Two camels, part of a circus bound for Bulgaria, died in freezing temperatures on Russia's border with Ukraine after waiting five days for permission to cross.
The dead camels were among a group of 20 which local media said had come by truck from the southern Russian republic of Kalmykia on the Caspian Sea.
Ukrainian officials feared the animals might carry the highly contagious African Swine Disease and were waiting for their veterinary documents.
Anatoly Prigodin, head of veterinary services in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region, later said the camels had been given permission to enter Ukraine, but were on their way to the Russian port of Novorossiisk to be sent to Bulgaria by boat.
Cheese scam stinks
It was supposed to be a magic recipe for instant riches, but instead hundreds of residents in Cantauco, Chile are up in arms over a "magic cheese" scam that has left many deep in debt.
Chilean housewife Erica Pavez was one of around 300 residents taken in by the pyramid scheme, buying kits to make "magic cheese" said to be used in beauty products. Lured by the scheme, Ms Pavez spent about $40,650 on the kits, which she believed contained special ingredients to produce the "magic cheese" but in fact turned out to be boxes of crystallised bacteria.
She produced the cheese at home following instructions to mix the ingredients with milk and ferment them for two weeks but the products ended up on the scrap heap.
Frenchwoman Gilberte Van Erpe, under investigation in France since last year, is suspected of setting up a vast pyramid scheme, telling buyers the fermented mass produced by the kits could be sold to cosmetics companies in France.
Hollywood sheds few tears over Beckhams
Maybe it was Posh's hair, the meagre five goals from David or simply a lack of time. But after the excitement on their arrival in Los Angeles, almost two years ago, the Hollywood celebrity scene is shedding few tears over the Beckham's expected departure.
David Beckham, who has a five-year deal worth an estimated $250 million with the Los Angeles Galaxy, joined the soccer club in June 2007 amid a wave of publicity and enthusiasm but after an injury-plagued first season and only five goals, Mr Beckham, 33, has made it clear he wants to move to Italian club AC Milan.
Victoria Beckham's passion for high heels and tight black dresses were at odds with LA's laid-back flip flops and sweatpants and earned her the epithet of worst dressed-celebrity of 2007 by style maven Mr Blackwell.
Bonnie Fuller, former editor of Us Weekly, said she felt the average American did not relate to the former Spice Girls singer. "She didn't have enough hair," Ms Fuller said of Victoria's Beckham's short mane. "American women are big hair girls. They want celebrities with long, sexy hair which they can aspire to".
Creator of Obama portrait arrested
An artist who created an iconic red, white and blue portrait of US President Barack Obama that appeared on thousands of posters and T-shirts was arrested in Boston on graffiti charges.
Shepard Fairey, a Los Angeles artist whose "Hope" image of Mr Obama hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, was arrested on Friday night while travelling to the Institute of Contemporary Art to kickoff his first solo exhibition.
Police accuse Mr Fairey of damaging property with graffiti in several locations and issued warrants for his arrest on January 24. An arraignment was scheduled for today. If convicted on all charges, he faces up to three years in jail.
Mr Fairey made headlines this week when The Associated Press claimed his Obama portrait infringed on its copyright to a photograph used for the artwork and that it should be compensated for its use.
Bad prognosis for nude photo clinic
A Taiwan clinic is likely to be fined after allowing two of its nurses to pose nude in an advertising campaign.
Taiwan businesses often photograph young, fashionably dressed woman for advertisements or put them on stage for promotional events, but they are seldom shown naked.
Taiwan's United Daily News, which carried one of the photos in question on Saturday, said the shots had outraged a local nurses association, which complained that their profession's image had been soiled.
The clinic distributed the pictures to media and customers and used them on its website.
'Lucy' goes digital
Digital X-rays have turned Lucy, perhaps the world's best-known pre-human, inside out, and may answer questions about how our ancestors came down from the trees and walked, scientists have said.
The team at the University of Texas in Austin, in collaboration with the Ethiopian government, completed the first high-resolution computed tomography or CT scan of the human ancestor, who lived 3.2 million years ago.
Scientists hope studying a "virtual" Lucy will offer further clues about the human ancestor's lifestyle. Lucy, found in Ethiopia in 1974, is the best-preserved example of Australopithecus, a species of pre-human.
"It opens it up to people who, instead of having to travel to some distant museum to see the original, can actually call it up on the desktop," said one scientist.