FORMER Australian prime minister Paul Keating drank a "glass of dark and strange Chinese medicine" every day because of his deep suspicion of conventional medicines, according to his authorised biography which he launched in Sydney yesterday.
Keating, who was defeated in last March's elections, also had a trampoline set up in his back yard which he "quite seriously believed" could destroy cancer cells.
Author John Edwards, an economist who was one of Keating's advisers, said the former Labour leader "was inclined to fanciful cures for his ailments" that could have stemmed from his belief that he had undiagnosed peritonitis during his school years. This had left him without lower eyelashes and with malfunctioning tear ducts that gave him sore eyes when he read.
Britain's most successful Olympian arrived home yesterday and confessed to being "disappointed" at the low key welcome.
Steven Redgrave (36), said he found it a let down compared to the Irish reception for Michelle Smith.
Redgrave, who won gold with his partner Matthew Pinsent in the coxless pairs at Atlanta, said he has not received any messages of congratulations from Prime Minister John Major.
Former first lady Imelda Marcos has begun libel proceedings against a Filipino newspaper columnist whom she accuses of calling for her assassination.
Her action against Argee Guevarra, along with the editor and publisher of Business World, a Manila financial daily, seeks 100 million pesos (£2.4 million) in damages.
