An Australian man says his golden retriever has been bringing him presents in the past few days -- 12 loaves of bread and two packages of muffins.Michael Shaw said he would like to know where the dog, Gillie, has been getting the baked goods, The Daily Telegraph of Sydney reported. Shaw lives in Theresa Park in a rural area southwest of Sydney and the nearest store is at least a 10-minute drive.Wh

World News June 20, 2012

China on Wednesday defended its export curbs on rare earths used in high-tech products as an environmental measure and rejected a World Trade Organization challenge by the United States, Europe and Japan.A Cabinet official rejected complaints Beijing is using the environment as an excuse to support fledgling Chinese producers of lightweight magnets and other rare earths products by limiting suppli

World Business June 20, 2012

A Quebec private girls' school that held a hypnotism demonstration which left several students dazed says that in retrospect it should have taken the activity more seriously. The demonstration by a young hypnotist at Quebec's College Sacre-Coeur on June 7, left one girl in a four-hour trance, five more students in a daze and 13 students feeling nauseous and with headaches. The hypnotists mentor ha

Culture June 20, 2012

Miami police say they arrested a man for videotaping Hooters International Swimsuit Pageant contestants undressing in the Fontainebleau hotel.The Miami Herald reported Ronald Keith Rolfes, 31, was arrested Sunday night and charged with video voyeurism. "Man to man, I did it because I've never had a girlfriend," Rolfes allegedly told an officer after confessing to sneaking into the changing room eq

Performance June 20, 2012

South Korea's Supreme Court has decided to increase penalties for vote-buying, an official said Tuesday, in the latest attempt to crack down on illegal election campaigns.The top court recommended that lower courts should, in principle, give prison terms to those found guilty of buying off voters, candidates or elected officials, or those engaged in vote-buying for the purpose of making money. The

Politics June 19, 2012

Samsonite International SA pulled its ``Tokyo Chic'' line of luggage from Hong Kong stores on Monday after a local consumer group reported finding high levels of compounds linked to cancer in the handles, although the company insisted the bags were safe.The Hong Kong Consumer Council said last week it found that the side handles on three Samsonite suitcases had higher levels of polycyclic aromatic

Industry June 19, 2012

Spain's public debt rose to 72.1 percent of gross domestic product in the first quarter of 2012 from 63.6 percent in the same period a year earlier, the Bank of Spain said Friday.The government expects the public debt to reach 79.8 percent of GDP by the end of the year, a figure that does not include the impact of a eurozone loan of up to 100 billion euros ($126 billion) to ailing Spanish banks.Th

World Business June 15, 2012

The gender of an athlete who won a women's relay gold medal at the 2006 Asian Games has been called into question following rape allegations made by another woman and widely reported in the Indian media.Pinki Pramanik is alleged to have raped a woman she was living with in the eastern state of West Bengal. The woman alleged that Pramanik was a man and had promised to marry her but later refused to

More Sports June 15, 2012

U.K. authorities are revealing new details of an ambitious bill which would track electronic conversations of every single U.K. resident. The proposed mass surveillance law would collect detailed information about the private communications of millions of Britons, a step the government insists is necessary to fight terrorism and crime.Home Secretary Theresa May says the program will not snoop on t

Technology June 15, 2012

A Korean-Chinese man accused of kidnapping and killing a 28-year-old woman was sentenced to death Friday, two months after the high-profile murder that also exposed the carelessness of the police.The Suwon District Court in Suwon, south of Seoul, handed down the death penalty to Wu Yuanchun, 42, citing the ruthlessness of his crime and his lack of remorse."The defendant killed the victim with sini

Social Affairs June 15, 2012

The rapid growth of Internet commerce has led to an explosion of counterfeit drugs sold around the world, with China the biggest source of fake medicines, pharmaceutical experts said Thursday.The illicit trade is now believed to be worth around 75 billion dollars globally, with criminal gangs increasingly using the web to move their products across borders, said Scott Davis, Pfizer's top security

Technology June 15, 2012

A Washington state man said he does not know the origins of the giant ice chunk that crashed though his roof and into his home.Sam Edmon of Edgewood said he was in bed at 11 p.m. June 4 when he heard a noise that sounded like an explosion, The Seattle Post Intelligencer reported Thursday.Edmon said he investigated the next morning and found a hole in his roof surrounded by chunks of ice.The homeow

World News June 15, 2012