■ George Michael cops some more trouble
British singer George Michael was arrested on Sunday on
suspicion of possessing drugs after he was found slumped in a car in central London, a police source said. Michael, 42, who has sold more than 80 million records worldwide during a 25-year career, was arrested in the Hyde Park area of the capital early on Sunday, the source said. A London police spokesman issued a statement saying a 42-year-old man had been held on suspicion of possessing Class C drugs, a group in British law that includes cannabis, tranquillizers and some painkillers. "We were called by a member of the public to a man seen slumped over the steering wheel of a car," the statement said. "He was arrested on suspicion of possession of controlled substances." He was bailed to return to a police station in late March pending a police investigation. Michael's manager and publicist could not be reached for comment. Under British law, anyone convicted of having Class C drugs can be jailed for up to two years and face an unlimited fine, according to the Home Office Web site. In a front page report, the Sun newspaper said the singer was found in a dark-colored Range Rover parked on Hyde Park Corner, one of central London's busiest intersections. The unsourced report said he was taken into police custody and was examined by a doctor. He had his photograph and fingerprints taken and was released after more than seven hours, the report said. It is not the star's first brush with the law. Michael was arrested in April, 1998, for engaging in a "lewd act" in a public toilet in Los Angeles, after which he ended years of speculation by announcing that he was gay.
■ Ozzies increasingly turn to gluttony and drunkenness
Australians are getting fatter and drinking more, a national health survey showed yesterday. The Australian bureau of statistics said 62 percent of men and 45 percent of women fell into the overweight or obese categories, up about 10 percent in the past decade. But the survey found that only one third of adults considered themselves fat. The number of Australians who drink dangerous amounts of alcohol was also on the rise, up 2 percent in the past three years, the bureau said. Middle-aged Australians were the worst culprits, with 18 percent of men and 13 percent of women aged 55 to 64 drinking at risky levels.
■ Fine Dutch painter receives his due recognition
An exhibit devoted to the work of Frans van Mieris, a 17th-century Dutch painter renowned for his extremely detailed and highly refined style, opened at Washington's National Gallery of Art on Sunday. Van Mieris was widely famous during his era and was one of the most celebrated Dutch fijnschilders, or fine painters, whose works of art are notable for their meticulous brushwork, especially in the rendering of materials. His paintings, intimate in scale, were highly sought by 17th-century collectors who paid steep prices for his genre scenes, portraits or allegorical works. But his fame plummeted in the 19th century with the advent of the period of romanticism and the beginning of impressionism. He came into fashion again toward the end of the 20th century.
■ China learns, `Waste not, want not'
Chinese officials have urged a clampdown on food waste in restaurants as wining and dining in China's booming city of Shanghai, alone, leaves up to 1,100 tonnes of food a day, state press said. Businessmen and their banquets are the main culprits in over ordering and wasting food, as bosses fearful of losing face make sure that their guests have more food than they can eat, Xinhua news agency reported. "Each day, we collect two huge vats of leftovers from the tables -- 30kg at least," said Liu Dafeng, manager of the Shanghai Families restaurant chain. "About 30 percent of the food is never touched." A recent survey revealed that 81 percent of Chinese diners cannot finish all their food and 28 percent never take their leftovers home, the report said. The survey also found that men aged between 30 and 40 are the most extravagant at dinner tables -- they order excessively and do not take away the leftovers, it said.
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