A mother and daughter agreed to stand outside a court holding signs saying they stole a gift card from a nine-year-old girl on her birthday in exchange for clemency.
Evelyn Border, 56, and Tina Griekspoor, 35, stole the card when the girl put it down briefly inside a shop in Bedford, Pennsylvania.
Prosecutors said they would ask for probation instead of jail if they held up signs admitting their guilt for half a day outside the court. (PA)
Hole lot of trouble
Daisy the dog had to be helped out of a hole when its got the head stuck in a vent.
The black and white Staffordshire terrier poked its head into a round hole which is used as a tumble dryer vent, Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service said.
A fire crew from St Neots, Cambridgeshire, had to remove some bricks from the outside of the property and then "gently" chiselled away at the area of wall surrounding the dog's head. (PA)
Couple arrested for stealing luggage
Police have solved the mystery of where about 1,000 pieces of luggage from Phoenix's Sky Harbour International Airport disappeared to - the home of local couple Keith and Stacy King.
Authorities initially detained Keith King three weeks ago after he was spotted entering the airport from outside and taking a piece of luggage police learned was not his from a baggage carousel to the parking lot.
However, his initial arrest apparently did not put an end to his alleged activities as Mr King was found again on Monday at the airport taking another suitcase. Police followed him to his home on the outskirts of Phoenix and discovered the huge luggage stash.
"We believe that the suspects ... went through the bags pretty much as soon as they got them and took out what they thought was of value and could use," a Phoenix police spokesman said.
The spokesmad said that interviews with neighbours revealed that the couple had yard sales most weekends to sell a variety of the stolen goods, including the suitcases themselves. (Reuters)
Hedgehog loses its spikes
A bald hedgehog abandoned by its mother is being treated by experts so its spikes will grow, a wildlife centre said.
Baldrick the hedgehog, is suffering from Mange and has lost all its spikes, rendering it almost completely bald.
It was taken to Foxy Lodge Wildlife Rescue centre, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, UK, by a concerned homeowner, after it was found abandoned by its mother.
Wildlife specialists Tonia and John Garner are now caring for the bald hedgehog in the hope it can eventually be released into the wild. (PA)
Mont Blanc cut down to size
Western Europe's tallest peak, the snow-capped Alpine giant Mont Blanc, has shrunk by 45 centimetres in two years, experts said yesterday following an official survey.
The new height of Mont Blanc, which lies on the three-way border between France, Italy and Switzerland, is now 4,810.45 metres, just over half that of Nepal's Everest but still the tallest Alpine peak.
The volume of snow and ice coating the summit has also dropped by about a tenth, topographer Bernard Dupont said, adding that this could not be linked directly to the effects of climate change.
Mr Dupont said climate change indicators could only truly be measured on a scale of 30 years or more.
The expedition also found that the highest point on the mountain had shifted 26 metres closer to Italy but remained in France.
Maps, reference guides and school books will be updated accordingly. (AFP)
Back from the dead
A Brazilian thought to have died in a car crash shocked his mourning family by showing up alive at his funeral.
Relatives of Ademir Jorge Goncalves, 59, had identified him as the victim of the crash.
They were unaware he had spent the night in a drinking den and did not hear about his own funeral until it was already happening a day later. (PA)
Personal touch
A fan of Barack Obama got a bonus when he wore his favourite big yellow triangular hat to a speech being delivered by the US President in Wisconsin.
One of Mr Obama's aides said the President had spotted the hat in the shape of a giant cheese wedge on Mansfield Neblett and offered to autograph it for him.
Mr Neblett, who originally had to persuade Secret Service agents to let him in wearing the hat, agreed. (PA)