Telling talesThe personal assistant to Camilla Parker Bowles, Prince Charles' longtime mistress, resigned saying she was responsible for a press leak that Parker Bowles had met Charles eldest son Prince William. Amanda McManus said she told her husband of the meeting, and her husband, an executive with News International, then mentioned the information to a ``trusted third party'' unconnected with newspapers. ``Certain information was then, to my great regret, passed on to The Sun,'' said Amanda McManus' husband James. It is understood that the third party is good friends with The Sun's chief reporter. On July 9, The Sun carried a front page story, with further articles on inside pages, that Parker Bowles, had finally met Prince William, 16, for the first time despite an affair that has spanned two decades. The disclosure angered Charles and his staff, who are determined to safeguard the privacy of William and his 13-year-old brother Prince Harry against what they see as invasivejournalism. MacManus, 42, said: ``It is a matter of great regret to me that chance remarks of mine led to the disclosure in the press of the private meeting between Mrs Parker Bowles and Prince William. As the person responsible for this unhappy train of events, I cannot with honour remain in this position.''Kiriyenko onlineRussian Prime Minister Sergei Kiriyenko on Friday joined the growing ranks of web-friendly world politicians by giving an interview on the Internet. During the 90-minute question and answer session Kiriyenko addressed topics as wide-reaching as Russia's economic crisis, industrial espionage and medical care. Although some questions were posted in advance, others came in live. The spontaneity of the medium was underscored by the stilted and at times incomplete English translation. The interview took place just hours after Kiriyenko wound up talks with visiting US Vice President Al Gore and many questions referred to their discussions. Speaking about an International MonetaryFund bail-out loan to Russia, Kiriyenko said that it was up to Russia to live on what it earns. ``No stabilisation loans will solve the problem unless we solve it ourselves. We should live in accordance with our revenues and spend only as much as we receive in revenues,'' Kiriyenko said. In May, President Boris Yeltsin went on-line for a 30-minute session ahead of a G-8 summit, emulating other world leaders. He followed in the footsteps of another of his government proteges, Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov, who set up his own website in March.Mayo's celebritiesWhy does Jordan's King Hussein travel thousands of miles to get medical treatment in a small Midwestern city? Because that city, Rochester, Minnesota (population 78,000), is home to the renowned Mayo Clinic. And Mayo lives up to its good reputation. ``When patients come here they find something they like,'' says Peter Amadio, a Mayo orthopedic surgeon. ``They find a medical centre which is focused entirely on them. The creed since theMayo brothers founded the clinic has been that the patient's interest is the only interest.'' That creed spawned a mammoth medical centre. In 1912, the Mayo Clinic treated 15,000 patients. That number grew to 60,000 seven years later, and by 1997 Mayo had tallied 1.5 million patient visits. With 1,126 physicians and scientists on staff, it is now one of the largest group practices in the world. King Hussein isn't the only dignitary to travel far to visit Mayo. Former US presidents Ronald Reagan and Lyndon Johnson, evangelist Billy Graham, boxer Muhammad Ali, novelist Ernest Hemingway, oil sheik Yamani, and actors Bill Cosby and David Niven have been Mayo patients. First Lady Hillary Clinton and former first ladies Barbara Bush and Lady Byrd Johnson have also paid visits to the clinic. As patients? Ah, that's a secret. Regard for privacy explains part of Mayo's appeal to celebrities.SignpostDied: Paparazzo Tazio Secchiaroli died at the age of 73 in Rome. The freelance photographer who spentthe better part of his life chasing celebrities for their photographs was the man who inspired Federico Fellini. His role was played in the Italian director's 1959 movie, La Dolce Vita, by Marcello Mastrioanni.Sentenced: Sally Becker, the woman who has led the humanitarian aid Operation Angel in Yugoslavia, was sentenced to 30 days in jail in Serbia for ilegally leading Kosovo refugees to Albania.
