Some 150 pets including mice, rats and guinea pigs have been found in an Australian home, an animal welfare group said Wednesday as it warned about the hoarding of animals. 

The RSPCA said the small creatures, which also included ducks and other birds, were seized from the house in the capital Canberra.

The Czech film academy was left red-faced after being hoaxed into allowing a man impersonating Hollywood funnyman Jim Carrey on the stage as a special guest at its annual awards ceremonies.

"We were the victims of an elaborate hoax," the Czech Film and Television Academy (CFTA) said about the embarrassing bungle that hit the prestigious "Cesky Lev" (Czech Lion) awards ceremonies over the weekend.

The wife of Malaysia's prime minister, who is widely mocked over reports of her taste for luxury, drew fresh scorn on Tuesday after she complained about the rising cost of house calls from hairdressers and tailors.

Rosmah Mansor, 63, is a controversial figure in Malaysia, where she is routinely portrayed by critics as out of touch with ordinary citizens struggling to make ends meet.

Energy-saving LED traffic lights seemed like a cool way to cut back on electricity costs, but Japanese police said Monday they might just be too cool -- because they don't melt snow.

Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) account for around 45 percent of all of Japan's stop-and-go signals and that proportion is growing as local authorities cotton on to their economizing possibilities compared with regular incandescent lights.

"Kirk Cameron's Saving Christmas", a film which promises to "put Christ back into Christmas" and actress Cameron Diaz triumphed at the Razzies anti-award show, Hollywood's hall of shame.

On the eve of the Oscars, the movie -- of which one critic said "even devout born-again Christians will find this hard to stomach" -- took the worst picture, as well as worst actor, worst screenplay and worst screen combo on Saturday.

A government agency in Peshawar has hired a man who claims to have killed 100,000 rats in a bid to rid the northwestern Pakistani city of the rodents that plague its streets.

Naseer Ahmad, who has been assigned the straightforward job title of "Rat Killer", will receive a monthly salary of 15,000 rupees ($147), as well as a 2,000-rupee bonus per mission.

Some dogs wandering the streets of Iran's capital may be strays but authorities plan to ensure they are never truly lost by fitting them out with GPS, media reported Friday.

According to Tehran municipality, which works with a number of animal protection agencies, the project to vaccinate and track strays in the city aims to protect them from the public. 

Zambia's top prosecutor on Friday stunned a magistrate when he refused to prosecute himself on charges of abuse of office and declared himself a free man.

"I am the director of public prosecution of the republic of Zambia and I have decided to enter a nolle prosequi against all the charges," Mutembo Nchito told the magistrate from the dock, using the Latin term for refusing to pursue a case.

A helicopter being towed behind a truck struck a freeway overpass and tumbled off its trailer into the roadway, hitting at least two vehicles in Southern California.

The California Highway Patrol says the crash happened Friday morning on Interstate 15 near Fontana, in San Bernardino County.

A tuna fisherman has been accused of shooting at pilot whales from his vessel with a World War II-era rifle.

Daniel Archibald surrendered Thursday to face the charges and was released on a $10,000 unsecured bond.