May 31, 2007 at 6:40 pm · Filed under macroeconomy
WORK has begun on plans to name and shame high-risk sex offenders on the run, Kenny MacAskill, the Justice Secretary said yesterday.
The announcement came after a meeting between senior Conservative and Scottish National Party figures to discuss how dangerous inviduals can better be monitored. They also discussed using satellite tracking to monitor serious offenders.
The move comes after it emerged that Peter Tobin had been on the run for nearly a year before he raped and killed the Polish student Angelika Kluk, 23, in Glasgow. Mr MacAskill said: “When they [sex offenders] decide to disappear, then all bets are off with regard to how we find them.
“The use of photographs being published on the internet and elsewhere is perfectly appropriate and we will seek to do so.
We want our police to have the best tools available, if they can help us to enhance public safety.”
Yesterday’s talks were also attended by Alex Salmond, the First Minister, Annabel Goldie, the Tory leader, and Bill Aitken, one of her MSPs.
Related topic
- http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=324
http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=324
May 31, 2007 at 6:40 pm · Filed under macroeconomy
THE organisers of Europe’s top oil show have come up with a novel solution to the accommodation crisis facing delegates attending this summer’s Offshore Europe exhibition and conference in Aberdeen - a luxury cruise liner with more than 200 cabins.
The showcase for Europe’s oil and gas industry is staged every two years in Aberdeen, Europe’s oil capital, and this year’s event, being held at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre (AECC) from 4 to 7 September, is expected to attract more than 30,000 visitors from more than 100 countries.
In the past, the lack of hotel accommodation in the area has meant some delegates have had to stay as far away as Dundee and Perth to attend the event.
But it was revealed yesterday that AECC bosses have hired a luxury liner which will be berthed at Peterhead harbour, 34 miles away, in a bid to ease the shortage of accommodation.
The Athena, a Greek-owned transatlantic liner normally used for cruises around the Mediterranean and the Norwegian fjords, will offer accommodation for up to 500 conference delegates from 2 to 8 September. Two years ago the Athena was berthed off Shetland for the Island Games, where it accommodated athletes and visitors from all over the world.
Brian Horsburgh, deputy managing director of the AECC, said: “Demand for accommodation during the Offshore Europe show has increased as a result of the growth in the number of international visitors and exhibitors.
“Cruise ships have successfully been used for accommodation throughout the world for conferences and events, therefore we are sure that this will be a success. We think the ship experience will add a unique, party atmosphere to those visiting the show.”
A spokeswoman for the AECC added: “The cruise ship offers a range of accommodation including standard, classic, deluxe cabins and suites, totalling 277 cabins spanning eight passenger decks. Each air-conditioned cabin features a private en suite bathroom, a television for satellite programmes and in-house movies, a fridge and mini bar facility, hairdryer and safe. Suites also include a Jacuzzi and some feature balconies. There is also 24-hour room service.”
The ship also features a range of public lounges, restaurants, and bars, a gym and sauna. The accommodation package includes daily return luxury coach transfers to the exhibition.
Geoff Runcie, chief executive to Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce,
said: “This is an innovative development. One of the concerns we have is that the exhibition is constrained by the [accommodation] capacity we have locally. Hiring a cruise liner is a sensible way of meeting that peak [in accommodation requirements].”
May 31, 2007 at 6:40 pm · Filed under macroeconomy
Consumers Swim With the Tide Confidence Steady While Market Slides By JESSICA BYERS
March 6, 2007 - Unrattled by climbing gas prices and sliding stock shares, consumer confidence kept its poise in the latest ABC News/Washington Post survey.
The ABC/Post Consumer Comfort Index remains at -1 on its scale of +100 to -100, unchanged from last week and on par with its 2007 average, -2. Apart from a January drop, the CCI’s been largely stable since mid-November.
The CCI is holding tough despite the Dow Jones industrial average’s worst week in four years and a 12 cent rise in the average price of a gallon of gas this week, the sixth biggest weekly increase by value in 10 years.
Of the two, gasoline prices probably bear closer watching. Consumer sentiment has been highly sensitive to gas prices in the past. By contrast, it’s tended not to be influenced by sharp drops in the Dow, including most recently the market-shaking falls of Oct. 27, 1997, Aug. 31, 1998, and April 14, 2000.
There’s good reason: While many Americans have stock investments, most hold stocks indirectly (through funds or pension savings) rather than directly, and most are long-term, buy-and-hold investors, largely insulated from market ups and downs. Quite unlike paper losses to stock portfolios, gasoline and other energy prices hit home daily.
INDEX — The index is based on Americans’ ratings of the national economy, the buying climate and their personal finances. This week 45 percent rate the economy positively — close to the five-year high of 48 percent, last seen just two weeks ago, and five points above the long-term average in weekly polls since late 1985.
Sixty-three percent rate their personal finances positively, compared with a long-term average of 57 percent. (It hit 65 percent in mid-November, the most since August 2001.) And 41 percent call it a good time to buy things; the average is 38 percent.
TREND — The CCI’s above its long-term average, -9, and well up from its 2006 low, -19 last August. It hasn’t strayed beyond a range from -3 to +1 since Jan. 14.
GROUPS — The index is higher in better-off groups — far higher among higher-income Americans, college graduates and whites. It’s +8 among men and -9 among women. And partisan differences remain: +36 among Republicans, -8 among independents, -19 among Democrats. It’s -6 in the Midwest, and -1 to +2 elsewhere.
Here’s a closer look at the three components of the ABC/Post CCI:
NATIONAL ECONOMY — Forty-five percent of Americans rate the economy as excellent or good, the same as last week. The highest was 80 percent on Jan. 16, 2000. The lowest was 7 percent in late 1991 and early 1992.
PERSONAL FINANCES — Sixty-three percent say their own finances are excellent or good; it was 64 percent last week. The highest was 70 percent on Aug. 30, 1998, matched in January 2000. The lowest was 42 percent on March 14, 1993.
BUYING CLIMATE — Forty-one percent say it’s an excellent or good time to buy things; it was 39 percent last week. The highest was 57 percent on Jan. 16, 2000. The lowest, 20 percent in fall 1990.
METHODOLOGY — Interviews for the ABC News/Washington Post Consumer Comfort Index are reported in a four-week rolling average. This week’s results are based on telephone interviews among a random national sample of 1,000 adults in the four weeks ending March 4, 2007. The results have a three-point error margin. Field work by ICR-International Communications Research of Media, Pa.
The index is derived by subtracting the negative response to each index question from the positive response to that question. The three resulting numbers are added and divided by three. The index can range from +100 (everyone positive on all three measures) to -100 (all negative on all three measures). The survey began in December 1985.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/PollVault/
