Swinney himself stresses the need to be inclusive although he has declined to guarantee a front bench post to Alex Neil - or, indeed, anyone else at this stage.

BBC: Tussle for the top

He has said he might stand if there were reforms to guarantee a fair election and if he could run as an independent candidate.

BBC: ElBaradei in Facebook plea for reform in Egypt

Gennady Onishchenko, Russia's chief sanitary official, told Ekho Moskvy radio that he has sent a letter to the European Commission requesting a guarantee that meat products sold to Russia don't contain horse meat.

NPR: Russia Seeks EU Guarantees Over Horse Meat Scandal

Hamilton goes into the weekend's finale knowing he has to finish at least second to guarantee the championship and deny Alonso a third successive crown.

BBC: SPORT | Motorsport | Formula One | No more slip-ups, vows Hamilton

One trick: An S corp shareholder who has agreed to guarantee a portion of a company s bank loan, though he may never have to pay out a dime, may still try to claim that theoretical indebtedness as a loss.

FORBES: The Shady Side To S Corps

Italian national Restivo, 40, has been allowed to go to Italy under a temporary surrender procedure with the guarantee he will be returned to the UK to serve the rest of his sentence for mother-of-two Mrs Barnett's murder, regardless of the outcome of the Italian proceedings.

BBC: Danilo Restivo to go to Italy for murder appeal

Mr Salmond attributes the development substantially to policies pursued by the Scottish government: notably accelerated capital investment, access to finance and the stability involved in a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies in those areas of the public sector over which he has direct control.

BBC: Alex Salmond's Plan Macb