Film director Guy Ritchie will face a review of his central London pub licence today after neighbours complained about noise. Westminster City Council's licensing sub-committee will review the licence of the Punchbowl. The council has received 70 complaints since Ritchie bought it in March last year - Press Association
The 'middle-class obsession' of giving teenagers a small taste of alcohol to 'wean' them was yesterday condemned by the Government's chief medical officer. Sir Liam Donaldson said parents should give under-15s no alcohol at all. The advice is to become part of an official advertising campaign next month - Daily Mail
Danish brewer Carlsberg raised its earnings outlook for 2009 as Russians stockpiled supplies ahead of a huge tax increase on beer. The maker of Carlsberg, Tuborg and Kronenbourg beer said it now expects operating profit of at least 9.3 billion Danish kroner ($1.8 billion). Any profit may be offset however, as stockpiling is predicted to have a negative affect in the beginning of next year as companies sell off their stock - Wall Street Journal
Keith Bridges, a retired British police inspector who killed his wife and three passengers in a drink-drive car crash, has walked free from a French court. Bridges, 52, was three times over the alcohol limit when he ploughed his car with eight people on board into a tree in the Dordogne, south-west France, in June 2006. He was given a 2 year suspended sentence, as the prosecution said "he serves a prison sentence in his head every day." - Telegraph