■ United Kingdom
Was Elvis from Scotland?
Elvis fans have a new shrine to their hero -- a remote Scottish hamlet named this week as the ancestral home of the king of rock 'n' roll. After six years' research, writer Allan Morrison says the singer was the direct descendant of blacksmith Andrew Presley who lived 300 years ago in the Aberdeenshire village of Lonmay. "It was like striking gold," he said of his research in the US and Scotland. Morrison found records showing that Andrew Presley married Elspeth Leg in Lonmay on Aug. 27, 1713. Their son became the first Presley in America when he arrived in North Carolina in 1745.
■ Germany
Violinists want pay rise
Violinists at a German orchestra are suing for a pay raise on the grounds that they play many more notes per concert than their musical colleagues -- litigation that the orchestra's director on Tuesday called "absurd." The 16 violinists at the Beethoven Orchestra in Bonn argue that they work more than their colleagues who play instruments like the flute, oboe and trombone, and also say a collective bargaining agreement that gives bonuses to people who play solos is unjust.
■ Iraq
Rocket strikes hotel
Attackers fired a rocket that struck a hotel housing foreign contractors and journalists in Baghdad early yesterday. There were no reported casualties. The rocket hit the Sheraton hotel, hotel guards said. The lobby of the hotel, which has been attacked before, was strewn with glass. Guards said there were no casualties. The rocket slammed into a sixth-floor concrete ledge that forms the roof of a banquet room, said security guard Rabah Nasser. Earlier, guards said the hotel had been struck by a rocket-propelled grenade.
■ United States
Parents hold boy in cellar
A Salt Lake City couple who allegedly chained the man's 12-year-old son in the basement for two months -- freeing him only to eat and go to school -- has been charged with child abuse. Sheriff's deputies were called to the couple's home after receiving a telephone complaint, said spokesman Sergeant Rosie Rivera. A sibling showed authorities a pair of handcuffs he said were used to chain his brother in the basement, according to charging documents. Mark Gray, 40, and his wife Christina, 35, were being held on US$25,000 bail Tuesday.
■ United Kingdom
The `most irritating phrase'
"At the end of the day" has been voted the most irritating phrase in the English language, pipping "at this moment in time," and the constant use of "like," as if it were a form of punctuation. "When readers or listeners come across these tired expressions, they start tuning out and completely miss the message -- assuming there is one!" said John Lister, spokesman for the Plain English Campaign which carried out the survey. The group surveyed its 5,000 supporters in more than 70 countries. "Using these terms in daily business is about as professional as wearing a novelty tie or having a wacky ringtone on your phone," Lister said.
■ Japan
Activists land on islands
Japan said yesterday that seven Chinese activists had landed on a disputed island chain in the East China Sea which is claimed by Japan, China and Taiwan. The activists landed on the Senkaku Islands, known as Diaoyu in China, around 7:20am, and the Japan Coast Guard sent a patrol vessel to order them to leave, said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda. "The Senkaku Islands are Japan's sovereign territory. It is extremely regrettable that foreigners illegally landed there," Fukuda told a regular press conference, adding that Japan would protest to China. "We have discussed this matter many times with China," he said.
■ China
Fingerprinting sparks anger
China yesterday complained about plans by the US to fingerprint its citizens applying for non-immigrant visas, calling it a discriminatory move that infringed on human rights. "This measure has caused strong dissatisfaction among the Chinese people and in different social circles," the foreign ministry said on its Web site, a day after it called off its human rights dialogue with the US. The foreign ministry statement said China had made "solemn representations" to the US through diplomatic channels on the fingerprinting issue. "They pointed out that this measure is discrimination against Chinese citizens. It has harmed the Chinese citizen's dignity and right to privacy. It is a method that infringes on their human rights." it said.
■ Indonesia
Bird flu on the wane: officials
Authorities have rejected a UN assertion that bird flu is spreading in the country, insisting that the number of new cases has fallen sharply in recent weeks, a media report said yesterday. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization said this week that the virus has extended its range in Indonesia. But officials from Indonesia's Ministry of Agriculture said the number of provinces with bird flu fell from 51 last month to 14 and the total number of chickens dying from the virus dropped from 1.6 million in December to 966,000 last month.
■ China
Activist jailed for letter
A longtime Chinese democracy activist has been sentenced to two years in prison for signing an open letter calling for political reform ahead of a landmark meeting of Communist Party leaders, a human rights group said. Ouyang Yi was tried on subversion charges in secret at the Chengdu Intermediate People's Court on March 16, the New York-based group Human Rights in China said Tuesday. A man who answered the telephone at the court in the southwestern province of Sichuan said he "didn't know" any details about the case and could not confirm that it had been tried at that court.
■ China
`Moral quality' focus of plan
The Chinese Communist Party wants to strengthen its presence in the nation's schools, as it seeks to improve the "moral quality" of the nation's youth, the education minister said yesterday. In a policy that will impact 367 million children and teenagers in China, the party will strive to improve its organization throughout the educational system, according to Zhou Ji. "Strengthening the leadership of the Communist Party is a guarantee for us to further promote the educational development and reform in China," he told a briefing in Beijing.
James Watson — the Nobel laureate co-credited with the pivotal discovery of DNA’s double-helix structure, but whose career was later tainted by his repeated racist remarks — has died, his former lab said on Friday. He was 97. The eminent biologist died on Thursday in hospice care on Long Island in New York, announced the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where he was based for much of his career. Watson became among the 20th century’s most storied scientists for his 1953 breakthrough discovery of the double helix with researcher partner Francis Crick. Along with Crick and Maurice Wilkins, he shared the
OUTRAGE: The former strongman was accused of corruption and responsibility for the killings of hundreds of thousands of political opponents during his time in office Indonesia yesterday awarded the title of national hero to late president Suharto, provoking outrage from rights groups who said the move was an attempt to whitewash decades of human rights abuses and corruption that took place during his 32 years in power. Suharto was a US ally during the Cold War who presided over decades of authoritarian rule, during which up to 1 million political opponents were killed, until he was toppled by protests in 1998. He was one of 10 people recognized by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto in a televised ceremony held at the presidential palace in Jakarta to mark National
US President Donald Trump handed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban a one-year exemption from sanctions for buying Russian oil and gas after the close right-wing allies held a chummy White House meeting on Friday. Trump slapped sanctions on Moscow’s two largest oil companies last month after losing patience with Russian President Vladimir Putin over his refusal to end the nearly four-year-old invasion of Ukraine. However, while Trump has pushed other European countries to stop buying oil that he says funds Moscow’s war machine, Orban used his first trip to the White House since Trump’s return to power to push for
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday vowed that those behind bogus flood control projects would be arrested before Christmas, days after deadly back-to-back typhoons left swathes of the country underwater. Scores of construction firm owners, government officials and lawmakers — including Marcos’ cousin congressman — have been accused of pocketing funds for substandard or so-called “ghost” infrastructure projects. The Philippine Department of Finance has estimated the nation’s economy lost up to 118.5 billion pesos (US$2 billion) since 2023 due to corruption in flood control projects. Criminal cases against most of the people implicated are nearly complete, Marcos told reporters. “We don’t file cases for
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