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Softening up campaigns
Tony Blair, who arrived in
Scotland for the Labour party conference in Perth, warned taxes will have to rise in the budget
to pay for NHS and public
services. Peter Hain suggested
a referendum on the euro could
be held as early as next spring. Gordon Brown handed out a
rebuke but Jack Straw also made a pro-euro speech. Don't say we haven't been warned.
Air traffic financial crisis
Six months after the
part-privatisation of air traffic control, the government bailed
out the National Air Traffic Services with an emergency
(pounds) 30m. Another (pounds) 30m came
from the banks. The rescue package further underminded Stephen Byers, now known as Bungling Byers.
Fat chance of good health
A World Health Organisation study declared obesity a global epidemic, affecting 18% worldwide.
Numbers had increased 50% in seven years and included developing countries. Four fat
white British teenagers became
the first to develop type 2
adult diabetes.
Young, gifted and offski
SNP star Duncan Hamilton, 28,
the youngest MSP in Scotland, and too young to be disillusioned already, is to stand down in
the 2003 elections and
pursue a legal career. It must be
the money.
Mittal-fatigue sets in
Blair was accused of a cover-up over a controversial (pounds) 70m taxpayers loan for the Labour donor
Lakshmi Mittal to buy Romania's national steelworks. Downing
Street said it was hysteria
overload. An opinion poll showed 60% think Labour more sleazy
than the Conservatives.
Helicopter crash
Two police officers and a pilot survived when the Strathclyde police helicopter crashed in a
field in East Ayrshire. The
accident happened in bad
weather when the (pounds) 2.5m
chopper, which came into service in 2000, was responding to
reports of a child's cries. It was a false alarm.
abroad
Loss of confidence in Sharon
A devastating wave of Palestinian attacks shook Israeli faith in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who announced the building of buffer zones. Israelis said they were winning the battles but losing
the war. As their country recorded its worst economic performance
for 50 years, 1000 retired Israeli army generals launched a campaign for a withdrawal from Gaza and a declaration of a Palestinian state. A further 22 lives were lost in
48 hours.
Military clangers
In Kabul, British Paras opened fire on a taxi taking a woman in labour to hospital, killing one and wounding four more. The soldiers were later flown home for interrogation. Royal Marines in training launched a dawn assault from a landing craft on the wrong country - Spain instead of Gibraltar. Amused fishermen told them to try again at the bit where the rock sticks up.
Daniel Pearl dead
Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter captured by Islamic militants in Pakistan, was confirmed dead. A video of his execution was sent to the US embassy.
Dreadful events in US
Up to 200 bodies were found scattered around the Tri-State crematorium in Georgia.
It emerged the furnace had broken down several years ago and the privately owned business could not afford to repair it. Andrea Yates went on trial in Texas for
drowning her five children - aged seven, five, three, two, and six months - in the bath. Yates, 37, was said to be suffering from an extreme form of post-natal depression. The case has polarised public opinion in Texas, which executes more people than any other American state.
Smart sanctions on Mugabe
The European Union imposed
so-called smart sanctions on
Robert Mugabe less than three weeks before Zimbabwe's
elections. They include an arms embargo, travel ban, and
freezing of funds. Pierre Schori, head of the EU observer
mission, was expelled.
America moved to impose
similar sanctions. The UN
began food drops to 500,000 starving Zimbabweans.
Business
Rocky pension show
Pensions became a horror story as blue-chip companies closed
final-salary pension schemes and
called for something to replace
the FRS 17, the new rule on accounting for pensions which links them to company performance accounts. An entire generation of pensioners were warned they could face poverty. Former pension minister Frank Field described it as a ''mega tragedy''.
Hard(ish) times for the rich
Philip Purcell, chief executive of the US investment bank Morgan Stanley, has had his pay almost halved from $22m to $12.8
((pounds) 9m) as huge pay-cuts swept
the City and Wall Street.
Sir Ian Wood, MD of the
Aberdeen-based Wood group,
was named the richest man in Scotland with (pounds) 520m
Grass is gold as well as green
As news broke that cannabis may be prescribed as pill or a spray
for pain relief within two years, shares in GW Pharmaceuticals, which develops the drugs, rose
by 151/2 to 1461/2. The Medical Research Council is testing cannabis tablets on hundreds
of MS sufferers.
Sport
Better curlers than Carmen
Rhona Martin from Ayrshire led
a team of Scots to Olympic gold
in the nail-biting, last-stone
climax to the women's curling. Britain won bronze in the
skeleton bob. Australian
outsider Steven Bradbury did a Foinavon and won gold after everyone else crashed in the
1000m speed skating. The
Olympic Committee said the
saltire which British skier Alain Baxter dyed in his hair was a political statement and ordered
him to change it.
Rangers dreams are still alive
Rangers held Feyenoord to a
1-1 draw, leaving their UEFA
cup hopes hanging in the
balance. Millionaire grocer
Eddie Thompson tabled his
first offer in a campaign to wrest control of Dundee Utd away from Jim McLean and his family.
F1 in turmoil
Broadcasting and marketing rights to Formula One were put up
for sale by debt-stricken German media tycoon Leo Kirch. Bernie Ecclestone, former F1 owner,
and Rupert Murdoch are
both said to be interested.
The Prost team has gone bust
and Jaguar is thinking about pulling out.
Melanie Reid
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