■ United Kingdom
Ritz sells leftover wine
The Ritz Hotel, the upmarket establishment on London's Piccadilly, sells the wine left over by customers in its private dining room to other guests in its main restaurant, British newspapers reported Saturday. The detail came to light in an employment tribunal looking into an alleged racist campaign against a Turkish manager. Edip Adanir, 49, who was sacked as deputy restaurant manager in April last year for allegedly conspiring to steal wine and food to the value of US$1,900, is claiming racial discrimination, unfair dismissal and breach of contract.
■ United States
Teacher's drug plan backfires
An assistant principal who was trying to get a student expelled admitted planting marijuana in the boy's locker, police said. Police say Pat Conroy told them this month that he placed the marijuana in the locker at South Haven High School in Michigan last year because he suspected the boy was a drug dealer and wanted him expelled. The plan failed because a police drug dog didn't find the contraband during a school search last year. Police searched Conroy's office on Feb. 9 and found a drawer filled with packets of suspected marijuana and assorted pills, the police said.
■ United States
Billions visit Mars Web site
Mars is an absolute hit with Earthling Internet users. The Mars Web site, where NASA is showing photos and other information about the progress of the rovers Spirit and Opportunity, has received more than one click per person on Earth, NASA said. The number of hits at the Web site reached 6.5 billion on Thursday, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said. NASA says the amount of interest in the rovers, which landed on Mars in January, makes them the biggest attraction since the beginning of space flight. The rovers will continue their exploration of Mars for several more weeks.
■ United Kingdom
Hawking suffers relapse
The severely disabled British cosmologist Stephen Hawking is back in hospital two weeks after being discharged following treatment for pneumonia, the Times reported yesterday. "Professor Hawking is in hospital where he is being treated for a condition related to his earlier illness. His condition is stable," a Cambridge University spokesman said. The Times said the mathematician's readmission to hospital on Wednesday was delaying a police investigation into allegations he has been assaulted by his second wife, Elaine. A Cambridgeshire police spokesman said detectives still wished to speak to Hawking "alone and without his wife present." Hawking, 62, has released a statement denying being assaulted.
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