IN THE early hours of Sunday morning, Ricky Hatton's dream of becoming the best pound-for pound fighter in the world was on the ropes after his defeat in the tenth round by Floyd Mayweather.
Complaints about Labour funding rumbled on, with Glasgow-based millionaire Willie Haughey saying he would refuse to hand over any more cash until the system of political funding has been cleaned up. In London John Darwin, the missing canoeist who cla
imed to be suffering from amnesia, was charged with obtaining a money transfer by deception and making a false declaration in relation to a passport application.
On Monday, the government announced plans to develop a vast network of offshore wind farms to solve the energy crisis and combat global warming. John Hutton, the Business Secretary, said offshore wind turbines had the potential to supply all Britain's household energy. Environmentalists welcomed the move to offshore farms, saying it would help preserve the beauty of the countryside. The Welsh boxer Joe Calzaghe, who is the undisputed super-middleweight champion of the world, was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year. Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, made a surprise visit to Basra, where he announced that southern Iraq would be handed back to the Iraqis within two weeks.
David Cameron, the Tory leader, spoke in favour of the Union at a Conservative rally in Edinburgh on Tuesday. He said the SNP victory, combined with growing resentment from south of the Border, made the Union more fragile than ever. He said: "We must confront and defeat the ugly stain of separatism that is seeping through the Union flag." There were calls for standard grades to be scrapped after a report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said schools were not doing enough for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. In the United States, Conrad Black, the former owner of the Daily Telegraph, was sentenced to six and a half years in a Florida jail for his part in a £3 million fraud.
A survey on Wednesday showed the extent of prejudice against Muslims in Scotland. Fifty per cent of people questioned in the government backed study said Scotland's 1 per cent of Muslims represented a "cultural threat". Donald Trump wrote to Aberdeenshire councillors asking them to reconsider his plans to create a golf course and housing development, The US billionaire, whose mother came from Lewis, said it would be an important boost to the local economy when the oil begins to run dry.
The tale continued on Thursday when it was announced that Aberdeenshire Council had removed Martin Ford, the councillor who had used his casting vote to block the plan. A memorial service was held at St Giles's, Edinburgh, for the Duke of Buccleuch, Scotland's biggest landowner, who died in September. Joanna Lumley and David Bellamy were among the mourners.
On Friday Alex Salmond's SNP administration faced allegations of sleaze over the steps taken to overcome Aberdeenshire Council's objections to Mr Trump's plans.
THE WEEK IN BRIEF...
Oh no you won'tHEALTH and safety goons continued their crusade against the good old British pantomime this week after a wine gum related incident at Ayr's Gaiety Theatre.
Council chiefs banned the throwing of sweeties at the audience after a pack of wine gums thrown from the stage smashed a light in the auditorium.
Sweet throwing was verboten in Norfolk last week after health and safety chiefs warned the council could be sued if anyone was injured by a flying mint imperial.
Scottish singing legend Sydney Devine spoke out against the council meanies and suggested a possible solution. "Throwing sweeties to the kids has been part of the panto tradition for longer than I can remember.
"Life is getting so politically correct you're frightened to do anything. Why don't they let the panto cast throw marshmallows instead?"
My big fat mouthUNTIL she came second in I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here very few people in Britain had heard of Janice Dickinson, above, the crackpot American who calls herself "the world's first supermodel".
The extraordinary Janice is now back in the States where she has managed to infuriate thousands of fans of America's Next Top Model by calling model presenter Tyra Banks 'fat'.
Dickinson only made things worse when she embarked on a round of interviews to try to explain what she meant.
She told an interviewer on the Today programme: "I'm the voice of the people."
"I love Tyra. Look, I was not criticising her, it's the truth. She's large."
Movida DollarsIT'S not so much a cocktail as a West End show.
The Flawless, launched this week at Movida nightclub, is Britain's most expensive cocktail, at £35,000 a glass.
Every time a customer splashes out the lights will flash, the barmen will dance and two security guards will come to the table.
We know what you're thinking. It sounds like any normal night in the Port of Leith.
The super-expensive concoction consists of a large measure of Louis XII cognac, half a bottle of Cristal champagne, brown sugar, bitters and a few flakes of gold leaf.
But the real bling is the 11 carat white diamond ring at the bottom of every glass.
Ed Rollason, the bar manager at the club says: "They are definitely paying for the show as well. They'll have the attention of everyone in the bar."
Hunt the unicornAN AMERICAN hunter came home from the snowy wastes with a photograph of what appeared to be a unicorn this week.
Dave Ebeling captured the one horned beast on a motion sensitive game camera as he roamed the woods around Elma in Buffalo, New York.
Naturalists believe the animal is a deer with an extra antler growing next to its eye sockets.
Tim Spierto, senior wildlife biologist with the state Department of Environmental Conservation said the deformed antler may have grown as a result of an injury, saying: "It's just one of those weird breaks of nature."
However hunter Ebeling, who owns the unicorn wood, is frustrated by the mystery. "I just wish somebody would shoot it so we'd know what that was".
Cat and mouseIS THE Pope Catholic? Almost certainly. Are mice scared of cats? Not any more.
Scientists engaged in GM research have created a genetically engineered mighty mouse, which is free of fear. Researchers at Tokyo University demonstrated their discovery this week by showing a mouse blithely going about its business in the presence of a rather confused cat, right.
Professor Ko Kobayakawa explained: "Mice fear cats because they are innately conditioned to express fear when they sense the odour of predators.
"So, by getting rid of the specific receptors for sensing the odour, mice never feel afraid of cats."
Otherwise engagedA RETIRED English teacher from Aberdeen spent a long four days locked in a freezing cold gents' lavatory when a door handle broke, trapping him in the loo.
David Leggat survived by sipping tap water and dipping his feet in warm water before being freed from his prison at the Kittybrewster and Woodside Bowling Club.
Cleaner Cathy Scolly said he looked "awfully grey and shaky" when he finally emerged.
Leggat joked: "At least there was a toilet to use. The only thing I regret is not getting trapped behind the bar."
Recycled dreamsA KENYAN slum dweller who found a prospectus for Manchester University among the rubbish in a slum in Nairobi has fulfilled his dream of getting a degree.
Sammy Gitau was awarded a masters degree this week from the School of Economic Development in Manchester.
The former street boy earned his place by masterminding an education project for street children which is estimated to have helped train 20,000 young people in such skills as carpentry, baking and sewing.
Mr Gitau was originally refused a visa to study in the UK because he had only two years of formal education – but his school for street kids caught the eye of development workers from the European Union.
Receiving his degree in international development project management Mr Gitau said: "It feels wonderful.
"I will go back and stop children going through the same kind of life as me."
How much?A CANADIAN man who bought an unlimited mobile plan from a US phone company discovered he hadn't read the small print when he was landed with a bill for £41,000.
Piotr Staniaszek used his mobile as a computer modem and used it to download several high definition movies – thinking it was all covered by his inclusive package.
Bell offered to lower the charge to £1,590 but Mr Staniaszek says he isn't paying anything, saying: "Nobody told me."
"I'm going to try and fight it, because I didn't know about the extra charges."
Sat NavDASHBOARD navigation systems are not infallible, as a coachload of Christmas shoppers from Gloucestershire discovered when they tried to go on a seasonal shopping trip to France.
The driver programmed the sat nav to get to Lille in France – but ended up 100 miles away at Lille in Belgium.
One passenger said: "A few of us started to wonder what was going on when we saw signs for Eindhoven, which clearly isn't in France.
"But the driver wouldn't be told – he insisted he knew what he was doing. We ended up spending more than seven hours on the bus which is not my idea of a great day trip."
Plain EnglishFORMER England manager Steve McClaren has won a Foot in Mouth award from the Plain English Campaign for a comment about Wayne Rooney, left.
"He is inexperienced, but he's experienced in terms of what he's been through," McClaren said.
Steve Jenner of the Plain English Campaign said there was no excuse for talking rubbish.
"People need to think about what they are saying because most of the time they just don't make sense," he said.
"It just isn't necessary and shouldn't be done."
The full article contains 1661 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
