News In Brief

YOU NEVER SAW ME, OK?

The man distributing advertising leaflets well after midnight was only trying to cover for his teenage son, who'd had a bit too much weekend and did not finish his part-time duties for a Canberra, Australia, pizza shop. Still, Peter Costello wasn't eager to be recognized out on the streets at such an unseemly hour, so he donned a hat and oversized coat as a disguise. Who's Costello and why did he want to appear anonymous? He is Australia's treasurer and heir-apparent to Prime Minister John Howard.

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I AM SOOOOOOO SORRY

Somewhere in Communist Vietnam's bureaucracy, a functionary is engaging in heavy "self-criticism" for failing to catch a flagrant error before a new promotional map of Hanoi, the capital, went to press. Thousand of copies that were to be shipped to travel agencies and operators must be reprinted because they show revolution leader Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum as a zoo.

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Britney Spears better known than Dick Cheney, poll finds

Tiger Woods was the most recognizable name to Americans who were shown a list of people appearing recently in the news, a survey by Slay Public Relations found. The agency is based in New York and Los Angeles. Selected names from the survey of 1,037 randomly selected people, and the percentage of respondents who were able to identify them:

Tiger Woods, pro golfer 92%

Julia Roberts, film star 90

Jim Carrey, actor 87

Britney Spears, pop star 84

Vice President Cheney 78

Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan 67

Toni Morrison, author 31

Mexican President Vicente Fox 18

Chinese President Jiang Zemin 10

(c) Copyright 2001. The Christian Science Monitor