
Rescuers abandon efforts to save beached whale
Rescuers called off attempts Thursday to save a humpback whale that beached itself on a sand bank off the northern Dutch coast, saying the animal is ...

Scientists seek to solve mystery of Piltdown Man
It was an archaeological hoax that fooled scientists for decades. A century on, researchers are determined to find out who was responsible for ...
Stranded humpback whale struggles to free itself
Rescuers say a humpback whale has stranded on a sandbank near the northern Dutch coast and is trying to free itself as the tide rises. Henriette de ...
Czech lower house approves medical marijuana
The lower house of Parliament has approved legislation that makes it legal in the Czech Republic to use marijuana for medical treatment. The bill ...

Elephant dung coffee: An exotic brew at $50 a pop
In the lush hills of northern Thailand, a herd of 20 elephants is helping to excrete some of the world's most expensive coffee. Trumpeted as earthy ...

The 'royal molecatcher' outlives Versailles king
The king is dead, but the molecatcher lives on. He even signs SMS messages: "Molecatcher to the king." It's been over two centuries since Louis XVI ...

Pope greets clowns, acrobats: Circus comes to town
Pope Benedict XVI greeted thousands of clowns, acrobats, puppeteers and even a pair of lion cubs on Saturday as the circus came to town for an unusual ...
Russian children find lion cub, take it to school
Most primary school classes get a goldfish to keep, a hamster or a turtle if they're lucky — but children from one village in southern Russia got to ...
Giles replaces Flower as England's ODI coach
Ashley Giles is replacing Andy Flower as head coach of England's limited-over cricket teams in a shake-up announced on Wednesday. Former England spin ...
UK circus owner found guilty of elephant abuse
A British court has found a circus owner guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to a performing elephant. A judge at Northampton Crown Court ...

White tiger escapes from enclosure in Czech zoo
A rare white tiger attacked three employees in a Czech zoo Thursday after escaping from its enclosure, officials said. Lenka Markovicova, spokeswoman ...
UN official calls for marijuana ballot rollback
The head of the U.N. drug watchdog agency is urging U.S. federal officials to challenge ballot measures in Colorado and Washington that decriminalized ...

Dutch govt scraps 'weed pass' for coffee shops
Dope-selling coffee shops in Amsterdam won't be shutting their doors to foreign visitors any time soon, a huge relief to the hundreds of thousands of ...
UN: Afghan opium poppy cultivation up 18 percent
Afghan efforts to stamp out opium poppy cultivation are failing because of high prices for the illicit crop, pushing farmers to grow 18 percent more ...

Fishing nations maintain tuna quotas
Fishing countries on Monday voted to keep up strict limits on catching Atlantic Bluefin tuna, overruling fierce opposition from critics who argue that ...

McClean receives death threats after poppy protest
Sunderland manager Martin O'Neill says Irish winger James McClean has received death threats after refusing to wear an embroidered poppy on his shirt ...
US: Lack of sea ice changes walrus behavior
U.S. scientists say a lack of summer sea ice is changing the behavior of Pacific walruses. They don't know what the effect will be, but they worry ...
Panic at Macedonian circus after lion escapes
Several hundred spectators got an unexpected shock at a circus in Macedonia after a lion broke through a safety enclosure during a performance.

ELECTION WATCH: A Lincoln interlude; AP analysis
Around the country on Election Day 2012 with AP reporters bringing the latest developments to you: ___ A LINCOLN INTERLUDE On election night, when it ...

Gaza police catch crocodile after 2 years on lam
It took an Internet search, shark nets and two weeks of floating in a sewage pond, but Gaza policemen said Tuesday that they have finally captured a ...

NZealand beaching proves rarest of whales exists
The spade-toothed beaked whale is so rare that nobody has seen one alive, but scientists have proof the species still exists. Two skeletons were ...