Amid the shifting fortunes of politics, one thing remains sac red for Tony Blair and his family: the annual holiday in Tuscany. This year, as in 1997 and 1998, the Blairs are to spend several weeks in northern Italy, the London Times reported. Their destination is a seaside villa in the San Rossore nature reserve near Pisa, loaned to them by Vannino Chiti, regional president and member of Italy's Party of the Democratic Left.
The legendary outlaw Robin Hood was gay, preferring his "merrie men" to Maid Marian (who never existed), an English literature professor said. Stephen Knight, professor of English literature at Cardiff University, decided Robin Hood was gay after studying 14th-century ballads on his deeds.
"The ballads could not say outright that he was gay because of the prevailing moral climate, but they do contain a great deal of erotic imagery," he said. "The greenwood itself is a symbol of virility and the references to arrows, quivers and swords make it clear too," he told the Sunday Times.
Soccer star Bruce Grobbelaar yesterday denied that he was the kind of man who would "lie and lie and lie again" to save his skin or obtain money.
The former Liverpool and Southampton goalkeeper agreed with George Carman QC, for the Sun - which Grobbelaar is suing for libel - that he had lied about his relationship with businessman Richard Lim. However, he insisted to Mr Justice Gray and the jury, it was "not intentional".
Saudi-born millionaire Osa ma bin Laden has been included in International Who's Who, to be published on Thursday. He is recorded as a "guerrilla leader". The singer Sinead O'Connor is also included.