Internet sensation Susan Boyle, whose performance on "Britain's Got Talent" last month has been watched on YouTube by tens of millions of people and made her a global celebrity, returns to the competition yesterday.
The 48-year-old from Scotland wowed the judges and then an army of internet followers with her rendition of I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables on the hit talent-spotting television series.
Partly because her dowdy appearance and age did not fit in with people's idea of what a celebrity should be, Ms Boyle was an instant internet hit.
Television crews from around the world were soon camping outside her home and newspapers have dedicated countless pages of coverage of her and what she says about our celebrity-obsessed age.
A fan site dedicated to Ms Boyle is titled Never judge a book by its cover, and during her first performance in April, Ms Boyle overcame sniggering in the audience when she took to the stage before reducing many viewers to tears. (Reuters)
Timothy Geithner's wallet
What's in the wallet of Timothy Geithner, whose hands as US Treasury secretary are on some of the fattest government purse strings in the world?
Not much, it appears, beyond a few bank cards, some euros and a worthless Zimbabwean Bill.
Mr Geithner, testifying to a congressional panel about efforts to tackle the financial crisis, was shown a $50 billion bank note from Zimbabwe that has nearly no value due to hyperinflation in that African country.
Representative John Culberson asked Mr Geithner if he had ever seen such a bill himself, prompting the Treasury secretary to reach into his pocket and produce a Zimbabwean note.
"I often have some foreign currency in my wallet," Mr Geithner said. Many of the slots in the wallet were empty. There were three cards with Visa and MasterCard logos and a yellowed identification card of some sort.
From inside, Mr Geithner pulled a small pile of receipts and papers, including a New York City transit card, pointing out there were some euros tucked in there too.
Not a single US dollar was in sight. (Reuters)
Tourists dressed in nun attire arrested
Seventeen British tourists were arrested on the island of Crete yesterday for insulting the Catholic Church after they paraded themselves dressed "in nun attire and naughty lingerie", police said.
The Britons were arrested in the coastal town of Malia, a popular resort for young travellers with a long tradition of drunken tourist antics.
They will be taken to a prosecutor to be officially charged and may be fined but are unlikely to be jailed for the misdemeanour offence, the police source said. (AFP)
Bullfight campaigners protest in underwear
Hundreds of anti-bullfighting campaigners, wearing just underwear and with their bodies splashed with fake blood, staged a protest outside Madrid's bullring yesterday.
It was the largest such protest ever at the Las Ventas bullring, where fights are taking place this month as part of the city's San Isidro festival, according to protest organisers, Spain's Equanimal and the Dutch-based anti-bullfighting organisation CAS.
Around 250 men and women lay on the ground outside the bullring for more than an hour, encouraged by about the same number of spectators.
"More than 12,000 bulls are killed each year in Spain and the torture must be ended," said Equanimal spokesman Rafael Boro.
CAS director Marius Kolff said: "We hope that in 15 years, bullfighting will have disappeared from the surface of the earth. The battle is already won, as young people don't want it any more."
The Spanish press yesterday published photographs of a horse gored by a bull on Saturday at Las Ventas, during a fight by a torero on horseback. (AFP)
British royal chauffeur suspended
A royal chauffeur was suspended yesterday after reportedly giving two undercover journalists a tour of Queen Elizabeth II's official cars in the grounds of Buckingham Palace.
The News of the World said its reporters, posing as wealthy Middle Eastern businessmen, paid the chauffeur £1,000 to let them in, after making contact through his prostitute girlfriend.
The Queen was in residence at the time of the alleged security breach on Friday, said the paper, which published photos of one of its reporters sitting in a royal Bentley, as well as video of the illicit car pool tour.
"We can confirm an individual has been suspended pending an investigation," said a Buckingham Palace spokesman after the alleged incident.
The newspaper said its two journalists got into the palace grounds without being searched or checked, despite walking right past a uniformed police officer in a security booth. (AFP)
World's longest trousers
Tunisian fashion designer Larbi Boukamha beamed with pride as he sent out his latest creation - the world's longest pair of trousers - at a football stadium near Tunis.
At 50 metres, equal to a 22-storey building, with a 36-metre waist, the trousers have overtaken a Peruvian pair that was 10 metres shorter to claim a place in the Guinness World Records book.
"I worked on it for two months, eight hours a day," said Mr Boukamha, 37, explaining how the trousers used up 1,600 metres of fabric - as well as 31,000 dinars ($23,300) of money.
"Larbi Boukamha merits this honour," said Omar Talel of Guinness World Records, who was in Tunis to validate the record. (AFP)