The intense heat wave that has baked much of Europe for weeks, fueling deadly forest fires, causing drought and damaging crops, has convinced many people that global warming is a reality.

A Norwegian vandal who ransacked offices in a city hall and stole a pair of shoes to disguise his footprints as he escaped was nabbed after police saw him running awkwardly from the scene on pointy black high-heels.

Jordan's King Abdullah has offered asylum to two daughters of toppled Iraqi President Saddam Hussein on humanitarian grounds after they arrived safely from Baghdad.

An Austrian stuntman on Thursday became the first person to skydive across the English Channel, free falling at 124 miles per hour in the process.

The Vatican urged Catholics and non-Catholics Thursday to unite in campaigning against gay marriages and gay adoptions, seeking to stem the widening legal recognition of same-sex unions.

The (US) Homeland Security Department will begin testing a program to classify all airline passengers according to their security risk.

A dog in Greater Manchester has been offered a gold credit card with a spending limit of £10,000.

LONDON - Archaeologists excavating the site of a major Roman temple in London have found a sealed box containing a white cream still bearing the fingermarks of the person who last used it, nearly 2,000 years ago.

COPENHAGEN - A dognapper in Denmark said he will kill a 13-year old beagle and send his owners a video tape of the dastardly act if his ransom demand for $10,000 is not met, police said Tuesday.

SEOUL - The phrase "victim of your own success" springs to mind. Easily concealable camera-equipped mobile phones are no longer welcome in the offices of South Korea's high-tech companies because of worries about industrial spies.