A certain ice-cream loving resident of Risdon Prison, Hobart, is now so fat he can’t walk. He has to be lifted in and out of bed by four men.

A big change in the Nine Network programming section. Head of factual, John McAvoy is said to have just departed, or be about to leave. No reason given in the chat, but Andrew Backwell, Nine’s head of production, is said to be becoming increasingly assertive, especially as he has taken responsibility for the nuts and bolts of running Sydney.

Grab a copy of the French equivalent of New Idea, Voici, issue 1136 dated 14 to 20  August to see the triple whammy of gossip mag apologies:

  1. A third of the front cover is devoted to an apology to Christophe Dechavanne (whomever) on issue 1074 last year as ordered per judgement of ‘la chambre de la presse du tribunal de grade instance de paris’ for an infringement of privacy.
  2. The inside front cover in full is devoted to an apology and report of a fine of 4000 euro as demanded by Laurance Ferrari and Renaud Capucon for the invasion of their privacy by photographic image and:
  3. On the title page is a fifth page splash apology where the publisher Prisma Presse is condemned by la grande tribunal for invading privacy of another trio by way of photos. Don’t know who any of the people named are — but the mag is full of shots of alleged stars of stage, screen and realite show wearing not a lot on a beach, on a boat or behind a bush with some other person or persons. And the headlines suggest they should not be so close wearing so little (with pic of mousy wife in corner of story).

The French press tribunals not only appear to have some strength, they act relatively quickly, and force prominent and grovelling apologies in the publication. Andrew Stewart Caunes Minervois Three in one issue. Can New Idea or the other gossip rags beat that?

We can’t even log onto the ATO website over here (Abu Dhabi, UAE). I assume the same issue is happening back home. I know they want to punish us non-residents, but they can’t inflict pain if we can’t lodge a return!