News In Brief

OLDIES - BUT GOODIES? The late rock 'n' roll king, Elvis Presley, presumably never thought of recording any of his hits in Latin. But that didn't stop an academician in Finland from producing two albums of Presley's work in the ancient language. That goal having been reached, however, Jukka Ammondt is now on to another: bringing out still more Presley songs in an even older tongue, Sumerian. By autumn, Ammondt intends to be ready with an album in the language that hasn't been spoken since 2000 BC. No word on how many copies he expects to sell.

NEW WAY TO RAISE DOUGH

Imagine the lore that might have developed if the people who illegally distilled alcoholic liquor in the US had baked bread instead. Still - and you should pardon the expression - that's what moonshiners in Russia are doing, reports say. With the government having reinstated its monopoly on vodka, bootleggers in the Sverdlovsk region once administered by President Yeltsin now are reaping profits from the baking of black-market loaves.

Best American companies to work for - Fortune survey

Synovus Financial, a bank-holding and credit-card-processing firm based in Columbus, Ga., is No. 1 on Fortune magazine's second annual list of 100 Best Companies to Work For in America. The rankings were compiled through extensive research, analysis, and a poll of more than 27,000 employees at hundreds of US firms. To be eligible, a company had to be at least 10 years old and have a minimum of 500 employees. The Fortune top 10:

1. Synovus Financial Columbus, Ga.

2. TDIndustries Dallas

3. SAS Institute Cary, N.C.

4. Southwest Airlines Dallas

5. Scitor Sunnyvale, Calif.

6. PeopleSoft Pleasanton, Calif.

7. Goldman Sachs New York

8. Deloitte & Touche Wilton, Conn.

9. MBNA Wilmington, Del.

10. Hewlett-Packard Palo Alto, Calif.

- PR Newswire

Compiled by Robert Kilborn

and Lance Carden