closure.
THE Evening News is to be congratulated for giving such prominence to the blight of unemployment among young people (May 23). We have been here before.
Where does David Cameron find the evidence that, according to the European Commission, a financial transaction tax (FTT) would cost “hundreds of thousands of jobs”, that “you end up putting up the costs of people’s insurance policies, putting up the cost of people’s pension policies, and actually driving all that activity offshore”, and that “it as a good way of taking a lot of tax out of the UK and spending it in Europe”?
It WAS heartening to read your thoughtful editorial on Greek membership of the euro (24 May). However, I am very doubtful that disaster will be avoided.
In his evidence to the Scottish Parliament’s education committee, Brian McAlinden expressed the view that putting teachers on five-year contracts would improve their performance (your report, 24 May).
One person who would probably agree with Arnold Clark’s negative assessment of the suitability of Scottish youngsters for employment might be Frank Field, MP.
RANGERS are expected to submit a proposal to their creditors next week which could see the Ibrox club move out of administration.
THE president of the Rangers Supporters Assembly has expressed fears that concerns raised over Duff & Phelps’ administration of the Ibrox club could prompt the Charles Green-led consortium to cancel their proposed takeover.
HEARTS director Sergejus Fedotovas stressed today that greater transparency is vital in order to improve Scottish football, and said his club will continue to voice opinions on how to better the game.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter today challenged the head of the body charged with overhauling football’s rule book to come up with an alternative.
In today’s Rumour Mill: Gary Hooper promises to see out Celtic contract; Rangers fans raise concerns over Duff & Phelps; Hearts ‘want to keep Paulo Sergio’; plus the rest of the day’s football news and gossip.
RANGERS are expected to submit a proposal to their creditors next week which could see the Ibrox club move out of administration.
THE president of the Rangers Supporters Assembly has expressed fears that concerns raised over Duff & Phelps’ administration of the Ibrox club could prompt the Charles Green-led consortium to cancel their proposed takeover.
HEARTS director Sergejus Fedotovas stressed today that greater transparency is vital in order to improve Scottish football, and said his club will continue to voice opinions on how to better the game.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter today challenged the head of the body charged with overhauling football’s rule book to come up with an alternative.
In today’s Rumour Mill: Gary Hooper promises to see out Celtic contract; Rangers fans raise concerns over Duff & Phelps; Hearts ‘want to keep Paulo Sergio’; plus the rest of the day’s football news and gossip.
SCOTLAND head coach Andy Robinson encouraged his players to savour the experience of a first tour of the South Seas in 12 years as they flew out of Edinburgh last night.
Matt SCOTT flew out on his first Scotland rugby tour today aiming to repay the host Australians for acts of kindness in the only way a professional athlete knows how – by inflicting defeat.
Flanker used to being the one Scotland turn to in hour of need
RUGBY is giving disaffected youngsters a new lease of life according to teenagers who pitched up at Murrayfield yesterday to watch the Scotland squad train before leaving on tour.
London Welsh captain Jon Mills has underlined the Exiles’ desire to become an Aviva Premiership club.
HOLDERS Silverknowes and big rivals Carrickvale have both made significant team changes for the 113th Evening News Dispatch Trophy starting tomorrow at The Braids.
HEARTS fan David Drysdale set out in today’s second round of the BMW PGA Championship determined not to copy his team’s Hampden heroes – by taking his foot off the pedal.
MUCH thought and pots of money have gone into spicing up the challenge of the famous 18th hole on Wentworth’s West Course. The way it was conquered yesterday by David Drysdale, however, definitely wasn’t in the masterplan proposed by the project’s chief consultant, Ernie Els.
GRAEME McDowell has claimed the world’s leading golfers are running scared of armchair anoraks after picking up a two-shot penalty in his opening round at Wentworth.
EUROPRO TOUR: Five Scots survived the 36-hole cut but eight of their compatriots will not play today’s final round of this week’s PGA EuroPro Tour event at Bovey Castle, Dartmoor, in Devon.
BORIS Becker believes Andy Murray might be better off pulling out of the French Open to let his back problem recover in time for Wimbledon and the Olympics.
Heather Watson breezed through her first qualifying match at the French Open this morning against Canada’s Sharon Fichman.
Jamie Baker kept alive his hopes of joining Andy Murray in the men’s draw for next week’s French Open at Roland Garros by winning his first qualifying match yesterday, but James Ward and Josh Goodall bowed out.
Perth High School took the plunge and entered the boys’ Scottish Schools’ Under-18 Tournament for a first time this season. And the quartet of Cameron Ritchie, Ryan Martin, Neil Robertson and Euan Holmes are now in the quarter-finals after a 6-0 win over Aboyne Academy. “The boys have grown up together and are all members of Kinnoull Tennis Club in Perth,” said Phil Coleman, the area’s Active Schools Sport Co-ordinator. “Coach Jane Morrison suggested they entered the schools’ event and it was a great win.”
Rafael Nadal showed Novak Djokovic he’s still the man to beat on clay, defeating the top-ranked Serb 7-5, 6-3 in the rain-delayed final to win his record sixth Italian Open title.
On THE HOOF hit the target for top golfer Lee Westwood and his agent Chubby Chandler when winning at Beverley recently and he can score again for the partnership at Musselburgh tomorrow night.
Henrietta Knight is looking forward to the future, which will include a link-up with Mick Channon, after announcing her retirement from the training ranks. The three-times Gold Cup-winning trainer, 65, is giving up her National Hunt licence to spend more time with her husband, Terry Biddlecombe, who suffered a stroke last October.
MUSSELBURGH stages the first of its popular summer evening meetings tonight – the Pentland Land Rover Race Night.
MINDRESS can give Godolphin some respite following recent woes by winning the Height of Fashion Stakes at Goodwood.
KAUTO Star has regained his crown as the top-rated steeplechaser in the annual Anglo-Irish Jumps Classifications for the second time in his remarkable career.
Granton snooker ace Craig MacGillivray will bid to retain the Scottish National Snooker Championship this weekend when he plays this year’s No. 1 ranked player James McBain (Glasgow) in the final at the Locarno Snooker Club in Edinburgh.
World champion Ronnie O’Sullivan has accused snooker chiefs of lacking “compassion”.
Ronnie O’SULLIVAN could follow Stephen Hendry into retirement tonight even if he wins the Betfred.com World Championship for a fourth time.
Ronnie O’Sullivan claims he has never known a Crucible campaign so gruelling but a fourth world snooker title should be his reward today for lasting the pace.
Ali Carter marched into the Betfred.com World Championship final and revealed his title charge is being fuelled by a ten-bags-a-day carrot habit.
Heriot’s skipper Steve Knox has urged his side to tighten their bowling ahead of tomorrow’s East Premiership visit to Watsonians after conceding 42 extras when visiting Stoneywood-Dyce in one of the few games to beat the weather last weekend.
England captain Andrew Strauss is determined not to let his side rest on their laurels as they seek an unassailable series lead when they face West Indies in the second Investec Test.
England batsman Kevin Pietersen has been fined for comments made on Twitter about Sky television commentator Nick Knight.
After claiming a hat-trick on his home ground last year, Stuart Broad is hoping to send Trent Bridge wild once again this week.
They say more folk per head of population are involved in cricket in Aberdeenshire via the extended grades leagues than in Kent, Somerset and even Yorkshire.
Amir Khan will again bid to prove he is the best light-welterweight in the world when he fights unbeaten WBC champion Danny Garcia on 14 July.
AMIR Khan last night called for the return of his WBA and IBF titles after claiming Lamont Peterson’s failed drugs test proves he was a “cheat”.
A TRIO of Capital boxers have the chance to be crowned the best in Britain at the GB Championships this month.
The British Boxing Board of Control has warned that all those involved in the impending heavyweight promotion between David Haye and Dereck Chisora will be automatically stripped of their licences.
DAVID Haye vowed to inflict a “slow, concussive beating” on Dereck Chisora after their controversial all-British grudge match was confirmed on Tuesday.
LASSWADE’S Scotland’s Guy Learmonth secured a superb victory in the 800 metres in a new personal best time of 1:47.65 at the Hyundai Grand Prix meeting at Oslo’s Bislett Stadium last night.
Both Scottish 5k road race champions Ross Houston (Central) and Keira Murray (Lasswade) will move up to challenge in the Edinburgh Marathon and Half Marathon in the Capital on Sunday.
Freya MURRAY shows no sign of cutting back on her hectic schedule despite her disappointing outing in the 5000 metres at the BMC Grand Prix race at Manchester’s Sports City last Saturday night and is down to run in the London 10k road race in the Mall tomorrow, despite the fact that she has also been named to compete in the European Cup 10,000 metres track championship in Bilbao a week on Sunday.
Guy LEARMONTH (Lasswade) runs in the Hyundai Grand Prix meeting at the famous Bislett Stadium in Oslo tonight chasing a new best time in the 800 metres.
LIBBY CLEGG admits she is now entering the calm before the storm after underlining her London 2012 credentials with double silver at the BT Paralympic World Cup.
JENSON Button believes he will only make an impact on what has so far been a mixed-up, crazy season if he cracks the consistency code so far eluding him.
Williams will not be undermined this weekend by the fire that wrecked their Spanish Grand Prix triumph, but have implemented new procedures to ensure there will never be a repeat.
Bathgate’s Paul di Resta is being lined up to replace seven-times F1 world champion Michael Schumacher at Mercedes GP next season.
MOTORSPORT: Kirkcaldy’s Jonny Adam powered his Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 to its first victory of the British GT Championship. The Fifer won the first race of the double-header at the Nurburgring in Germany. “That was an awesome race,” former BTCC racer Adam said afterwards, “and fantastic to give the Vantage GT3 its first victory too.”
Bathgate’s Paul di Resta endured a difficult Spanish Grand Prix as his Sahara Force India car struggled to get the maximum out of his Pirelli tyres.
SOPHIE Allen claimed Great Britain’s second silver medal in 24 hours at the European Championships when she replicated Stockport ITC team-mate James Goddard’s second place in the 200 metres individual medley in Debrecen.
SWIMMING: Scotland’s Robbie Renwick finished eighth in the final of the 200m freestyle on the third day of the European Championships in Debrecen. The race was won by world record holder Paul Biedermann, the German adding the two-length race to the 400m title he claimed earlier this week.
Pentland STAR women’s basketball side have shown they are a force to be reckoned with after a season which has seen the club excel to a new level.
FORMER Olympic finalists Robbie Renwick and James Goddard both reached the finals of their respective events at the European Championships in Debrecen yesterday.
SIXTY-NINE days to go. Not that I’m really counting but every time I go into Robert Gordon’s University they have an Olympic countdown clock so I can’t really miss it.
PC World and Currys owner Dixons Retail Group received the backing of its banks today with a new £300 million lending facility.
SHARES in bailed out Spanish lender Bankia have been suspended on the Madrid stock exchange ahead of a meeting to decide how much more money it needs from the government.
Department store John Lewis posted another week of double-digit sales rises, boosted by online demand, but warned that wet weather had dampened fashion sales.
OIL and gas explorer Faroe Petroleum became the latest company to get drawn into the “shareholder spring” yesterday, heading off a potential investor rebellion over a long-term bonus scheme.
WELCOME to scotsman.com’s Scottish Business Briefing. Every morning we bring you a comprehensive round-up of all news affecting business in Scotland today.
Nationwide Building Society today laid out plans to fill the gap in small business lending and challenge its bigger rivals by expanding its personal banking business through more loans and credit cards.
THE Bank of England’s actions at the height of the financial crisis are to be scrutinised by three separate reviews, its non-executive arm said yesterday.
BARCLAYS Bank yesterday put its remaining $6.1 billion (£3.8bn) stake in money manager BlackRock up for sale in an effort to boost profits and capital buffers ahead of a tightening of legislation for lenders.
Hedge fund manager Man Group is to buy investment firm Financial Risk Management (FRM) as it seeks to reduce its dependence on its flagship AHL fund.
LLOYDS Banking Group is playing “hardball” with banking consolidation vehicle NBNK, according to senior sources, following the regulatory knockback the lender received during its negotiations with the Co-op to try and offload 632 branches.
CITY asset management doyen Paul Manduca could be named as insurer Prudential’s chairman within days, replacing out-of-favour Harvey McGrath.
INSURER Prudential suffered a backlash over pay yesterday as 30 per cent of shareholders voted against its remuneration report, prompting the company to pledge a review of its pay practices.
The performance that prompted Aviva shareholders to oust chief executive Andrew Moss was laid bare in figures today.
AEGON UK, the Edinburgh-based life and pensions company, has returned to profitability, though falling sales indicate a continuing tough climate.
Prudential may move its head office out of Europe because of new rules on how much cash it must hold in reserve, the insurer warned yesterday, as it unveiled a better-than-expected 9 per cent rise in first-quarter sales.
BRITAIN’S economy was dealt a double whammy of bad news today as retail sales fell at their fastest monthly pace in more than two years, while manufacturers’ confidence dwindled amid falling orders.
FURTHER fallout from the euro-zone crisis is likely to prompt a fresh bout of money printing by Britain’s central bank, economists said yesterday, while business leaders questioned the effectiveness of such quantitative easing (QE).
Members of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee voted eight to one against printing more money this month but hinted they may change their minds if the economy does not improve.
BANK of England policymaker Adam Posen has called on European countries to intervene more robustly in the financial crisis, saying they should not be afraid to nationalise their failing banks.
IRELANDshows that a small independent nation in the EU may have to play the tune its master gives it, writes Peter Jones
OIL and gas explorer Faroe Petroleum became the latest company to get drawn into the “shareholder spring” yesterday, heading off a potential investor rebellion over a long-term bonus scheme.
SHARES in Scottish coal mine operator ATH Resources plunged by more than a fifth yesterday after the firm put the brakes on plans to expand its mine at Glenmuckloch, in Ayrshire.
ENERGY services firm Wood Group has won a contract to build what is claimed to be the world’s first combined wave- and wind-powered facility.
Lansdowne Oil & Gas, the Irish explorer in which Aberdeen-based SeaEnergy holds a 25 per cent stake, yesterday revealed that its Barryroe discovery off the coast of Ireland could produce oil at higher rates than was previously predicted.
A SCOTTISH test centre for wave and tidal power devices has signed its second international contract in just three months.
PC World and Currys owner Dixons Retail Group received the backing of its banks today with a new £300 million lending facility.
Department store John Lewis posted another week of double-digit sales rises, boosted by online demand, but warned that wet weather had dampened fashion sales.
MOTHERCARE’S new chief executive vowed to be “ruthless” in tackling the chain’s costs yesterday as a dismal UK performance dragged the retailer to a £103 million loss.
Luxury brand Burberry has announced it is to invest up to £200 million opening outlets and expanding existing stores in a number of locations as it continues to defy the retail gloom.
ASOS bosses pocketed more than £60 million in shares yesterday as profits at the online fashion firm nearly doubled.
ROBUST growth in Africa and Latin America helped brewing giant SABMiller offset a fall in beer consumption in Europe and North America, with annual profits disclosed yesterday up 12 per cent at $5.6 billion (£3.6bn).
A FAILURE to remove livestock from the Drymen show field within the recommended period of four weeks before the event has seen the local authority withdraw its permission for the 200-year-old event, which was to have been held tomorrow.
A £250 million funding package announced yesterday for a range of agricultural research institutes around the UK included £23m support for a project at the Roslin Institute, outside Edinburgh.
When is beef not beef? It may seem a daft question but European Union labelling legislation states that any meat from a beast slaughtered under 12 months old cannot be called just “beef”.
Optimism over future funding of agricultural education was expressed yesterday by the recently appointed chief executive and principal of the Scottish Agricultural College, Professor Bob Webb, writes Andrew Arbuckle.
HOLIDAY firm Thomas Cook has appointed a new chief executive from outside the travel industry to lead its turnaround.
Harriet Green, who is currently boss of Leeds-based electronic components distributor Premier Farnell, will join at the end of July.
German car maker BMW has been fined SFr156 million (£104m) for preventing Swiss residents from buying its cars abroad to take advantage of the weakness of the euro.
Scottish transport company FirstGroup is to accelerate the restructuring of its UK bus business after profits at the division fell by almost 10 per cent.
Flybe, the regional airline, is to take on a third of the European routes run by loss-making Finnish flag carrier Finnair.
Ryanair is taking the battle to retain its 30 per cent stake in rival Aer Lingus to the UK Supreme Court after the Office of Fair Trading was given the green light to investigate whether the holding is harming competition.
Defence giant BAE Systems has won a £1.6 billion contract to supply aircraft to Saudi Arabia, safeguarding more than 200 jobs at its Brough factory in north Yorkshire.
DUNEDIN, the Edinburgh-based private equity firm, has sold Stockport-based military bridge builder WFEL to German tank maker Krauss-Maffei Wegmann in what is believed to have been a £60 million deal.
Demand for industrial property has fallen to its lowest level since early 2009, with Scotland experiencing a “disappointing” decline in the first quarter of the year, according to a new report.
SCOTLAND’S textile manufacturers are working together on the nationwide roll-out of an initiative aimed at encouraging more young people into the industry, following the successful launch of a modern apprenticeship scheme in the Borders last year.
THE new owner of Clyde Union Pumps, the former Weir Group business acquired from Scots entrepreneur Jim McColl, has announced more than 90 job cuts at the Glasgow plant.
Hopes were high today that Scotland can avoid the worst of the 27,000 job cuts unveiled by computer maker Hewlett-Packard (HP) because the American firm has already restructured its facility at Erskine, near Glasgow.
IAN Livingston, the Scots-born chief executive of BT, rang up a bumper pay package last year with total salary, cash and share bonuses of £3.85 million, according to the firm’s annual report.
THE University of Strathclyde has fought off competition from five other higher education institutions to become the exclusive European partner on a research and development programme backed by the South Korean government.
SCIENCE minister David Willets is today expected to unveil £250 million in fresh funding for the life sciences sector, which experts say could help to stimulate the industry north of the Border.
SHARES in Craneware took a tumble yesterday after analysts warned the Edinburgh-based software firm’s core American hospital market could remain “depressed” until 2013.
Scottish transport company FirstGroup is to accelerate the restructuring of its UK bus business after profits at the division fell by almost 10 per cent.
Today’s business news in brief.
NEARLY 300 Scots business leaders have signed up for a new service aimed at boosting the number of non-executive directors on the boards of small and medium-sized companies.
Clinton Cards | Ocado | Nucoco | Croma Security
REGULATORS have reversed their decision to limit BSkyB’s role in the UK’s pay-TV movie market following the emergence of rivals such as Netflix and Lovefilm.
FTSE 100 CLOSE 5350.05 +83.64
European markets plunged yesterday as news that officials were preparing contingency plans for a Greek exit from the euro shattered the mood of cautious optimism seen earlier this week.
FTSE 100 CLOSE 5266.41 -136.87
FTSE 100 CLOSE 5403.28 +98.80
European markets returned to the black this morning as the absence of further bad news over the weekend persuaded investors to look for bargains after last week’s rout.
NEWSPAPER group Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT) saw its first-half performance hit by the cost of disposals, restructuring and redundancies – but yesterday claimed annual earnings were still set to grow.
Holiday firm Thomas Cook sold its Indian subsidiary to a Canadian investment house yesterday, raising £94 million to help pay off its debts.
PRIVATE equity firm CVC Capital Partners has sold a 21 per cent stake in Formula 1 to a group of investors for $1.6 billion (£1bn) in cash as the motor racing series gears up for a flotation next month.
MORE than 300 bed and breakfast owners have signed up to use a website aimed at giving small businesses greater access to Scotland’s £4.2 billion tourism industry by slicing through bureaucracy.
SCOTLAND’S second-largest whisky distiller and one of the biggest rum brands in the Caribbean have teamed up to sponsor a Celtic food and music festival in Barbados, which has attracted a string of performers in recent years, including former Fairground Attraction singer Eddi Reader.
FEW flotations have captured the public’s imagination in quite the same way as Facebook’s first day of trading on Friday. As one observer stated, it was rare for such an event to take place in which everyone has a stake in the outcome.
TWO telephone calls out of the blue at the end of last week brought disturbing news. The first was from a well-connected source in Brussels; the second from a contact in Spain.
THIS weekend, the leaders of the G8 industrial nations are in conclave at Camp David, President Obama’s wooded retreat some 70 miles from Washington.
WESTMINSTER got a reality check from City heavyweights yesterday on the likely extended wait for taxpayers to get their money back from the state-sponsored bailouts of Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group.
WE’RE reversing. We’re slumping. We’re growing. We’re slowing. It’s a Double Dip. No it’s not. Yes it is.
Pick your way through the maze of conflicting data in the past week and you could go down in a spin with Signpost Sickness.
Doubts on legality of legislature’s attempt to introduce minimum price on alcohol as a condition of licensing, reports Claire Smith
Many people don’t understand the dangers of plastic, says Claire Smith
Act now to beat Brussels ban on use of gender in calculating premiums, writes Jeff Salway
Pension age changes mean many work longer, save a lot more or retire poor, says Jeff Salway
Proposals will make it harder for Scots to repay creditors, writes Jeff Salway
Four mountaineers died this week on Everest but still another 200 will bid to reach the summit this weekend. Dani Garavelli asks two Scots about their experiences on the mountain and why many climbers continue to ignore warnings with tragic consequences.
THE Union Flags are about to be unfurled, the bunting hung and the long tables set. Excitement is building steadily ahead of Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee knees-up as citizens across the Capital prepare to celebrate her six decades of service to the nation.
HE lounges about in bed all day or sits glued to the Xbox, emerging from another Call of Duty kill session only to grunt the word “pizza” before retreating back to zombie mode.
WE passed a milestone this week. My son reached his 13th birthday.
Alongside the Edinburgh College of Art Fashion and Textiles students, graduates from the Performance Costume course are showing their work at the ECA 2012 Fashion Show this week.
Irn-Bru manufacturer AG Barr has defied the wet April weather with an increase in sales.
Oliver Shute is putting Bambi and Thumper back on our dining tables, finds Janet Christie
A FREQUENT complaint, particularly about French and Italian wine producers, used to be their reluctance to learn from the New World. Equally, many have ascribed a similar conservatism to the top levels of the British wine trade.
IS THERE a more beautiful or atmospheric restaurant in Edinburgh – or Britain – than the Café Royal Oyster Bar? This, as I’ve just explained to my daughter as she took a break from grappling with the hidden meanings of Macbeth, is a rhetorical question: of course there isn’t.
This new French eatery seems a bit out-of-place. With its homely, neighbourhood bistro feel, I imagine that it would suit a leafy corner (near Waitrose) in Glasgow’s west end, rather than a busy central street that’s buzzing with trafffic.
SELKIRK bannocks are great – Queen Victoria is said to have enjoyed a taste when she visited the Borders town. Despite royal approval, it is the appreciation of our four-year-old daughter that counts.
TODAY is Crumpet’s birthday. She is four. We shall have a two-barrel salute to celebrate the event at which I predict she will tear about like a blue-arsed fly looking for something to retrieve only to find that, not for the first time in our brief shooting career, there is nothing to pick up.
More times than not, my attempts to plan ahead so as to get a good view of an animal or bird ends in failure.
On the way to the hills the topic of football invariably crops up. Having lived close to Edinburgh’s Easter Road as a schoolboy, Hibs receive my support.
ONE rainy day last November, I started receiving a steady trickle of emails with links to the same jaw-dropping photograph: a surfer in a black-and-yellow wetsuit skittering down the face of a huge, aquamarine wall of water, looking for all the world like an exotic insect fleeing the maw of an about-to-snap venus flytrap.
A CLUSTER of luxury apartments located in Georgian townhouses has trumped traditional hotels to claim one of the hospitality industry’s most prestigious awards.
THE CAPITAL of the US state of Maryland, on Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, the city of Annapolis owes its birth to the water and it continues to be its lifeblood.
IN THIS, its centenary year, the Plaza Athenee, with its art deco steel and glass canopy, baskets of tumbling red flowers and scarlet awnings, is as attractive as in its first flush of youth, when Josephine Baker and Rudolph Valentino gayly danced across its polished marble floors.
Goa’s reputation as a destination for alternative culture is well deserved, but head off the beaten track to discover its true mix of flavours
DURING my time at The Scotsman, I’ve reported on wildlife-watching trips from the front seat of a Land Rover, the top deck of a sailing boat and even once from the back of a Highland pony.
THE Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival has unveiled a major expansion into one of the city’s biggest venues, as part of a long-term bid to raise its profile.
KASSIDY frontman Barrie-James O’Neill hadn’t quite finished regaling me with stories from the band’s time at the legendary Rockfield Studios when the tape-recorder came to a sudden halt. In hindsight, it’s probably just as well it did.
YOU get to see a lot of live music in this job. Sometimes they’re great gigs and other times they aren’t. Sometimes you come away feeling exhilarated and other times, well, the opposite applies.
This year’s Montrose Music Festival opens on Friday and will see the coastal town over-run with musical types for the entire weekend.
DEAD SEA SOULS
The Orange Prize for Fiction is looking for a new name and a new sponsor after the phone company announced it was stopping its support.
LITERARY snobs and lovers of the Scottish novel look away now. Scotland’s favourite book is the best-selling and much-maligned The Da Vinci Code, according to a new poll.
Kate Summerscale’s book, Mrs Robinson’s Disgrace, revisits 19th century New Town Edinburgh and a scandal that rocked Victorian society. In this exclusive extract, Isabella meets a handsome young doctor
IN A southern state of America lives a young girl. Named Ruchazie: as in Ruchazie Jones or Ruchazie Martinez – Ruchazie as in her Christian name. This Ruchazie (perhaps her friends just call her Ruch) must be around ten by now and reaching that age when kids start to get inquisitive. So how, she may soon be coming to wonder, when all her friends sport names like Christy-Lou and Shannice, did she come to be called Ruchazie?
LITERARY chins have, for a while now, wagged about Chicago-born Elizabeth Reeder, a teacher on the much-admired University of Glasgow Creative Writing Programme, and now based in Scotland.
FANS of O’Briain’s television work won’t be disappointed to see him in the flesh. The gabbling delivery, polished head and Irish accent we know and love from Mock the Week and umpteen other shows are even larger in real life.
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I’VE just put our Edinburgh Festival brochure to bed. It’s a great feeling when all the shows have been proofed and the final result has been seen on screen.
“Young” Simon Amstell, as the man himself wistfully notes, was renowned for cheek, initially as a pop presenter on Nickelodeon and Popworld, before honing the art of celebrity disdain on Never Mind the Buzzcocks.
YOU’RE Fired! Two words Dara O’Briain is unlikely to be hearing any time soon. The 6ft 4in giant of an Irishman has never been in greater demand.
I HAVE just had a wonderful time in Cornwall, a place I’d never been to before, and was pleasantly surprised. For a start, there was wonderful sunshine for the three days I was there.
MAURICE Roëves played a maverick aging rocker in the Scottish television classic Tutti Frutti, and stunned Fringe audiences 30 years ago with his mud-stained performance as the ploughman poet Robert Burns.
THE Avengers may have caused havoc for the bad guys in their first big screen adventure, but they’re also a force to be reckoned with for rival films as audiences keep flocking to see them.
Here’s another film only Wes Anderson could make, with great, against-type performances by Bruce Willis and Edward Norton
The Scotsman’s film critics cast their eye over the latest cinematic releases
French-Algerian Tahar Rahim has the acting world at his feet, but, finds Alistair Harkness, he’s in no rush to work in America
Snippets from the arts world
JONATHAN Dimbleby is to step down from his Radio 4 phone-in show Any Answers? after nearly a quarter of a century.
IT WAS a tea-time institution for millions in the 1980s – and now the cult of Block-busters is back, with a Scots contestant returning to TV screens 28 years after her first “gold run”.
Celebrity chef Marco Pierre White has revealed he does not own a television, as he prepares to star in a new show.
Caroline Flack and Olly Murs are to return as hosts of TV’s X Factor spin-off. The duo have been signed up for a further series of ITV2’s The Xtra Factor.
A fresh and classy production of Bizet’s most famous work, Carmen, is running at the Royal Lyceum this week.
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YOU can’t have a fat kid singing Food, Glorious Food. That’s what a teacher at stage school told a young - and presumably rather chubby - Brian Conley after he’d asked to be put forward to audition for a part in a West End production of Oliver! alongside Roy Hudd.
Cameron Mackintosh’s musical production of Oliver! – a perennial favourite in London’s West End – is coming to Scotland on a tour that requires meticulous planning, chaperones, frequent cast rotations – and enough food to feed an army of children. By Kelly Apter
LIVINGSTON Players introduce audiences at The Brian Duguid Auditorium to a host of hilarious characters in their latest foot-tapping production, Me And My Girl.
TOSCA, one of Scottish Opera’s most popular productions, returns to Edinburgh next week by popular demand.
A RESTORED flying boat has taken off from Scotland on an international voyage to mark an airline anniversary.
Tony Jones took this photograph of Ferry Lass the South Queensferry skiff competing in the first Scottish Coastal Rowing regatta, held in Port Seton harbour.
John Thomson took this picture from the eastern side of Harperrig Reservoir in West Lothian on a glorious spring day
A SELECTION of pictures submitted by our readers and published in The Scotsman this week.
A brooding sky hangs over the ruined abbey on Inchcolm Island, as captured by Evening News reader Dennis Connolly
Alongside the Edinburgh College of Art Fashion and Textiles students, graduates from the Performance Costume course are showing their work at the ECA 2012 Fashion Show this week.
The high street has caught tropical fever. It’s all about hyper prints on slinky shift dresses, tailored shorts and pyjama pants. Blazers are soft and romantic in fit while heels are high with a hint of toe cleavage.
STANDING shivering on the jetty overlooking a derelict Fountainbridge it was pretty hard to believe we’re currently mid-May.
FOR a designer inspired by the world around her – travels to Japan, Cambodia, Morocco, the US – it should be no surprise to discover that Morag Macpherson’s most important commission to date is from Manhattan's newest, chicest destination hotel.
Moths, machines and the faded façades of Tuscan cities – fashion students at Edinburgh College of Art take inspiration where they find it. Now we showcase catwalk creations from the final collections of eight stars of the future – you saw them here first. By Janet Christie
Q: I have a number of fitted wardrobes and drawers in my bedroom and they are in a dark rosewood shade. I would like to brighten the room up, by painting them. Is there a specialist paint that I should use or is there a company in my area that could do it?
Although the approach of summer tends to turn thoughts to outside spaces, this can be an ideal time to plan and execute larger home-improvement jobs like bathroom revamps.
IT’S a cold spring day at Gallery, in Angus, and the wind is blowing in from the north-east, bringing with it showers of icy rain. John Simson hurries out with an umbrella, apologising for the weather, concerned the garden won’t be at its best, while head gardener Ron Stevenson peers anxiously at the grey sky.
I have a fairly large paved area at the back door that faces north-east and gets a minimal amount of sunlight – but being close to the house, it is well used. Last year we started planting up containers, and the past 12 months have been quite successful with colour from both foliage and seasonal flowers. If you need some ideas for container-planting for shade, then you might wish to try some of the following;
THE transformation of Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen’s grade II former farmhouse was never going to be a dull affair, and even he admits there is a lot going on
ORAL health – or the lack of it – is an indicator of general well-being, so it’s time to sort out your hygiene regime
It may be springtime, but when the frightfulness of the weather is matched by the rolls of fat accumulating around one’s belt, an indoor boot camp holds tremendous appeal. There will be no press-ups in the rain, or knees caked in mud.
TATTOOS. It seems that everyone has one these days. Whether it's a tramp stamp à la Christina Aguilera, something a little more esoteric, like Jessica Alba’s (she has the Sanskrit symbol for a lotus flower on her wrist), or a full-on body inking in the David Beckham league, all the celebs are now wearing their art on their sleeves.
SERUMS promise to brighten dull complexions and impart a youthful glow, but do they deliver?
Endurance runner extraordinaire and Scotland’s fitness champion, Dr Andrew Murray tells Roger Cox why he considers public health a very individual challenge
JUST days after its public flotation, Facebook is being sued by shareholders over allegations that it and banks, including its lead underwriter Morgan Stanley, withheld key information.
Personal data storage is essential. These days technology affords us the luxury to be snap happy. We rattle off hundreds of pictures in a blink of an eye and can even shoot HD video with our smartphones, video being the most space-hungry medium and the most likely one to swallow up all that free space on your hard drive.
Regular readers will know that I’ve experimented with a list of kitchen gadgets that eclipse Bruce Lee in the chopping stakes.
We’ve put together a famous five of apps to make your Hampden cup final visit a thouroughly heart-warming experience.
A TINY games firm based in an East Lothian village has smashed the Xbox sales record.
GALLUS is, thankfully, a rather less obscure word than many that feature in this series.
MANY visitors to Scotland may overhear the locals referring to what sounds like ‘peace.’ What they’re actually talking about is their lunch, or a snack.
AN ANCIENT “cursing stone” used by Christian pilgrims more than a thousand years ago to bring harm to their enemies has been discovered on Canna.
THE Royal Bank of Scotland has led the way in
the issue of banknotes and, finds Brian Ferguson,
that history is about to be celebrated as part of
the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations
IT HAS a strong claim as one of Edinburgh’s most intriguing buildings, with a chequered history as a merchant’s home, a slum, a church house and a brothel.
