EXETER, England, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- A 54-year-old British woman stopped a violent home invasion by three armed men by faking a heart attack, her husband says.
NEW BRITAIN, Conn., Dec. 24 (UPI) -- Residents of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn., are well-read, judging by the Twin Cities' top-five showings in the America's Most Literate Cities survey.
WEST ST. PAUL, Minn., Dec. 24 (UPI) -- A holiday version of Robin Hood allegedly stole Christmas trees from an outdoor lot in West St. Paul, Minn., and plunked them down in area yards, police said.
FORT MCMURRAY, Alberta, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- An Atlantic seabird that stowed away on an airplane in Newfoundland and wound up thousands of miles away in landlocked Alberta will get another free trip home.
OTTAWA, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- Santa Claus has been declared a Canadian citizen with fully authorized re-entry rights, the country's citizenship minister announced in Ottawa.
Racy images cut from 'Bible' for U.S. ... Still time to try for $11 house in Canada ... Entrepreneurs pushing Crapola! ... Japanese smash dishes for therapy ... Watercooler stories from UPI.
Doctor used human fat to power car ... Parents of 9 girls finally have a boy ... Woman gives birth to unexpected baby ... Lions switch zoos for yearlong date ... The world as we know it from UPI.
LUND, Sweden, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- A Swedish court sentenced three men to prison after they were convicted of robbing and blackmailing men who sought sex with teenage girls on the Internet.
ANSTRUTHER, Scotland, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- Police have halted one Scottish village's budding festive tradition of shopkeepers handing out mulled wine to customers at Christmas.
SAN ANTONIO, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Police said a suspicious package that caused a lock-down at a San Antonio Wal-Mart turned out to be a wrapped deer carcass.
HAVERHILL, N.H., Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Scientists said an earthquake felt by some New Hampshire towns during the weekend was likely an aftershock from a tremor 281 years ago.
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Dec. 23 (UPI) -- A former Beverly Hills, Calif., liposuction doctor used fat from his patients to create biodiesel fuel, an investigation discovered.
WELWYN GARDEN CITY, England, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- The British parents of nine girls, ranging in age from 2 to 17, said they have finally brought a baby boy into the world.
BARNSTAPLE, England, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- A British woman said she did not know she was pregnant before she went into a hospital with stomach pains and discovered she was in labor.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Two male lions from one New Zealand zoo have been shipped to another temporarily in hopes that they will become fathers.
STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- The Swedish creator of a modern, glossy magazine adaptation of the Bible says some images have been removed from the U.S. version to dodge controversy.
EDMONTON, Alberta, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- It's still not too late to take an $11 chance to own a debt-free home in Canada, says the Edmonton lawyer running the contest.
BURY ST. EDMUNDS, England, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- A developer in England has been granted permission to proceed with work on a 9-foot-wide house that is expected to be the narrowest in Britain.
TOKYO, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- A Tokyo business is offering recession-hit customers the chance to ease their frustrations by throwing cups, plates and other fragile objects at concrete slabs.
NEW BEDFORD, Mass., Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Firefighters say a Massachusetts man accidentally set fire to his home while attempting to melt ice on his back porch with a blowtorch.
BOLINGBROOK, Ill., Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Police have arrested a disgruntled bank customer in Illinois who allegedly called 911 and reported a non-existent robbery.
SoCal teen arrested over Santa gang signs … Secret Santas hand out $11,000 … Celebrity pig named animal of the year … New giant pandas arrive in Taiwan … UPI Quirks in the News.
BEJING, China, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- A pig buried for 36 days beneath ruble from Sichuan's earthquake has been named China's most inspirational animal of 2008.
Benh Zeitlin arrives at the award photocall after receiving the "Camera D'Or" prize for the film "Beasts of the Southern Wild" during the 65th annual Cannes International Film Festival in Cannes, France on May 27, 2012. UPI/David Silpa
