RED TOP REVIEW

By Fiona Leith

Horse Whisperer author suffers kidney failure A month after Nicholas Evans fell ill after eating poisonous mushrooms in Forres, today's Daily Record reports that the Horse Whisperer author has been left with no kidney function whatsoever, and doctors fear he may never fully recover. Talking to the paper, his brother-in-law, Sir Alastair Gordon-Cumming (the Laird of Altyre, on whose estate Evans picked the mushrooms), said: "We are all in a very bad way – the men came off worse because we ate more mushrooms. It has been absolutely dreadful. We are all extremely lucky to be alive."
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2008/09/22/horse-whisperer-author-nicholas-evans-has-total-kidney-failure-after-mushroom-poison-hell-86908-20747673/

Who you gonna call? Fatbusters! The Scottish Sun reports on the latest in a long line of initiatives proposed to halt Scotland's obesity crisis, as the introduction of food mentors is proposed by American nutrition guru Dr Olsen Huff. Trained mentors would accompany kids as they ate at the school canteen and educate them in the rights and wrongs of their food intake, as well as encouraging an interest in exercise.
http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/article1718471.ece

Muck shines bright
Where there's muck there's brass, according to the Daily Express, which is happy to report a revival in the fortunes of Muck as its islanders celebrate having their highest number of permanent residents for six decades. More than a dozen new arrivals have come in the past year alone, boosting population to 40. Mary MacEwan, daughter of the island's laird, tells the paper that the islanders are doing what they can to build a community: "We're hoping to attract funding for a village hall, so there's somewhere we can all gather."
http://www.express.co.uk/scottish

SPORT

By Graham Bean

Ryder Cup captain returns to face inquest

The trophy has been lost and the inquest has begun. America's Ryder Cup triumph was ultimately a convincing one and the European players will return home today to lick their wounds.
Their captain, Nick Faldo, has been the target of much criticism over the past week, but not everyone believes he did a bad job. One of his predecessors, Bernard Gallacher, believes Faldo deserves another chance and has called for the Englishman to retain the captaincy for the 2010 Ryder Cup, in Wales.
"He has put too much into European golf not to get another shot at it," said Gallacher, who captained Europe in three Ryder Cups, winning in 1995.
While Faldo was vindicated in his selection of Ian Poulter – the Englishman's four points made him top scorer in Valhalla – he got it wrong on the final day in the order he sent out his players. The match was lost before the key European quartet of Graeme McDowell, Poulter, Lee Westwood and Padraig Harrington could have a say.
Faldo says he is unsure whether he will pursue the captaincy again.
Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton is in Paris today, bidding to have his victory in the Belgian Grand Prix reinstated.
The British driver will attend an appeals court hearing to try to overturn a 25-second penalty which saw him demoted to third place in Belgium. Hamilton was punished for cutting a chicane while overtaking Kimi Raikkonen.
A decision will be made tomorrow.



BUSINESS

By William Lyons

Wall Street banks seek change

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have moved to ditch their status as investment banks as the damage caused by the financial hurricane that ripped through Wall Street continues. The two investment houses have both received the regulatory approval to transform themselves into traditional bank holding companies, which means they have equal and permanent rights to access emergency funds from the US central bank, the Federal Reserve. They will also be far more tightly regulated. It marks the end of an era on Wall Street.
First Minister Alex Salmond, meanwhile, will host a summit of industry and political leaders to discuss the future of HBOS. The meeting of the Scottish Council for Development and Industry in Edinburgh will be aiming to find the best way to keep jobs and decision-making in Scotland.

TELEVISION

By Fiona Leith

Going with the flow
In this second of six programmes trailing the former soldier-turned-explorer, Bruce Parry finds himself further up the mighty Brazilian river as he undertakes the 4,000-mile journey from mountain spring to estuary. Tonight he meets the Achuar people, who have only had contact with the outside world during the last 40 years.
Amazon with Bruce Parry, BBC2, 9pm

Digging up the past
A three-part Val McDermid drama starring Juliette Stevenson begins tonight, as a family's secrets are brought into focus when a television documentary team (led by Stevenson) investigates their daughter's disappearance 20 years ago.
Place of Execution, ITV1, 9pm

High times with Jason Donovan The former editor of the Daily Mirror settles down with Jason Donovan to discuss how the Neighbours pin-up went from heights of adulation to the depths of drug addiction as a result of his rise and fall in showbusiness.
The Dark Side of Fame with Piers Morgan, BBC1, 11.15pm