The Scotsman

How Murray Can Make It Game, Set and Match

HIS LOOK Fiona Firth, menswear controller at Harvey Nichols

Baa Cuts 700 Jobs Despite Rising Profits

AIRPORT operator BAA is to axe some 700 back-office jobs at the three main London airports despite posting improved half-year results. The posts will go at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, and no staff are affected at BAA Scotland's airports at Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen. The cuts are part of a belt-tightening plan to reduce costs by GBP 45 million a year to offset factors such as the failure to eliminate outdated working practices before Heathrow's new terminal five opens.

Between the Lines: Scotland Is Not Well Schooled in the Necessary Qualifications

SO IT is goodbye Alan Greenspan and hello to the new chairman of the US Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke. Greenspan had a mystique like no other central banker since the legendary Sir Montagu Norman who ran the Bank of England from 1920 to 1944. Norman was famous for loathing accountants and Scotsmen. Greenspan was less eccentric but uncannily prescient for a central banker. His unique ability to divine trends in the mass of data the US economy spews out led Greenspan to grasp that the American ...

Blunkett Clings On for Survival After Third Breach of Ministers' Code

DAVID Blunkett's precarious position in the Cabinet was further undermined yesterday after it emerged that he failed to seek a Whitehall watchdog's approval for a third commercial job. The third job is with a group that is seeking a GBP 46 million government contract.

Religious Belief 'Is Aid to Healing'

FAITH in God may be good for your health, according to a doctor speaking at Harvard's National Institute of Health. Assembled scientists heard that belief in a higher force might have the capacity to alter body chemistry and bolster the healing process.

'It's Really Obvious That Ubu Doesn't Have Any Power'

NOT many plays can claim to have started a riot after only one word. But at the first performance of Alfred Jarry's Ubu the King in 1896, the first word - a profanity - caused such clamour that it took half an hour before order was restored. Almost 100 years on, this dark absurdist play still has the power to shock. A new adaptation by David Greig - a co-production by Dundee Rep, the Tron, BITE:05, the Barbican and the Young Vic as part of the Young Genius festival - has been described as "fr...

Pupils Have Designs On the Architecture of Sir Basil Spence

PUPILS in Edinburgh will today get the chance to look inside the mind of one of Scotland's best-known architects. Scottish Widows' offices, in the shadow of Arthur's Seat, are hosting the first in a series of workshops running around the UK to celebrate the life and work of Sir Basil Spence.

Holyrood Moves to Counter Mcletchie's Legacy of Distrust

A MAJOR overhaul of MSPs' expense claims will see every receipt and invoice published on the internet in an attempt to restore the public's battered confidence in the Scottish Parliament. Aware of the damage that the McLetchie taxis affair has done to the reputation of the parliament and its MSPs, George Reid, Holyrood's presiding officer, signalled his intention to make the system of expenses much more open and accountable.

Crop Spraying Information Call

FARMERS must be more open and communicative about pesticide use, said Guy Smith, an Essex arable farmer, yesterday. But notifying residents living near his fields when he intended to spray was a step too far, he added. The notification recommendation was one of several from the report of the recent Royal commission on environmental pollution.

Twelfth Straight Fed Rate Rise

THE US Federal Reserve last night raised its key interest rate to the highest level in more than four years. America's central bank also signalled that more increases are likely. The Fed announced it was pushing its target for the federal funds rate, the interest that banks charge each other, to 4 per cent from 3.75 per cent, where it had been since 20 September. It marked the 12th consecutive quarter-point increase since the Fed began gradually raising rates in June 2004.

What Is Your Coffeemate? T

BE IT an espresso, a latte or just a cup of instant, you've probably had your first coffee of the day already. Chances are you'll have a few more before bedtime because, as a nation, we consume 70 million cups a day, spending a total of GBP 630 million each year on our favourite beans. But while most of us are now able to distinguish a mocca from a macchiato, do we know which food to eat with a particular cup of the dark, rich stuff? "It's all down to personal taste but there are certain coff...

Flyglobespan's Florida Link

FAST-expanding Scottish airline Flyglobespan is to launch the country's first daily flights to Florida next year in a move it admitted was "ambitious". The summer service from June will operate between Glasgow and Sanford, 18 miles from Orlando. The airline, part of the Edinburgh- based Globespan travel group, will offer seats in three classes using a twin-aisle Boeing 767-300.

Hearts Bleed As Football's White Knight Wields Knife

HE WAS the shining knight, laden with saddlebags of gold, who arrived in Hearts' darkest hour. The hero who saved Tynecastle Stadium from being sold off, swallowed the 130-year-old club's GBP 20 million debt and, until last week, had pushed the club to the top of the Scottish Premier League. But yesterday the reputation of Vladimir Romanov, the Lithuanian multi-millionaire, was more than just tarnished by the swift sacking of Phil Anderton, the club's chief executive and the enforced resignat...

An Apple for the Hi-Tech Teacher

PUPILS at an Edinburgh high school are to become the first in Scotland to use the latest must-have gadget, the iPod, in the classroom as part of a ground-breaking project. The Scotsman can reveal that Apple, the company that makes the hand-held music and video players, has agreed to give 50 state-of- the-art iPods to Gracemount High School to be used in lessons by pupils and teachers.

Both a Theme and Focus Are Needed to Stop a Dying Fall

TWELFTH NIGHT *** THEATRE ROYAL, GLASGOW

Fresh Lse Bidding May Be Delayed

LONDON Stock Exchange shareholders may be forced to wait until at least the new year for any renewed bid to emerge for the GBP 1.5 billion company, after the competition watchdog published its long- awaited report into the possible takeover. The Competition Commission ended a seven month inquiry by awarding a green light to all three firms involved in the auction, but it slapped a major condition on front-runner Euronext. The Paris- based exchange will have to almost halve its 41.5 per cent s...

Manufacturing Expands for Third Month

MANUFACTURING, the long-term lame duck of the UK economy, has managed to "wriggle free" from recession, posting solid gains at the start of the final quarter. And across Europe the troubled sector is also showing signs of a steady recovery, according to a tranche of economic surveys published yesterday.

Matalan Reports Half-Time Slide in Profits and Sales

MATALAN, the discount clothing retailer, yesterday became the latest victim of the UK's high street slowdown, unveiling a slump in sales and profits. Pre-tax profits for the six months to 27 August fell to GBP 30.7 million from GBP 42.5m in the same period last year. The retailer said like-for-like sales at its 190 stores sank by 6.7 per cent and it predicted no let-up in tough high street trading conditions, after sales slid by 10.6 per cent during the nine weeks to the end of October. Last ...

Macpherson Admits Iti Funds Shortfall Institutes' Chairman Denies Rift with Scottish Enterprise, Saying Talks 'Only Proper'

SHONAIG Macpherson, chairman of ITI Scotland, has admitted that the government's flagship Intermediary Technology Institutes will not be able to "single handedly" meet the funding requirements of future projects, but yesterday moved to play down rumours of a rift with Scottish Enterprise (SE), the ITIs' controlling partner. Writing for The Scotsman today, Macpherson said reports that the ITIs were in crisis were "unfounded", and that their involvement in SE chairman Sir John Ward's ongoing re...

Happy Birthday, Bag That Saves Thousands

BLINK and you'll miss it even though it may have just saved your life. The airbag in your car deploys and inflates so fast you can't see it and afterwards you'll remember only a loud bang and feel the itch of mild friction burns to face and hands. Even if your injuries would not have been fatal, its action means you can walk away from an accident that would otherwise have put you in hospital. The device that has proved one of the biggest life savers in motoring celebrates its 25th birthday th...