A Pakistani boy who set himself on fire because his parents could not afford to buy him a new school uniform has died, his family and officials said Sunday. The tragic story is a reminder of the woeful lives of Pakistan's many dirt-poor citizens. It brings out the challenges facing those clinging to the hope that education could be the ticket to climbing up from the bottom rung of society. Like...

An estimated 20,000 cult believers made their way to the French village of Bugarach to await aliens they say will come from inside a mountain to rescue them when apocalypse strikes. (MCT image) The ‘pilgrims’ of New Age belief have saturated a commune at the base of the Pic de Bugarach mountain, UPI, CNN, and various sources reported. Several hundreds have even taken residency there. At least ...

A puppy named after one of the world's biggest pop stars could set the world's record for tiniest dog. Animal rescuers in Northern California say the female Dachshund mix, named Beyonce, was so small at birth that she could fit into a spoon. At two weeks, she's about the size of a business card. The Grace Foundation, based in El Dorado County, says animal control picked up Beyonce's pregnant mo...

A trio of Britons traveling the world in a black taxi cab said in New York they have driven more than 51,499 kilometers. Paul Archer, Leigh Purnell, and Johno Ellison left London in the cab in February 2011 and are currently passing through New York, the Sun reported Monday. Riding a black cab they named “Hannah,” three friends travelled through four continents and ten different time zones in a...

Disgraced former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was charged on Monday with involvement in an organised vice ring that procured prostitutes for top-class clients, lawyers said. Prosecutors said the 62-year-old former Socialist finance minister and one-time presidential favourite had been released on 100,000 euros ($135,000) bail after the charges on "aggravated pimping as part of an organised g...

Scientists have revealed that certain members in a chimpanzee group act as an impartial “police” to mediate conflicts and preserve peace, Science Daily and livescience.com reported Wednesday. Animal groups handle conflicts in a variety of ways, but the arbiters in chimps, gorillas, orangutans and other primate group were neither biased nor aggressive. The arbiters did not support allies or punis...

The cable television sports network ESPN has apologized for using a racial slur in a headline for a story on Knicks sensation Jeremy Lin. ESPN ran the headline “Chink in the Armor” after Lin had nine turnovers in New York's loss to the New Orleans Hornets on Friday night on its mobile website that could be seen on phones and tablet computers. Lin is the NBA's first American-born player of Chine...