'Pupils excluded from school for drinking'

Tens of thousands of pupils are being excluded from school for drinking, according to new research which undermines the government's claims that its efforts to curb alcohol-related antisocial behaviour are working. The research, based on an analysis of figures from government departments, also raises doubts about whether shops and bars are doing enough to clamp down on underage drinking. In 2006, the most recent year for which figures are available, more than 500,000 under-18s were served alcohol in bars and more than 350,000 bought alcohol in shops - The Observer​

Britain's biggest caravan park operator, Park Resorts, has called in advisers to examine possible mergers with rival holiday groups. US buyout group GI Partners has hired advisory firm Hawkpoint to assess strategic options for Park Resorts, which received a £15m capital injection from GI earlier this year. GI's UK leisure interests also include pub operator Orchid Group - The Sunday Times​

The two beer enthusiasts who run the curiously named BrewDog brewery are nothing if not ambitious. In just two years since setting up the business in Fraserburgh, Martin Dickie and James Watt have created a worldwide fan club for their quirky range of ales which now sell in 11 countries. Dickie, director and head brewer, has revealed loftier aims: to be Scotland's biggest brewer. The partners are deadly serious about their fledgling project and are targeting 2015 as the year when they will overtake InBev-owned Tennent's, which accounts for one in four pints sold in Scotland - Scotland on Sunday​

Australia's drinking culture, famous for not giving a "XXXX" about the risks of a bad hangover, faces new curbs after a surge in alcohol-fuelled violence. Sydney is grappling problems more familiar to English market towns, with fights and glassings sullying the affable image of the Oz lager-fan of Paul Hogan's Fosters' adverts. This week, after mounting calls from the public for better regulation of the alcohol industry, state premier Nathan Rees announced a freeze on 24-hour licences and a raft of other measures to reign in binge drinking - The Sunday Telegraph ​

Ministers have been forced to order an emergency shutdown of a key Government computer system to protect millions of people's private details. The action was taken after a memory stick was found in a pub car park containing confidential passcodes to the online Government Gateway system, which covers everything from tax returns to parking tickets - The Mail on Sunday​

Makers of a reality TV show plied participants with so much booze that one ended up glassing another man in the face, a court has heard. The bloody scene in a nightclub was then broadcast in the ITV series Generation Xcess. Last week a judge slammed programme-makers September Films, accusing them of encouraging the alcohol-fuelled attack. September Films said: "We strongly refute buying drinks or encouraging people to act as they did." - The Sunday Mirror​