The Scotsman

Theatre Review: A Midsummer Nights' Dream: Rude Mechanicals Take Over the Night

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM *** PAXTON HOUSE, BERWICK-UPON-TWEED

Anger at One Helicopter Per 600 Troops

GORDON Brown faced renewed attacks over the conditions facing British troops in Afghanistan yesterday, on the day that a damning report warned a chronic shortage of helicopters was undermining their protection. In a grilling by MPs, the Prime Minister refused to confirm that he had knocked back requests from defence chiefs for 2,000 extra troops on the ground, while also rebuffing demands to declare how many helicopters are deployed in Afghanistan.

New Man Lyon Sings From Same Old Pat Hymn Sheet

TO THE sound of thunder, the distant braying of an apocalyptic horse and the chink of gold coins, the spirit of the late Ian Rushbrook ghosted through the annual meeting of Personal Assets Trust yesterday. Devoted shareholders of Britain's most bearish investment trust filled the room at Edinburgh's Roxburghe Hotel to hear Sebastian Lyon, the new investment manager, reaffirm PAT's cautious stance. The global market collapse had borne out the late Rushbrook's dire predictions, so what now?

I'm the Luckiest Blighter Ever Says Nobel Winner

'IHAVE lived an unplanned life. I'm the luckiest blighter ever," smiles one of only two Scottish medical Nobel Prize winners. It wasn't chance, however, but an inspirational education that ushered James Black, a son of the Fife coalfields, into an illustrious career that saw him discover beta-blockers, with their unprecedented impact on the treatment of heart disease, as well as the first effective non- surgical treatment for stomach ulcers.

Bus Drivers Take Wages Fight to Agm

STRIKING bus drivers in Aberdeen yesterday picketed their company's annual meeting. Workers from First Bus walked out in a 24-hour stoppage over pay after union leaders and management failed to reach an agreement during talks with the conciliation service Acas earlier this week.

Cariescan Unveils First Distribution Deal

CARIESCAN, the dental technology group, claims to have learnt from the mistakes of its troubled predecessor, as it announced its first distribution deal. The Dundee company rose from the ashes of Idmos, an Aim-listed firm that was placed in administration in early 2008, blaming a "prohibitive" distribution agreement for a failure to move into commercial sales.

Review: Duran Duran: Still Hungry Like the Wolf After All These Years

Cool or not, Eighties heroes deliver a masterclass in kitsch pop brilliance, writes Andrew Eaton DURAN DURAN ****

Crop Research Group Shows Off Its Fruitful Work

THE Scottish soft fruit picking season is in full swing and shows every indication of being one of the best for several years. Speaking yesterday at an open day at the Scottish Crop Research Institute at Invergowrie, near Dundee, Richard Lochhead, the Cabinet secretary for rural affairs, stressed the importance of the soft fruit sector.

Farming: Pooled Power Delivers Tractor Discounts

BUYING a new tractor is always a big investment: some of the larger models now cost about GBP 100,000. It is therefore important to strike the best possible bargain with the local dealer. The Scottish Machinery Ring Association (SMRA), which represents nine rings with a total membership approaching 7,000 farmers and service providers, has just signed a deal with Case IH UK, which will result in farmers receiving a rebate over and above any agreement with dealers.

Finsbury Food Says Takeover Talks Are Over

FINSBURY Food Group, the bakery and cakes business headed by Scot Martin Lightbody, says takeover talks with an unnamed suitor have ended, sending shares 10.5 per cent lower. The company which has about 1,600 staff in Scotland, said in a statement to the Stock Exchange yesterday morning: "Further to the announcement made on 1 June 2009 regarding a preliminary approach, Finsbury announces that discussions have terminated.".

Keep Pupils Off School? Buy Face Masks? Key Questions Answered

Q: How do I know I have got swine flu and not normal flu? A: The symptoms of swine flu are broadly the same as those of ordinary flu, but may be more severe. Typical symptoms include: a sudden fever or cough, headache, tiredness, chills, aching muscles, limb or joint pain, diarrhoea or stomach upset, sore throat, runny nose, sneezing and loss of appetite. Although the illness is generally mild in most people so far, it is proving severe in a small minority of cases.

Swine Flu Death Toll 'Could Hit 65,000'

Government revises figures on pandemic as infection rates increase and fatalities hit 29 UP TO 65,000 people in Britain could die as a result of swine flu as the pandemic takes hold across the country, according to the government's latest calculations.

Business Gazetteer

GRIME DOESN'T PAY Dishing the dirt on their bosses LOOK around you. Does any of this sound familiar? Filthy toilets, smelly colleagues and dirty windows.

Spain Reigns at Festival Centrepiece

WORK by artists including Picasso, El Greco, Goya, Velzquez and Zurbarn go on show tomorrow as the National Gallery of Scotland unveils "The Discovery of Spain", the highlight of its Festival programme for 2009. The exhibition charts the era from 1800, when Spain was "discovered" by artists, to the devastation of the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s, with Picasso's Weeping Woman as its powerful finale. The Picasso painting, the centrepiece of the exhibition, depicts a woman holding her dead chi...

We Didn't Even Negotiate with Right People On Iraq Hostages - Minister

THE Foreign Office has insisted it is working "intensively" to secure the release of three British hostages in Iraq after a former minister suggested the government may have wasted valuable time negotiating with the wrong people. Kim Howells, who spent three years as a Foreign Office minister, cast doubts on efforts to free five Britons, two of whom have been murdered by their Iraqi captors.

Banks Urged to Reverse Steep Fall in Lending to Small Firms

Finance secretary John Swinney called for banks to step up lending to small businesses and high-growth firms Picture: Andrew Milligan/PA LENDING to Scottish businesses - particularly very small and "high-growth" firms - has fallen dramatically since the advent of the credit crunch, a new government survey has suggested.

Anger As Bank Cuts 1,200 More Jobs

PRESSURE was mounting on UK and Scottish ministers last night to try to save hundreds of banking jobs. The demands followed an announcement by the Lloyds Banking Group yesterday that it would shed 1,200 more jobs.

Need to Know: Eu Set to Get Tough On Bail-Out Banks

EUROPEAN competition authorities will give Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland five years to sell assets required under guidelines to be set out next week. Fears are that UK banks in receipt of state aid - Lloyds and RBS - will face the same restructuring requirements as Commerzbank and WestLB, which had to reduce their balance sheets by nearly half.

Need to Know: Mccarthy & Stone Reshapes Portfolio

MCCARTHY & Stone, the embattled retirement housebuilder in which Sir Tom Hunter previously owned a stake, has revealed plans to rebuild its development portfolio in Scotland. A major refinancing took place earlier this year after it was unable to service its debt and its main lender, HBOS, took control of the business.

Angela's Ashes Author has Meningitis

FRANK McCourt, author of Angela's Ashes, is seriously ill with meningitis brought on by skin cancer. His brother, Malachy McCourt, said yesterday. The writer, 78, is in a New York hospice and was diagnosed with meningitis about two weeks ago following a melanoma.