In brief: Van Morrison bans booze from gigs

Singer Van Morrison has imposed an alcohol ban during his upcoming concert tour because he finds it "off-putting" when fans visit the bar. Morrison, 63, is teetotal having battled alcohol addiction as a young man. He insists that is irrelevant and his motive is to discourage people from milling around and distracting him.......... Writer Candace Bushnell is set to release a series of ‘prequel’ books that detail the “formative years in high school” of Carrie Bradshaw - the heroine of her Sex in the City franchise.......... Mohammed Fayed has won a £4,000 damages claim against Jason Fraser, a British paparazzo who took photographs of Princess Diana and his son Dodi while they holidayed on a yacht shortly before they died in 1997.......... Rugby star Johnny Wilkinson has allegedly become a Buddhist after struggling for years with depression. After realising he was “creating a destructive reality” Wilkinson turned to Buddhism and now feels “relaxed and liberated”.......... After having a baby daughter in July, Nicole Kidman is getting back to work, producing and starring in The Eighth Wonder, an action adventure being filmed in her native Australia.......... Hollywood legend Bette Davis is being commemorated on a new US postage stamp for the 100th anniversary of her birth. The 42-cent stamp features a portrait of the actress as she appeared in the 1950 film All About Eve.......... A musical send-up of life behind the scenes of the Barack Obama presidential campaign - The Obama Musical - is to open at the tiny Baron's Court Theatre in London on October 5; written and produced by ex-Obama campaign staffer Teddy Hayes, lyrics include: 'We are a pair/like chocolate and eclair'.......... ·