■ United States
Photographer gets shot
A photographer was shot in the leg with a pellet gun outside a home where he believed Britney Spears was attending a bridal shower on Saturday evening, authorities said. It was unclear who fired the plastic pellet as the photographer was staking out the event at the Malibu home, Sheriff's Department Lieutenant Steve Smith said. He said firefighters bandaged the man's leg and he went to a hospital. "It could've been somebody driving by, walking by, we have no idea where it came from," Smith said. The photographer, identified as Brad Diaz, was about 200m from the home when he was hit, Smith said.
■ United States
Paychecks smaller for obese
Overweight Americans pay the price for their bulging waistlines in slimmer salaries, says a research paper by US economists. Bosses claw back the extra price of insuring the health of obese staff by squeezing their pay packets, according to a report by Jay Bhattacharya and M. Kate Bundorf of the National Bureau of Economic Research. As the price of health insurance rose, the shortfall in wages for obese workers had more than tripled over the nine years to 1998, from US$1 an hour to US$3.40. Discrimination is often blamed for the lower wages of larger workers, but the research found that those whose employers were not bankrolling their health insurance were not underpaid relative to slim colleagues.
■ Cuba
Ibrahim Ferrer dies at 78
Cuban singer Ibrahim Ferrer, known worldwide for his work on the "Buena Vista Social Club" project, died at a Havana hospital on Saturday at the age of 78, his wife Caridad Diaz announced. Ferrer, who had just completed a month-long tour of Europe, checked into hospital a few days ago with symptoms of gastroenteritis, Diaz said. "He was a very worthy person, to be admired, not only as a musician but also as a father and a husband. He completed his European tour with great bravery," she said. Ferrer was in semi-retirement and shining shoes for money when he was recruited to participate in the "Buena Vista Social Club" sessions. US musician and producer Ry Cooder traveled to Havana in the late 1990s to unite aging greats of Cuban music, producing a CD and later a documentary film with director Wim Wenders to worldwide acclaim.
■ United States
Google searches for chefs
Thriving Internet search engine Google is hunting internationally for two talented chefs to crank out haute cuisine for its Silicon Valley workers, company recruiters said on Friday. Among the perks for Google employees are free meals in the company's onsite cafes, and the veteran chef who pleased their palates quit a couple of months ago to open a restaurant chain. Google's kitchens serve free breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks to employees known to work such long hours they practically live on premises.
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