A woman who claims she was ordered by federal airport screeners to remove her nipple rings with pliers is demanding an apology from the US Transportation Security Administration. Mandi Hamlin, 37, is also calling for an investigation into the February 24 incident in Lubbock, Texas, saying that snickering male agents violated TSA policy by forcing her to remove the jewellery.
"I felt surprised, embarrassed, humiliated, scared and angry," Ms Hamlin told reporters at the offices of her Los Angeles attorney, Gloria Allred. "This situation was totally out of control. I will not sit quietly. No one deserves to be treated this way."
The TSA, a unit of the Department of Homeland Security that was set up after the September 11 attacks on the US in 2001, said it was investigating the incident but that agents were trained to search people with piercings in "sensitive areas" with dignity and respect.
Cult members leave cave hideout
Twelve female members of a Russian cult have come out of the cave where they have been awaiting the end of the world, but 23 people are still underground, Russian media reported over the weekend.
The doomsday cult members have been barricaded in a cave dug out of a hillside in the Penza region of central Russia since October. They have been refusing to come out until the end of the world, which they predict will happen in May.
A local official said the seven women had been persuaded to emerge after Pyotr Kuznetsov, the leader of their cult who is undergoing court-ordered psychiatric treatment, was brought to the scene to negotiate with them.
Officials had agreed to let the women move from the cave to Mr Kuznetsov's house in a nearby village, where they have spent their time in prayer.
Minister in trouble over SMSs
Finland's Foreign Minister faced calls for his resignation over the weekend after a tabloid newspaper published a suggestive text message he had sent to an erotic dancer.
Ilkka Kanerva sent about 200 text messages to Johanna Tukiainen, 29, and at first said they were related to her performing at his 60th birthday party. On Friday he admitted the messages were not totally appropriate.
"I would not present them in Sunday School, but they are not totally out of line either," the daily Helsingin Sanomat quoted him as saying. The Ilta-Sanomat daily said that in one of the messages Mr Kanerva had asked Ms Tukiainen: "Would you like to do it in an exotic place? Where could it be?"
Rare dagger to be auctioned
A gold encrusted dagger once owned by the Indian Emperor who built the Taj Mahal as a gesture of love for his wife could fetch £500,000 when it goes on sale next month, experts said over the weekend. The dagger, once part of Shah Jahan's collection, is dated in the years just after the Mughal Emperor came to power in the 17th century.
Inscriptions on the back of the blade include Shah Jahan's official titles, date and place of birth, and an "honorific parasol" - an ancient pan-Asian symbol of divinity of royalty, according to Bonhams auction house.
Jahan, who ruled from 1628 to 1658 - and is said to have had a love for beautiful objects - built the majestic mausoleum as a memorial to his wife Mumtaz Mahal whose death during the birth of their 14th child devastated the ruler. The dagger will go under the hammer in London on April 10.
Camels beauty contest
More than 10,000 camels from across the Gulf will be competing for millions of dollars in prize money at a beauty pageant for the "ship of the desert" in Abu Dhabi this week.
The contest is part of a camel festival being staged from Wednesday in the capital of the United Arab Emirates which aims to celebrate and preserve the region's cultural heritage.
Camels from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia will strut their stuff before a panel of expert judges who will decide which owners should be awarded prize money totalling around $9.5 million dollars. One hundred cars are also up for grabs.
Oil-rich Abu Dhabi, one of seven emirates that makes up the UAE federation, produced the world's first test-tube purebred camel and has begun using remote-controlled robot riders in its camel races.
Website hacked over porn ban
Hackers have defaced the website of Indonesia's information ministry in response to a government move to restrict access to pornographic material on the internet, an official said yesterday.
Indonesia's Parliament last Tuesday passed a New Information Bill that criminalises the transmission of pornographic material on the web.
Hackers have now posted a message on the Information Ministry's website ( http://www.depkominfo.go.id ) saying: "Prove that the law has not been made to cover government stupidity." The message was accompanied by a mocked-up photograph of a local information technology expert, who has been advising the government on the new law, depicted with a bare chest.