Britain's former Prime Minister Edward Heath（left）died. He was 89.  
A carpenter's son who broke the tradition of blue bloods leading the British Conservative Party, he was a born politician whose major achievement was to negotiate Britain's 1973 entry into the European Community（now, the European Union）. In 1992, he became Sir Edward, a member of the country's most prestigious order of chivalry, the knights of the Garter.
Encouraged by his mother, Heath began piano lessons as a small boy. It became a lifetime interest. Both as prime minister and the party leader he conducted symphony orchestras. His book, " Music, a Joy for Life," was a best seller.
"He was a man of great integrity and beliefs he held firmly from which he never wavered, and he will be remembered by all who knew him as a political leader of great stature and importance," Prime Minister Tony Blair said.
英國前首相愛德華．奚斯（圖左）辭世，享年八十九歲。木匠之子奚斯是天生的政治家，他打破了英國保守黨由貴族領導的傳統；他的主要成就是協商英國於一九七三年進入「歐洲共同體」（現今「歐洲聯盟」）。一九九二年，奚斯成為愛德華爵士 ── 英國最受尊崇的嘉德騎士勳章得主之一。
奚斯小時候受到母親的鼓勵開始學鋼琴，因此彈琴成為他終身的興趣。身為首相和黨魁，奚斯經常指揮交響樂團。他的著作《音樂 ── 平生樂事》是暢銷書。
首相布萊爾說：「奚斯為人正直、信念堅定從不動搖。所有認識他的人將會懷念這位德高望重、具有威信的政治領袖。」