The wife of the new head of Britain's spy agency posted pictures of her husband, family and friends on internet networking site Facebook, prompting astonishment among security experts and calls for an enquiry.
Sir John Sawers was appointed last month to take over as head of the Secret Intelligence Service in November. The agency, popularly known as M16, has emerged from the shadows in recent years but its employees are still bound by strict secrecy rules.
In what the Mail on Sunday called an "extraordinary lapse", the new spy chief's wife, Lady Shelley Sawers, posted family pictures and details of where they live and take their holidays and who their friends and relatives are.
The details could be viewed by any of the many millions of Facebook users around the world, but were swiftly removed once authorities were alerted by the newspaper's enquiries.
Foreign Secretary David Miliband made light of the incident. He denied there had been any security breach and gave the incoming spy chief his full support. "It's not a state secret that he wears speedo swimming trunks. For goodness' sake, let's grow up!" Mr Miliband told the BBC.
Mung bean mystery
The British military is mystified after what was first announced as a major haul of opium poppy seeds amounted to nothing more than a hill of beans.
British troops came across a bag of seeds - weighing 1.3 tonnes - during a major operation near the provincial capital of southern Helmand last week, said a British military spokesman. However, tests on the seeds by the United Nations appeared to show they were in fact mung beans, a perfectly legal if much less profitable crop.
The find was originally trumpeted as a big haul of opium poppy seeds. Afghanistan produces about 90 percent of the world's opium. The fight against opium production is a major element of the battle against the insurgency in Afghanistan because opium is the major source of funding for the Taliban.
Irish rescue spice burger
Having grumbled about billions spent on banks, the Irish public have pulled together to rescue another treasure - described as one of Ireland's few original contributions to world cuisine: the "spice burger".
The news that the Dublin-based makers of the crumb-coated beef burger were running out of cash persuaded a government agency to offer support, but Walsh Family Foods could not raise enough matching funds and called in a receiver, it said.
However, a public outcry and a "save our spice burger" campaign on Facebook helped receivers KPMG to secure enough new orders for the more than 50-year-old company to resume production with 20 workers.
"There was a furore. It was extraordinary," the company's Paddy Walsh said on local radio. "Cash is the problem. It's very hard to keep going in this environment."
Sandstorm blankets Iraq
Hundreds of Iraqis are seeking medical help after one of the worst sandstorms in living memory stretched beyond a week yesterday, choking throats, clogging eyes and afflicting asthma sufferers in particular.
The weeklong sandstorm forced visiting US Vice President Joe Biden to cancel plans to fly to Kurdistan and also interfered with the schedule of his meetings in Baghdad.
It has caused numerous flight delays out of the Iraqi capital and has delayed Iraq's first international bidding round for its oil fields since the 2003 invasion by a day.
Many Baghdad shops stayed shut yesterday, while police wearing masks directed thin streams of traffic through eerily misty streets. Hospital emergency rooms were packed with people complaining about breathing problems, officials said.
Unwarranted emergency calls
British police have criticised a woman who dialled 999 to say her hamster had escaped. The call has led police to plead with the public to use the service only for genuine emergencies.
South Yorkshire Police said eight out of 10 of the emergency calls made to its Sheffield control room do not require urgent attention. In one call a woman told the operator: "It's my hamster. It's got out of its cage. It's gone into the bathroom and it's gone down into the floorboards.
"Is there any chance anyone could come and help me get it out?"
In another call, a man is heard asking for help because a swarm of wasps has landed in his garden.
Superintendent Rob Odell said the force receives around 15,000, 999 calls a month which it does not regard as an emergency. Operators have even taken calls from people who have run out of credit on their mobile phones, he said.
Jackson's death could benefit fund
For Dutch pension fund ABP, Michael Jackson's death could be good for business. The passing of the man called King of Pop last month has created a run on his music, which is partly owned by Dutch state pension fund ABP. It is the world's third-largest state pension fund after Japan's and Norway's.
"There are always certain songs that for whatever reason, in this case tragic, suddenly become very popular. The last fact is a basis for the investment," an ABP spokesman said.
ABP bought two music catalogues last year, including the rights to some Michael Jackson songs like You Are Not Alone, according to the website of Imagem Music Group, which manages the music assets for ABP.
Apple Inc.'s iTunes, the biggest music retailer in the United States, reported last week that Mr Jackson albums accounted for the top nine sellers, led by a hits package and his 1982 blockbuster Thriller.
The day after Mr Jackson's death, online retailer Amazon.com Inc. sold more Jackson merchandise than in the prior 11 years, an Amazon spokesman said last week.