Brian Ferguson: Just one act of long-running drama
A TASTER of the trams is a surreal experience.The annals of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe are littered with dramas, controversies and scandals.But while more than 2000 shows vied for attention across...
View ArticleGreen tea extract can make tumours disappear in weeks
A COMPOUND found in green tea has been shown to shrink cancer tumours, causing almost half to disappear within one month, according to Scottish scientists.Researchers at the universities of...
View ArticleAid agencies should help poor collect tax, say MPs
Britain’s international aid effort should focus more on helping developing countries to collect their own taxes properly, MPs said yesterday.The Commons International Development Committee said a...
View ArticleConstruction workers accept pay rise
HALF a million construction workers are to get a 2 per cent pay rise following long-running talks.Three trade unions, Ucatt, Unite and the GMB, said basic pay rates would increase from January, with...
View ArticleAlastair Sim: Scots won’t miss out in scramble for university places
UNIVERSITIES have a very real concern that the current, highly political, debate about admissions in the clearing process may be giving a false impression to Scottish learners that their opportunities...
View ArticleFilm review: Shadow Dancer (15)
JAMES Marsh’s latest work is excellent in places, but character problems mean it is a shadow of what it might have been.As a documentary filmmaker, James Marsh has an unerring ability to find strange...
View ArticleGoals takeover is shown a red card by independent investors
Shares in Goals Soccer Centres slumped more than 20 per cent yesterday after the proposed £73.1 million takeover of the five-a-side football pitch operator collapsed.The deal needed the backing of...
View ArticleFilm reviews: The Watch | The Imposter | The Forgiveness of Blood | The Three...
THE Scotsman’s film critic Alistair Harkness gives us a brief rundown on the latest cinematic offerings.The Watch (15) Directed by: Akiva SchafferStarring: Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill,...
View ArticleFarquhar’s first deal in new guise
FORMER prefabricated bathroom “pod” maker RB Farquhar has completed its first deal since emerging in March from 15 months of administration.The Huntly-based firm has bought Ellon-based safety equipment...
View ArticleScots ‘zombies’ teeter on the brink of crisis
The financial crisis and prolonged recession have left nearly one in ten Scottish businesses in a “zombie” state, unlikely ever to return to healthy profitability.The latest survey by insolvency trade...
View ArticleWet weather takes fizz out of Heineken
Dutch brewer Heineken yesterday warned that wet weather and the eurozone debt crisis had drained beer sales in Europe during the first half of the year.But the beer maker, which broke up Scottish &...
View ArticleDobbies weathering the wet summer blues
Dobbies Garden Centres saw its sales jump 22 per cent last year, boosted by store openings, and said its ambitious expansion plans remained on track despite tough trading conditions.Chief executive...
View ArticleBusiness news in brief: Vestas | Carillion | Murray International Trust
THE latest business news as Vestas plan job cuts and Carillion eyes potential contracts.Further job losses at wind firm VestasDanish wind turbine maker Vestas yesterday unveiled plans to cut a further...
View ArticleFrom the archives: Sweeping successes by French patriots; 23 August 1944
AN OFFICIAL communique from General Koenig’s Headquarters yesterday stated that the Paris F.F.I. (French Forces of the Inierior), supported by light artillery, have attacked the Germans in the Place de...
View Article‘Strength in numbers’ is the way ahead
With an additional 25 million litres of milk being committed to it from Scottish producers, it would appear that First Milk, the country’s largest farmer-owned co-operative, has benefitted from the...
View ArticleUnion wants details of ‘difficulty’ with banks over lending costs
One week after it was revealed that bank borrowing by Scottish farmers had risen to new record levels, NFU Scotland yesterday asked its members to provide details of their relationship with their...
View ArticleEasy Ryder: Sponsors sign up for golf tournament
ORGANISERS of the 2014 Ryder Cup golf tournament at Gleneagles have signed up BMW, Diageo and Rolex as the first of its top-tier sponsors and expect to announce others shortly.European Tour officials...
View ArticleSkyscanner’s landmark deal with Chinese giant
TRAVEL website Skyscanner will today sign a landmark deal with Chinese search engine giant Baidu and reveal plans to open an office in Beijing.The Edinburgh-based travel search company, known as...
View ArticleEurozone crisis: Markets fall as Greece pleads for more time
WORLD markets slumped yesterday as Greek plans to slow the pace of public spending cuts dragged the eurozone debt crisis back into the spotlight.Greek prime minister Antonis Samaras said the country is...
View ArticleEgyptian industrial action dents revenues at Melrose
MELROSE Resources, the Edinburgh-based oil and gas producer that last week agreed a merger with Ireland’s Petroceltic International, yesterday blamed an 18 per cent fall in revenues on lower production...
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