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Press, 19 February 1988, Page 8

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Freddie in

‘Tempest’

The swinging sixties star, Freddie Garrity, lead singer with Freddie and the Dreamers, is to make his debut as a Shakespearean actor. Freddie, aged 51, who topped the charts 20 years ago with, songs like “You Were Made For Me,” is to play the fairy spirit Ariel in the comedy, "The Tempest,” at the Salford Playhouse Theatre in Manchester.—London.

Scots drink more

The Scots drink and smoke more than people in any other region of the United Kingdom, Government figures revealed. On average each person in

Britain spent SNZ72B a year on alcohol and 6NZ323 on tobacco in 1985. Scotland was the hardest-drinking region, with SNZBSO per head lashed out per year. The South-East came next at SNZBO6, followed by the North at SNZ733. Northern Ireland was the most abstemious region, spending just SNZS4S a head on drink.—London.

Persecution

reports

A United Nations special investigator said he had received reports of religious persecution in seven countries, including the killing of hundreds of worshippers in Iran and Albania. Angelo Vidal d’Almeida Ribeiro, of Por-

tugal, listed seven countries which allegedly violate religious freedoms guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights — Albania, Bulgaria, Burundi, Iran, Pakistan, Turkey and the

Soviet Union. —Geneva. Composer dies The Vienna-born composer Frederick Loewe, who wrote the music for such hit shows as “My Fair Lady” and “Brigadoon,” has died in hospital at the age of 86. He died at Desert Hospital, Palm Springs, where he was taken last week after complaining of respiratory trouble and pains. Frederick Loewe collaborated with the lyricist, Alan- Jay Lerner, to pro-

duce such popular songs as “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “On the Street Where You Live” and “If Ever I Should Leave You” during a musical partnership that lasted 18 years. — Palm Springs, California.

Christians protest

The police said they arrested 57 people including nuns and priests when they daubed anti-nuclear slogans with ash on a Defence Ministry building in London. Vicars with walkie-talkie radios co-or-dinated the demonstration by the Christian Peace Movement to mark Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, a traditional period of fasting and repentance in the Christian Church.—London. ■