RED TOP REVIEWSheridan’s wife cleared of stealingThe Record reports that Solidarity party leader Tomm
y Sheridan’s wife Gail has been cleared by her bosses at British Airways after she was accused of stealing miniature bottles of booze. Gail, who works as a purser on flights, tells the paper of her relief at the “malicious” claims being chucked out.
Click here to read the full storyThere’s been a murrrrder The paper also presents a ‘murder map of Scotland’ for its readers’ enjoyment. Basically, if you don’t live in Glasgow, you should be OK...
Click here to read the full storyKatona’s Orkney camp dream The Sun also has the Sheridan story. Like the Record, it brands it “exclusive”. In a jollier manner, the tabloid reports that Kerry Katona and husband Mark Croft are planning to set up a holiday camp on the Orkney Islands. The pair are mocked up as characters from the sitcom Hi-Di-Hi! just to make the point.
Click here to read the full storyMadonna’s true blueThe Mirror devotes much of page one and seven to the sad tale of Madonna’s woes over claims of problems with her marriage to director hubby Guy Ritchie. The paper prints photos of a bedraggled singer which it says shows how the strain of revelations in her brother’s book have left her looking “gaunt and careworn”. Of course, she could just have been caught in the rain on the way home from the gym.
been caught in the rain on the way home from the gym.
Click here to read the full storyBUSINESSBy Nathalie ThomasBarratt to cut fifth of its workforceBarratt Developments said it has agreed more relaxed covenants with its lenders to pay back £400m of a takeover loan it took out last year to fund its acquisition of rival firm Wilson Bowden.
But the housebuilder said it will still be forced to cut nearly a fifth of its workforce, or 1,200 jobs, as house sales continue to run at half last year’s level. Barratt also said this morning that it will not pay out a final dividend to shareholders for 2007-08, and will slash the value of its land bank by £85m.
Analysts at Cazenove said the £400m refinancing deal “will steady some nerves. However, the forward order book has declined 50% year-on-year and the group remains extremely operationally and financially geared”.
TELEVISIONBy Fiona LeithWeird science The new Chris Addison (The Thick of It) sitcom, Lab Rats, kicks off tonight, set, unsurprisingly, in a university laboratory. With a cast pulled from shows such as Shameless, Phoenix nights and Bremner, Bird & Fortune, this is definitely worth checking out.
Lab Rats, BBC2, 9.30pm.
Something fishy Nell Nelson continues her culinary romp around Scotland, tonight stopping off in Arbroath and learning the traditional skills behind the town’s renowned smokie industry.
The Woman Who Ate Scotland, STV, 7.30pm.
Sofa so good She may be popping out babies like she’s supplying a new Welsh rugby team, but songstress turned chat show presenter, Charlotte Church, returns to the sofa tonight. With some notorious performances on previous shows, Church isn’t the slickest or brightest of hostesses, but with guests such as Catherine Tate and David Mitchell appearing, she somehow gets away with it.
The Charlotte Church Show, Channel 4, 10pm.
SPORTBy Andrew SmithRain marks start of Scottish Open In between the obligatory downpours, golf will dominate the sporting agenda as Loch Lomond plays host to the now traditional Open ‘warm-up’ in the form of the Scottish Open. It is the one golf event that should not be overshadowed by the absence of the unfit Tiger Woods since he tended to decline invitations to take part.
All the other big hitters in the game will be donning their waterproofs and wondering if it really is the height of summer in Balloch, with Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Lee Westwood, Miguel Jimenez and, naturally, Colin Montgomerie the men who the galleries will be following.
INTERNETWebsite of the day Travel back in time to the days when Britain was in black and white and newsreaders spoke with clipped Alexandra Palace accents. This amazing site allows you to browse more than 3,500 hours of vintage footage from the archives of Pathe News. You don’t even need to hand over a jam jar or produce a ration book to gain entry.
http://www.britishpathe.com/
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